Agent terminal dashboard

Run ados on the node, or over SSH, to open the terminal dashboard:

ssh user@ados-9f2c1a.local
ados

In an interactive terminal, ados hands off to the native ados-tui dashboard. It polls the local agent every 2 seconds on a background thread, so a slow or hung agent never freezes the screen or the keys. Without a TTY (a pipe, a script, or a missing dashboard binary), ados prints the same one-shot summary as ados status. For scripts or support collection, use JSON:

ados status --json

ados terminal dashboard with the verdict line, Links, Autopilot, Video, Link and Services panels, and footer key hints — The terminal dashboard on a drone node.

Layout

The top line shows the node identity, the last refresh time and, when needed, a stale flag. Under it, a verdict line reads HEALTHY, DEGRADED or SETUP, followed by a one-line summary.

Panel	What it shows
Links	Every URL the node answers on, grouped and best first: the setup page, LAN IP, hotspot, USB tether and mDNS name. The direct IP is the most reliable address and also works from the hosted Mission Control; the `.local` name needs a desktop app on the same LAN. Long URLs wrap so they stay copyable.
Autopilot	Flight controller link (with the autopilot family when it is verified, or the board over MSP), flight mode, `ARMED` or `DISARMED`, a battery gauge with a trend sparkline, GPS fix, satellites, and altitude with its own trend. A ground station without a flight controller shows “no autopilot”.
Video	Live video pipeline state. The viewer URL lives in the Links panel.
Link	Cloud relay state, remote access state, the hotspot name and, when there is one, the per-unit Wi-Fi passphrase.
Services	Running and stopped service counts. While setup is incomplete, each setup step with its state and what it still needs.
Status	Shown in place of the panels while the dashboard is still connecting to the agent, or with the reason the agent could not be reached.

The footer lists the key hints on the left and the installed version on the right, with “up to date” or “update available” once the background version check lands.

Keys

Key	Action
`a`	Open the actions overlay. Move with `j`/`k` or the arrow keys, run with `Enter`, close with `Esc` or `q`.
`r`	Refresh now instead of waiting for the next poll.
`u`	Update the agent. Shown only when a newer version is available. Asks for confirmation, and is refused while the vehicle reports armed.
`d`	Install the RTL8812EU radio driver if it is missing (asks for confirmation).
`p`	Show Mission Control pairing info.
`l`	Run `ados logs tail`. With the Black Box store off (the default), this prints how to use `journalctl -u ados-supervisor -f` instead. Press Ctrl-C to stop following and return.
`q`	Quit. Ctrl-C quits from any screen.

Quick actions

The actions overlay (a) lists 8 actions. Each one runs an existing ados (or systemctl) command in the plain terminal, so you see its real output and any sudo prompt, then press Enter to return to the dashboard. Actions marked confirm ask [y/N] first.

Action	Runs	Confirm
Install RTL driver	`ados radio install-driver`	Yes
Pair	`ados pair`	No
Logs	`ados logs tail` (prints the `journalctl` command while the Black Box store is off, the default)	No
Radio status	`ados radio status`	No
Update agent	`ados update`	Yes
Restart radio	Restarts this node’s WFB radio service (the transmit unit on a drone, the receive unit on a ground station)	Yes
Unpair	`ados unpair`	Yes
Reboot host	`sudo systemctl reboot`	Yes

Two actions refuse rather than run when it is unsafe:

Update agent is refused while the vehicle reports armed, because an update restarts the MAVLink router, video and radio.
Restart radio is refused until the agent has reported the node’s profile, because a drone and a ground station run different radio units.

Update splash

On launch, the dashboard checks for a newer agent release in the background. If one exists, a splash shows the installed and latest versions once per session. Press u to update (the same confirmed, armed-refused path as the u key), or any other key to continue to the dashboard. The footer keeps an “update available” reminder.

Stale data

If no poll has succeeded for 6 seconds, the header shows stale and the verdict line changes to STALE (or UNREACHABLE when the last poll returned an error) and says it is showing the last snapshot. The Autopilot panel hides its flight readings, so a frozen mode, arm state or battery level never reads as live.

Next steps

Browser dashboard

Open the setup URL from the Links panel for first-run setup and settings.

Agent CLI reference

Every ados command behind the quick actions.

Get started

Set up and use

Link, video and flight systems

Reference

Diagnose

Layout

Keys

Quick actions

Update splash

Stale data

Next steps

Browser dashboard

Agent CLI reference

​Layout

​Keys

​Quick actions

​Update splash

​Stale data

​Next steps

Browser dashboard

Agent CLI reference

Layout

Keys

Quick actions

Update splash

Stale data

Next steps