lshwtui

A lazygit-style terminal UI for lshw. lshw -json dumps a wall of nested text; lshwtui turns it into a navigable, collapsible tree with vim-style keys, search, and a detail pane — so you can actually find the device you're looking for instead of scrolling through hundreds of lines.

Features

• Collapsible hardware tree: system > bus > device
• Detail pane with configuration and capabilities sections
• Incremental search across the tree (/, n, N)
• Raw-JSON view of the selected subtree
• Yank (copy) a node's detail or raw JSON to the clipboard
• Snapshot save/load — capture once, inspect later, share with a colleague
• In-app privilege escalation: re-run lshw as root without leaving the UI

Requirements

• Linux — lshw is a Linux tool, so lshwtui is built for Linux only
• Go 1.24+ to build from source
• The lshw binary on PATH (e.g. pacman -S lshw, apt install lshw)
• A Nerd Font for the tree glyphs — pass --no-glyphs to fall back to plain ASCII on terminals without one

Install

Homebrew (Linux):

brew tap susamn/tap
brew trust susamn/tap        # Homebrew requires explicit trust for third-party casks
brew install --cask lshwtui

Go:

go install github.com/susamn/lshwtui@latest

Build from source:

git clone https://github.com/susamn/lshwtui
cd lshwtui
make build          # ./lshwtui
make install        # into ~/.local/bin (override with PREFIX=)

make help lists every target; make check runs formatting, vet and tests.

Usage

lshwtui                    # inspect the live hardware tree
lshwtui -f snapshot.json   # open a saved snapshot instead of live hardware
lshwtui --no-glyphs        # plain-ASCII tree, no Nerd Font glyphs
lshwtui --check            # verify hardware capture and parsing, then exit
lshwtui --version          # print version and exit

Flag	Description
-f, --file <path>	Open a snapshot JSON file instead of capturing live hardware
--no-glyphs	Use plain ASCII markers instead of Nerd Font glyphs
--check	Verify hardware capture and JSON parsing without launching UI, then exit
--version	Print version and exit

Keybindings

Navigation

Key	Action
j / k	Move down / up
g / G	Jump to top / bottom
ctrl+d / ctrl+u	Half-page down / up
h	Collapse node, or jump to parent if already collapsed
l	Expand node
enter / space	Toggle expand
tab	Switch focus between tree and detail pane

Search

Key	Action
/	Start incremental search
n / N	Next / previous match
esc	Leave raw view, or clear the search

View

Key	Action
x	Toggle raw-JSON view of the selected subtree
E / C	Expand all / collapse all
?	Toggle help overlay

Data

Key	Action
y	Yank selected node's detail to clipboard
Y	Yank raw JSON to clipboard
r	Reload from lshw
R	Reload via sudo/doas/pkexec (root)
s	Save current tree as a snapshot

General

Key	Action
q	Quit

Keybindings and CLI flags above are implemented; check the code for what's actually wired up until the first tagged release.

Why not just run lshw?

lshw and lshw -short are fine for a single lookup piped through grep. They stop being fine the moment you want to browse: there's no folding, no search, and no way to jump between a bus and the devices hanging off it without re-reading hundreds of lines of indentation by eye. lshwtui keeps the same data source and adds the navigation.

Root and partial data

lshw only walks certain parts of the hardware tree (disk serials, some PCI and USB detail, DMI data) when it runs as root. lshwtui runs unprivileged by default — no sudo prompt just to look at your hardware — but that means the tree you see first may be missing fields or entire subtrees.

• Unprivileged: the status bar shows a partial-data warning.
• Press R: lshwtui re-runs lshw through sudo, doas, or pkexec (whichever is found first) and reloads the tree with full detail.
• Snapshots loaded with -f are treated as already-complete captures.

License

MIT — see LICENSE.