User Guide¶

Rain CLI is a beautiful command-line tool that displays comprehensive system information. This guide will help you get the most out of its features.

Quick Start¶

The simplest way to use Rain CLI is to run it without any arguments:

rain

This will display a beautiful, color-coded overview of your system including:

CPU information
Memory usage
Disk usage
Network interfaces
Operating system details
Hardware specifications

Display Options¶

Rain CLI offers several display modes to suit different use cases:

Live Mode¶

Watch your system information update in real-time:

rain --live

This mode continuously refreshes the display, perfect for monitoring system performance.

JSON Output¶

Get machine-readable output for scripts and automation:

rain --json

Example output:

{
  "cpu": {
    "brand": "Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-9750H CPU @ 2.60GHz",
    "cores": 6,
    "threads": 12,
    "usage": 15.2
  },
  "memory": {
    "total": "16.0 GB",
    "available": "8.2 GB",
    "usage": 48.8
  }
}

Quiet Mode¶

Suppress the banner and extra formatting:

rain --quiet

This is useful when you want just the information without decorative elements.

Understanding the Output¶

System Overview¶

The default output is organized into several sections:

CPU Information

Processor brand and model
Number of cores and threads
Current usage percentage
Temperature (if available)

Memory Information

Total RAM
Available memory
Usage percentage
Swap usage (if configured)

Disk Information

Available drives/partitions
Total capacity
Free space
Usage percentage

Network Information

Active network interfaces
IP addresses
Network statistics (if available)

System Information

Operating system
Kernel version
Uptime
Boot time

Color Coding¶

Rain CLI uses colors to help you quickly identify different types of information:

Green: Normal/healthy values
Yellow: Warning levels (moderate usage)
Red: Critical levels (high usage)
Blue: Informational text
Cyan: Headers and labels

Advanced Usage¶

Integration with Scripts¶

Rain CLI works well in automation scripts. Here’s a bash example:

#!/bin/bash

# Get CPU usage as JSON
CPU_USAGE=$(rain --json --quiet | jq '.cpu.usage')

if (( $(echo "$CPU_USAGE > 80" | bc -l) )); then
    echo "High CPU usage detected: $CPU_USAGE%"
    # Send alert
fi

Monitoring with Watch¶

Combine with the watch command for periodic updates:

watch -n 5 'rain --quiet'

This runs Rain CLI every 5 seconds.

Custom Refresh Rate in Live Mode¶

The live mode updates every 2 seconds by default. This can be adjusted in future versions.

Troubleshooting¶

Permission Issues¶

Some system information requires elevated privileges:

sudo rain

Missing Information¶

If certain information is missing:

Install optional dependencies (see Installation guide)
Check if your system supports the feature
Run with elevated privileges if needed

Performance Impact¶

Rain CLI is designed to be lightweight:

CPU impact: < 1%
Memory usage: < 50MB
Disk I/O: Minimal

Tips and Best Practices¶

Use JSON mode for scripting and automation
Use live mode for real-time monitoring
Combine with other tools like grep or jq for filtering

Set up aliases for frequently used options:

alias rainlive='rain --live'
alias rainjson='rain --json --quiet'

Monitor specific metrics by parsing JSON output
Use in dashboards by incorporating JSON output into monitoring systems

Next Steps¶

Check out the Examples for more usage scenarios
Read the API Reference for technical details
Contribute to the project on GitHub