kmod-tui

A terminal UI for Linux sysadmins to browse and inspect loaded kernel modules. Read-only — built for looking, not for changing module state.

Why

lsmod shows a flat table. modinfo <mod> shows one module. This tool gives you a navigable, filterable, sorted view of all loaded modules with rich per-module detail (license, author, description, parameters, holders, dependency info) a keystroke away.

Data sources (read-only)

• /proc/modules — the loaded module list
• /sys/module/<name>/ — refcnt, coresize, initsize, initstate, srcversion, taint, parameters/, holders/
• modinfo <name> — filename, license, description, author, depends, vermagic, retpoline, intree, signature info (fetched lazily, only when a module is selected for detail, so the list view stays fast)

Build & run

cargo run --release
# or
cargo build --release
./target/release/kmod-tui

Requires the Rust toolchain (rustup stable). No other deps; ratatui/crossterm are vendored by cargo.

Keys

List view:

j / ↓          move down
k / ↑          move up
g / Home       top
G / End        bottom
PgDn / PgUp    scroll by 10
Enter          open full-detail screen for the selected module
/              start filtering by module name (type, Esc to clear)
s              cycle sort: name → size → refcnt → dependents
r              refresh the module list from /proc/modules
?              toggle help overlay
q              quit

Full-detail view:

j / ↓ , k / ↑  move selection (stays in full-detail, reloads detail)
Esc / q        back to list
?              help

Filter mode (after /):

type           append to filter
Backspace      delete last char
Enter / Esc    exit filter (Esc also clears)

Layout

• Top bar: module count + kernel version + current sort/filter.
• Middle: scrollable module table (#, name, size, refcnt, used-by, state).
• Bottom: two-column detail pane for the highlighted module.
• Footer: key hints (context-sensitive).

Architecture

src/
  main.rs     CLI bootstrap, event loop, key dispatch
  app.rs      App state: module list, cursor, filter, sort, view mode, lazy fetches
  event.rs    crossterm input polling
  model.rs    Module/ModInfo types, /proc + /sys collection, modinfo parsing, tests
  ui/
    mod.rs     frame composition, status bar, footer, help overlay
    list.rs     module table
    detail.rs   detail pane + full-detail screen

Tests

cargo test --release

Unit tests cover the /proc/modules used-by parser, the modinfo output parser, and the human-readable size formatter.

Non-goals (v1)

• Writing module parameters or loading/unloading modules — read-only by design.
• Showing all installable (not-yet-loaded) modules — planned for v1.1.
• Remote hosts — local only.

Roadmap

• v1.1: dependency tree view, all-available-modules toggle, CSV/TSV export, config file (~/.config/kmod-tui/config.toml).
• v2: optional inotify auto-refresh on /proc/modules.