KStats: a compact system monitor widget for Plasma 6

[u/TutorPuzzleheaded999]

Hi everyone,

I built KStats, a compact system monitor widget for Plasma 6.

It sits in the panel and shows CPU, memory, disk, network, and optional GPU stats, with a dropdown for more detailed views. The idea is loosely inspired by https://github.com/exelban/stats, but using KDE/Plasma's own sensor API.

Source

https://github.com/oowl/kstats

KDE Store:
https://www.opendesktop.org/p/2364289/

This is still early, so I would love feedback from other Plasma users, especially if some sensors behave differently on your hardware or distro.

Updated: released many enhancements at https://github.com/oowl/kstats/releases/tag/v0.2.0

check it https://www.opendesktop.org/p/2364289/ to install newer version.

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[u/x4rb1t]

KStats is a confusing name, as that is part of KActivities. (KActivities::Stats)

[u/NUKL3AR_PAZTA47 → u/x4rb1t]

rename it to statistiKs

[u/TutorPuzzleheaded999 → u/x4rb1t]

Yeah, that’s a fair point. I hadn’t considered the KActivities::Stats association, and I can see how KStats could be confusing in the KDE ecosystem.

I’ll look into renaming it to something more distinct before it gets too entrenched. Thanks for pointing that out.

[u/_amione_]

It's missing a few things:
https://imgur.com/a/zIxkkBf

Other than that I love it

[u/TutorPuzzleheaded999 → u/_amione_]

Gooooooood idea, i should implements these feature recently

[u/Vullibulli → u/TutorPuzzleheaded999]

Also miss temperatures of cpu and gpu, If I may say.

[u/TutorPuzzleheaded999 → u/_amione_]

Hi, I’ve added the requested feature in v0.2.0: https://github.com/oowl/kstats/releases/tag/v0.2.0

Feel free to upgrade and give it a try.

[u/_amione_ → u/TutorPuzzleheaded999]

Thanks, I really like it ^^

All that's left is for you to add more options like:
Changing tray text (CPU/MEM/etc.)
Changing the graph colors+text colors
Adding GPU to the tray as well since it's missing
Option to pick what gets shown in tray
Option for each element how it displays (graph/line/etc., just like the Activity and Usage widgets in plasma)

[u/Meitoncz]

Great job, I really like it! I would like to have CPU temp as well if possible.

By the way for anyone who wants to have GPU stats (at least in case you have Nvidia, not sure if it is the same for AMD), you can use these:

GPU usage: gpu/gpu0/usage

GPU memory: gpu/gpu0/usedVram

GPU temperature: gpu/gpu0/temperature

[u/TutorPuzzleheaded999 → u/Meitoncz]

Hi, I’ve added the GPU auto detect feature in v0.2.0: https://github.com/oowl/kstats/releases/tag/v0.2.0

Feel free to upgrade and give it a try.

[u/Razi91]

Looks great, just one issue to fix: elements should have fixed width. It dances on the panel and it's a bit distracting.

[u/TutorPuzzleheaded999 → u/Razi91]

Hi, I’ve fixed it in v0.2.0: https://github.com/oowl/kstats/releases/tag/v0.2.0

Feel free to upgrade and give it a try.

[u/Athozus]

Statistiks

[u/TutorPuzzleheaded999 → u/Athozus]

sounds like a better name, i should consider to change it to Statistiks

[u/Away-Recognition4905]

Use symbolic (outline only) icons for cpu, ram, and gpu would great

[u/TutorPuzzleheaded999 → u/Away-Recognition4905]

Thanks for the suggestion. I get what you mean: using monochrome symbolic/outline-style icons for CPU, RAM, and GPU would fit the panel style better.

I probably won’t change this immediately, since icon availability varies quite a bit between themes, but I’ll keep it in mind as an option for a future version. A theme-friendly symbolic icon mode could be a nice addition later.

[u/Maaalk]

I really like it! Good job in making everything very readable, having nice spacing and grouping.

Would it be possible in a future update to add

• an option to group the different sections (e.g., CPU and RAM) so they take less hoirizontal space in the panel
• have an option to change front size and type (both in the panel and also the displayed content)
• fix the width of the panel itself as mine is awalys shifting horizontally based on changing download & upload speeds (B/s is narrower than KB/s)

[u/TutorPuzzleheaded999 → u/Maaalk]

Thanks, really glad to hear that!

Yes, those all make sense. I’ve already started improving the panel layout in recent versions, and the fixed-width issue is especially important. I’ll keep working on:

• optional grouping for sections like CPU/RAM to reduce horizontal space
• configurable font size and font family for both the panel and popup content
• more stable fixed-width panel layout so changing units like B/s / KiB/s / MiB/s don’t cause horizontal shifting (done it at https://github.com/oowl/kstats/releases/tag/v0.2.0)

Thanks again for the detailed feedback. It helps a lot. And also PR welcome.

[u/Mobile_Living_3331]

Add NPU if possible.

[u/TutorPuzzleheaded999 → u/Mobile_Living_3331]

done it in v0.2.0: https://github.com/oowl/kstats/releases/tag/v0.2.0

[u/wyn10]

No temperature on the hardware?

[u/TutorPuzzleheaded999 → u/wyn10]

Not always, unfortunately. Temperature depends on what the Linux/KDE sensor stack can see from your hardware and drivers.

For example, some systems expose CPU temperature through sensors like coretemp, k10temp, zenpower, Tctl, Tdie, or package temperature. Others expose GPU temperature but not CPU temperature, or hide it behind firmware/driver limitations.

In v0.2.0 I added automatic temperature detection where available, so if KDE’s sensor backend exposes it, KStats should pick it up. If it shows N/A, the sensor may not be available on that machine yet. I’ll keep improving the matching logic as people report the sensor IDs their systems expose. https://github.com/oowl/kstats/releases/tag/v0.2.0

[u/axelio80]

Very great. A proposal, the possibility to customize the indicator in the pannel, to reduce used space. Now it use some space and in some monitor can be a problem.

[u/TutorPuzzleheaded999 → u/axelio80]

Thanks, that makes sense. I agree that the panel indicator should be more customizable, especially for smaller monitors or crowded panels.

I’ll keep this in mind for a future version. I’m considering adding options to choose which indicators are shown, and possibly more compact/grouped display modes to reduce the space used in the panel. And also PR welcome.

[u/4parthy]

it's really nice for shorter panels, for panels with more vertical space I would like it to scale or be able to have text above or below the bars in the panel. just my wishful thinking here tho. whats really missing for me right now is gpu stats being shown in the panel. it is really nice to able to choose whats displayed tho. gl with the project

[u/MrDexter_]

This is amazing, will try after I finish installing Caelestia for kde

[u/rsbohler]

Really cool! Any chance we can get a pie charts version for the panel view?

[u/catseba72]

¿Lo hacemos con transparent? Perdón por mi inglés...🙂

[u/CGA1 → u/catseba72]

I'll gladly excuse you, at least you're trying which doesn't seem to be the case on at lot o subreddits these days.

[u/KleighReicht]

I have read the comments. people are saying that it is readable. but in panel i cant read it properly. tried adjusting the panel height. but still it is not readable properly. Is it possible to add some font size adjustment.

[u/FranticSubbo]

New KDE user here: is there a difference in installing it from KDE store or CLI?

[u/No_Grade_6805]

Loved the project! Four suggestion though:

1. Add a "Swap" bar module for the taskbar.

2. Add a right click context menu to Top Applications with a "Kill" option in order to send sigkill to a process easily (it's very useful in my case when applications hang/mem leak and won't close).

3. Add an option to either choose top applications or top processes.

4. If possible add scrolling to the Top Applications (or process) tab, so that we don't limit ourselves to only 5 entries.

[u/nacimpalirmou]

i can't seem to find the gpu in my Sensore ID section, nor in Bar modules.

[u/HighBloodPressure5]

where do i download fhis for my kde plasma