NetInspect

A lightweight real-time network monitoring CLI tool for Linux. Tracks processes by current network transfer rate and cumulative data usage with color-coded displays.

Features

• Real-Time Tracking: Monitors all network adapters with 1-second refresh.
• Dual Metrics: Shows both current transfer rate (KB/s, MB/s) and total cumulative data.
• Adapter Detection: Displays which network interface each process is using.
• Color-Coded: Process names highlighted by transfer rate (brighter = faster).
• Dynamic Layout: Automatically scales to fit your terminal height.

Installation

Install the required dependency:

pip install psutil #(only use the flag "--break-system-packages" if needed and you know what you are doing)

Usage

Run with sudo for full process monitoring:

sudo python3 netinspect.py

Press q to quit.

Sample Output

==================================================================================================================================
Netinspect - Top 15 Processes by Current Transfer Rate
Time: 2026-02-12 20:41:37  |  Press 'q' to quit
==================================================================================================================================

Rank   PID      Process Name      Adapter      Path                         Current Rate   Total Data  
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#1     1234     chrome            wlan0        /usr/bin/google-chrome       2.45 MB/s      487.32 MB
#2     5678     firefox           eth0         /usr/bin/firefox             1.23 MB/s      156.78 MB
#3     9012     python3           wlan0        /usr/bin/python3             456.78 KB/s    23.45 MB
#4     3456     spotify           wlan0        /usr/bin/spotify             128.34 KB/s    89.12 MB
#5     7890     slack             eth0         /usr/bin/slack               64.12 KB/s     12.34 MB

==================================================================================================================================
Color intensity indicates transfer rate (brighter = faster) | Showing 15 of 89 active processes

Display Columns

• Rank - Position sorted by current transfer rate
• PID - Process ID
• Process Name - Executable name (color-coded by current rate)
• Adapter - Network interface (eth0, wlan0, etc.)
• Path - Full path to process binary
• Current Rate - Live bandwidth usage per second
• Total Data - Cumulative data sent since monitoring started

Colors scale relative to the current highest transfer rate.

Requirements

• Python 3.6 or higher
• Linux
• Root/sudo access (can run without, but then won't be able to see all processes)