{"slug": "pulse-a-local-dashboard-for-claude-code-approve-tool-calls-from-your-phone", "title": "Pulse – a local dashboard for Claude Code, approve tool calls from your phone", "summary": "Developer Nikita Doudikov released Pulse, a local dashboard for Claude Code that displays token spend, session context, and allows users to approve tool calls from their phone. The open-source tool runs entirely on the user's machine with no telemetry or network calls, and includes features like session recovery, full-text search, and budget alerts.", "body_md": "**A local dashboard for Claude Code that shows what Claude is doing, what it is spending, and lets you approve its tool calls from your phone.** Zero dependencies, nothing leaves your machine.\n\nClaude Code already writes every session to disk. Pulse reads those files (read only) and turns them into a live dashboard: token spend by hour, day and week, the context fill of your active session, an ambient view of Claude at work, full-text search across everything you have ever run, and a notification with `Allow`\n\n/ `Allow all`\n\n/ `Deny`\n\nbuttons when Claude needs you, on your desktop or your phone. No account, no telemetry, no network calls.\n\n**Approve from your phone.** A push with working`Allow`\n\n/`Allow all`\n\n/`Deny`\n\nbuttons. No Wi-Fi setup, no IP, no open port: it works from anywhere, even on cellular.**Never lose a session.** One command recovers your last session as a readable transcript, and Pulse auto-snapshots active ones, so a crash or a frozen laptop never costs you context.**See the spend.** Live tokens and API-equivalent cost by hour, day, week, model and project, against budgets you set, with a phone alert when you cross one.**Ambient office.** A full-screen view of a little mascot working, resting, or waiting on you, with a rough ETA. Quietly addictive on a second monitor.**Search everything.** Full-text search across every session on disk, one click to the transcript.**Local and private.** Reads`~/.claude`\n\nread only, serves on`127.0.0.1`\n\n, zero dependencies, no telemetry.\n\n| Ambient office view | Approve from the dashboard or your phone |\n|---|---|\n\nRequires Node 18+.\n\n```\ngit clone https://github.com/nikitadoudikov/claude-pulse.git\ncd claude-pulse\nnode bin/cli.js\n```\n\nThat opens `http://127.0.0.1:4317`\n\n. To get desktop and phone notifications and to\napprove tool calls, wire the hooks (one command, safe to re-run):\n\n```\nnode bin/cli.js install-hooks   # adds the hooks to ~/.claude/settings.json\n```\n\nThen restart Claude Code, and you are set. Other options:\n\n```\nclaude-pulse --port 4317   # change the port\nclaude-pulse --no-open     # do not open the browser\n```\n\nRun in the foreground and Pulse dies when you close that terminal. To keep it alive independently, run it in the background:\n\n```\nclaude-pulse start     # run detached, survives closing the terminal\nclaude-pulse status    # is it running?\nclaude-pulse stop      # stop it\nclaude-pulse restart   # stop and start again\n```\n\nIf your terminal crashes, `claude-pulse start`\n\nbrings it back in one command,\nand a background instance is not affected by the crash in the first place.\n\nOn macOS you can hand Pulse to the system so it starts at login and respawns itself if it ever dies:\n\n```\nclaude-pulse install-service     # start at login, auto-restart\nclaude-pulse uninstall-service   # remove it\n```\n\nTerminal crashed, laptop froze, hit a session limit? Nothing is lost: Claude Code writes every session to disk as it happens. One command brings the last one back, prints a recap and saves a readable transcript:\n\n```\nclaude-pulse recover        # the most recent session\nclaude-pulse recover 2      # the one before that\nclaude-pulse recover <id>   # a specific session\n```\n\nIt saves a light markdown file under `~/.claude-pulse/exports/`\n\n(a 15 MB log\nbecomes a ~180 KB file) and prints a link to read the full transcript in the\nbrowser or on your phone. You can also open any session in the dashboard and use\n**open transcript** / **download .md**.\n\nWhile Pulse runs it also **auto-snapshots** every recently active session to\n`~/.claude-pulse/exports/snapshots/`\n\n(one file per session, rewritten only when\nit changes). So the latest state is always on disk even if you never run\n`recover`\n\n. Set `snapshotMinutes`\n\nto `0`\n\nin `~/.claude-pulse.json`\n\nto turn it off.\n\nTo back up everything at once, `claude-pulse export-all`\n\nwrites every session\ninto a single small gzipped markdown file, or use **download all history** on the\nSessions screen.\n\nLost where you did something? The **Sessions** screen has a search box that\nscans every session on disk for a word or phrase and jumps you straight to the\ntranscript. It works from your phone too.\n\nThe simplest phone control is the ntfy notification itself: it carries working\n`Allow`\n\n/ `Allow all`\n\n/ `Deny`\n\nbuttons (see above), no network setup at all.\n\nFor a richer view, open `http://<your-machine>:4317/phone`\n\non the same Wi-Fi\n(needs `bindLan: true`\n\n) to see what Claude is doing right now plus a **Pause /\nResume** button. Pausing stops Claude from running further tools until you\nresume. Both need the `PreToolUse`\n\nhook wired.\n\n```\n  ┌──────────────┐   writes .jsonl    ┌──────────────────────┐   SSE    ┌──────────────┐\n  │  Claude Code │ ─────────────────▶ │  Pulse  (read only)  │ ───────▶ │  dashboard   │\n  │  (terminal)  │                    │   127.0.0.1:4317     │          │  + phone     │\n  └──────┬───────┘                    └──────────────────────┘          └──────────────┘\n         │\n         │  hooks:  Notification  ·  Stop  ·  PreToolUse\n         ▼\n  ┌─────────────────────────────┐\n  │  ~/.claude-pulse/           │   pending approvals · decisions · events\n  └─────────────────────────────┘\n```\n\nClaude Code logs every session as JSONL under `~/.claude/projects/`\n\n. Each assistant\nmessage carries a `usage`\n\nblock (input, output and cache tokens) with a timestamp.\nPulse reads those files (read only), caches each file by modification time so\nunchanged sessions are never re-parsed, and aggregates the numbers. The browser\ngets live updates over Server-Sent Events. Three small hooks let Claude Code tell\nPulse when it needs you, when a turn ends, and when it wants to run a tool.\n\nClaude Code can run a hook when it needs your attention. Point its `Notification`\n\nevent at the bundled script and Pulse will show a banner and fire a desktop\nnotification, even if the tab is in the background.\n\nThe easy way is one command:\n\n```\nclaude-pulse install-hooks     # wires the hooks into ~/.claude/settings.json (safe to re-run)\nclaude-pulse uninstall-hooks   # removes them\n```\n\nIt backs up your settings once, merges next to any hooks you already have, and\nnever adds a duplicate. Restart Claude Code afterwards. To do it by hand instead,\nadd this to `~/.claude/settings.json`\n\n(use the absolute path to your clone):\n\n```\n{\n  \"hooks\": {\n    \"Notification\": [\n      {\n        \"matcher\": \"\",\n        \"hooks\": [\n          { \"type\": \"command\", \"command\": \"node /absolute/path/to/claude-pulse/hooks/notify-hook.js\" }\n        ]\n      }\n    ],\n    \"Stop\": [\n      {\n        \"matcher\": \"\",\n        \"hooks\": [\n          { \"type\": \"command\", \"command\": \"node /absolute/path/to/claude-pulse/hooks/stop-hook.js\" }\n        ]\n      }\n    ],\n    \"PreToolUse\": [\n      {\n        \"matcher\": \"\",\n        \"hooks\": [\n          { \"type\": \"command\", \"command\": \"node /absolute/path/to/claude-pulse/hooks/permission-hook.js\" }\n        ]\n      }\n    ]\n  }\n}\n```\n\nKeep `claude-pulse`\n\nrunning and you are set.\n\nWith the `PreToolUse`\n\nhook wired, when Claude wants to run something that needs\npermission, an approval card appears in Pulse with `Allow`\n\n, `Allow all`\n\nand\n`Deny`\n\n. `Allow all`\n\nstops asking for the rest of the run.\n\nThis is built to never hang Claude. Read only tools pass straight through, and if\nPulse is not running, has not heard from you within the approval timeout (60s by\ndefault, set `approvalTimeoutMs`\n\n), or hits any error, it falls back to the normal\nterminal prompt. Nothing breaks if you ignore it. The phone push carries `Allow`\n\n,\n`Allow all`\n\nand `Deny`\n\nbuttons.\n\nTo approve from your phone, you only need an `ntfyTopic`\n\n(below) and the ntfy\napp. The push notification carries `Allow`\n\n, `Allow all`\n\nand `Deny`\n\nbuttons, and\ntapping one sends the answer back through ntfy to a private reply topic that\nPulse listens on. No same Wi-Fi, no IP, no open port: it works from anywhere,\neven on cellular. Pulse only acts on a reply while it is actually waiting for\nthat request, so a stale notification can do nothing.\n\n```\n  Claude wants to run a tool\n          │\n          ▼\n   PreToolUse hook ──▶ Pulse ──push──▶ phone notification\n          │                                   │\n          │                              tap \"Allow\"\n          │                                   │\n          │                    answer returns over ntfy\n          │                                   │\n          ▼                                   ▼\n   hook is still waiting ◀── decision ◀── Pulse (subscribed to the reply topic)\n          │\n          ▼\n   hook returns \"allow\" ──▶ Claude runs the tool\n```\n\nTo get a push on your phone when Claude needs you or finishes, pick a hard to\nguess topic name, install the free [ntfy](https://ntfy.sh) app and subscribe to\nthat topic, then set it in `~/.claude-pulse.json`\n\n:\n\n```\n{ \"ntfyTopic\": \"claude-pulse-9f3a7c\" }\n```\n\nWith the hooks above wired, the `Notification`\n\nhook pushes when Claude is waiting\nfor you, and the `Stop`\n\nhook pushes when a turn finishes (debounced to 30s so a\nback and forth does not spam you). Anyone who knows the topic can read it, so use\na random name.\n\nIf you set `budgets`\n\n(below), Pulse also pushes when a rolling window crosses 80%\nthen 100% of its budget, so you find out from your pocket, not by checking.\n\nCopy `config.example.json`\n\nto `~/.claude-pulse.json`\n\nand edit. Every field is optional.\n\n```\n{\n  \"plan\": \"max20\",\n  \"contextLimit\": 200000,\n  \"idleMinutes\": 10,\n  \"approvalTimeoutMs\": 60000,\n  \"budgets\": { \"fiveHour\": 140, \"day\": 360, \"week\": 1100 }\n}\n```\n\nAnthropic does not publish exact subscription limits, and they are usage based\nrather than a fixed token count. Pulse cannot read your real plan ceiling, so the\nbudgets above are rough API-equivalent estimates you adjust to match what you\nobserve. The `pro`\n\n, `max5`\n\nand `max20`\n\npresets are starting points, not official\nnumbers. Token cost is estimated from public API list prices purely as a usage\nproxy; subscription users do not pay per token.\n\nPulse is local-first and opt-in. Out of the box it binds to `127.0.0.1`\n\nonly,\nmakes no outbound calls, has zero dependencies (no supply chain), and reads\n`~/.claude`\n\nread only. Nothing leaves your machine and there is no analytics. Two\noptional features change that, and both are off until you turn them on:\n\n**Phone push (** routes through the public`ntfyTopic`\n\n)[ntfy.sh](https://ntfy.sh)relay. Approval prompts (with a short command summary) and your taps pass through a topic you name, so anyone who learns the topic can read those prompts and answer them. Use a long random topic, and self-host ntfy or use ntfy access tokens if you want stronger guarantees. Pulse only acts on a reply while it is genuinely waiting for that exact request, so a stale or guessed message cannot approve anything by itself.**LAN access (** binds the server to your whole network so a phone on the same Wi-Fi can open the live`bindLan`\n\n)`/phone`\n\npage. While it is on, other devices on that network can also read the dashboard and your transcripts, so only enable it on a network you trust. You do not need it for phone approvals (those go through ntfy), so most people should leave it off.\n\nRuntime state, the device token and your config live in your home directory under\n`~/.claude-pulse/`\n\n, and are never committed or sent anywhere.\n\nMIT", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/pulse-a-local-dashboard-for-claude-code-approve-tool-calls-from-your-phone", "canonical_source": "https://github.com/nikitadoudikov/claude-pulse", "published_at": "2026-06-20 20:46:50+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-06-20 21:07:54.052137+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["developer-tools", "ai-tools", "ai-agents", "ai-products"], "entities": ["Claude Code", "Nikita Doudikov", "Pulse", "Node.js", "macOS"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/pulse-a-local-dashboard-for-claude-code-approve-tool-calls-from-your-phone", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/pulse-a-local-dashboard-for-claude-code-approve-tool-calls-from-your-phone.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/pulse-a-local-dashboard-for-claude-code-approve-tool-calls-from-your-phone.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/pulse-a-local-dashboard-for-claude-code-approve-tool-calls-from-your-phone.jsonld"}}