What is netwatch?

NetWatch is a tool for Linux that keeps track of how much network data your computer sends and receives, and lets you view that history through a terminal interface. It is built in Rust and stores everything in a small local SQLite database rather than a cloud service, so all your traffic history stays on your own machine. The tool is split into two parts: a background daemon called netwatchd that quietly collects traffic statistics from your network interfaces, and a separate command called netwatch that displays those statistics, either as a live terminal dashboard or through simple command line queries. Because the daemon and the viewer are separate programs, you can check your stats at any time without the viewer needing to hold a lock on the running collector. Older data is automatically compressed over time: NetWatch downsamples raw per second readings into minute, hourly, and daily summaries, so long term history does not keep growing the database indefinitely. A history_days setting controls how long raw samples are kept before being pruned. A built in netwatch doctor command checks that your configuration, database, and network interface detection are all working correctly. Installation options include building and installing a Debian package with cargo-deb, downloading a prebuilt .deb file from GitHub Releases, or building from source with Cargo after cloning the repository. The project also ships ready made systemd service files so the background daemon can be set to start automatically, either just for your own user account or system wide at boot. Settings live in a single configuration file where you can adjust how often the daemon samples your interfaces, which interfaces to ignore such as virtual Docker or VPN adapters, how traffic units are displayed, and how often data is written to disk. The README also documents full uninstall steps for removing the binaries, configuration, and stored database when you are done with the tool.