Dashboard

PinchTab includes a built-in web dashboard for monitoring and managing instances, profiles, and agent activity.

Access the dashboard at http://localhost:9867 (adjust port if needed).

Alternatively, use http://localhost:9867/dashboard (also works for backward compatibility).

Dashboard Overview

The dashboard provides four main screens:

1. Instances — View and manage running Chrome instances
2. Profiles — Browse and launch saved browser profiles
3. Profile Details — Configure and launch a specific profile
4. Agents Feed — Monitor agent activity and automation workflows

Instances Screen

Screenshot placeholder: Instances view

What It Shows

• List of all running PinchTab instances
• Port number for each instance
• Instance status (running, stopped, idle)
• Number of tabs in each instance
• Profile name (if any) for each instance

What You Can Do

• View details — Click an instance to see full information
• Create new instance — Start a new Chrome process
• Stop instance — Shut down a running instance
• View tabs — See all tabs open in the instance

Use Cases

• Monitor multiple instances running in parallel
• Check resource usage per instance
• Stop instances when no longer needed
• Debug instance configuration

Profiles Screen

Screenshot placeholder: Profiles view

What It Shows

• Grid of all available browser profiles
• Each profile card displays:
  • Profile name
  • Associated email/account (if available)
  • Last used timestamp
  • Current status (running, stopped)
  • Quick info (cookies count, stored data size)

What You Can Do

• Launch profile — Start a new instance with this profile
• View details — Click profile card to see configuration details
• Edit profile — Modify profile settings (name, metadata)
• Delete profile — Remove a profile (with confirmation)
• Search/filter — Find profiles by name or account

Use Cases

• Quickly launch a profile for a specific user account
• Switch between different login contexts
• See which profiles are currently active
• Manage multiple user sessions

Profile Details Screen

Screenshot placeholder: Profile details view

What It Shows

• Profile name — Editable identifier
• Account info — Associated email, username, or account ID
• Launch settings:
  • Headless or headed mode
  • Port assignment
  • Stealth level (light, medium, full)
  • Environment variables
• State info:
  • Created date
  • Last modified
  • Data size (cookies, storage, cache)
  • Number of saved tabs
• Instances using this profile — Currently running instances

What You Can Do

• Launch — Start a new instance with this profile
• Edit — Modify profile configuration
• View data — See stored cookies, local storage, browsing history
• Clear data — Reset cookies/cache while keeping profile
• Export — Backup profile configuration
• Delete — Remove profile entirely

Use Cases

• Configure launch options before starting an instance
• Check what data is stored in a profile
• Clone a profile for a similar use case
• Debug profile-related issues

Agents Feed Screen

Screenshot placeholder: Agents feed view

What It Shows

• Real-time activity log from all connected agents
• Each entry displays:
  • Timestamp
  • Agent name/ID
  • Action performed (navigated, clicked, extracted text, etc.)
  • Associated instance/profile
  • Result (success, error, pending)

What You Can Do

• Monitor agents — Watch what automation is happening in real-time
• Filter by agent — Show only activity from a specific agent
• Filter by instance — Show only activity in a specific instance
• Search — Find activities by action, URL, or data
• View details — Click an entry to see full request/response
• Pause/resume — Control logging verbosity

Use Cases

• Debug agent automation workflows
• Audit what agents have done
• Monitor for errors or unexpected behavior
• Understand which agents are most active
• Troubleshoot automation issues

Navigation

The dashboard header provides tabs to switch between screens:

[Instances] | [Profiles] | [Profile Details] | [Agents]

You can also navigate by clicking:

• An instance → shows its details
• A profile → shows its profile details screen
• An agent event → shows relevant instance/profile

Status Indicators

Instance Status

• Running (green) — Active Chrome process
• Idle (yellow) — Running but no tabs
• Stopped (red) — Process not running

Profile Status

• Active (green) — At least one instance using it
• Dormant (gray) — No active instances
• Launching (blue) — Instance starting

Agent Status

• Success (green) — Action completed
• Error (red) — Action failed
• Pending (yellow) — In progress
• Cancelled (gray) — Aborted

Keyboard Shortcuts

Dark Mode

The dashboard automatically uses your system’s dark/light preference.

Toggle manually:

• Click the theme toggle in the top-right corner (sun/moon icon)
• Preference is saved in browser local storage

Performance & Limits

• Refresh rate: Real-time updates (WebSocket-based)
• History retention: Last 1000 agent events (older events archived)
• Scalability: Optimized for 10+ instances, 100+ profiles

For high-throughput monitoring, consider using the REST API directly:

# Get all instancescurl http://localhost:9867/instances# Get all profilescurl http://localhost:9867/profiles# Stream agent eventscurl http://localhost:9867/events/stream

Troubleshooting

Dashboard Not Loading

• Check if PinchTab is running: curl http://localhost:9867/health
• Check the port: Default is 9867, adjust if you started with --port
• Clear browser cache: Ctrl+Shift+Delete (most browsers)

No Instances Showing

• Make sure at least one instance is running: pinchtab --port 9867
• Refresh the page (R key)
• Check browser console for errors (F12)

Agent Events Not Updating

• Confirm agents are actually running tasks
• Check WebSocket connection: Open DevTools → Network → WS tab
• Try refreshing the page

Next Steps

• Core Concepts — Understand instances, profiles, tabs
• Get Started — Set up your first profile
• Headless vs Headed — Choose the right mode