Headtower
Headtower is an operator’s console for a Headscale tailnet - not a marketing dashboard. Headscale is the control plane for a private mesh network, so Headtower behaves like an instrument panel: it reports state precisely rather than decorating it.
Point it at a Headscale instance, give it an API key, and you get a fast, legible surface for the work an operator actually does - watching nodes come and go, approving routes, shaping access, and rotating keys.
Headtower reads and writes Headscale through its REST API. Headscale stays the single source of truth for tailnet data; Headtower only keeps a small amount of its own state (operators, roles, audit) on the side.
What it is
A schematic control console for the day-to-day operation of a Headscale tailnet. Every node, IP, route, and count is real data, shown cleanly in a monospaced, tabular readout so values line up like an instrument.
Three commitments
- Legible over pretty. No invented numbers, no filler charts. If a value is on screen it came from your control plane, and it is formatted to be read at a glance.
- Keyboard-first, fast. A command palette is the primary way to move around. Quick filters and inline actions keep you out of modal mazes.
- Honest about state. Online, offline, and expiring are obvious at a glance. Motion reports status; it never exists just to delight.
Why it looks the way it does
Most control UIs land in one of two places: generic monochrome SaaS, or clean blue admin panels. Headtower is deliberately neither. Its identity is the schematic control console - hairline rules, graphite ink neutrals (never pure black), and exactly one signal accent: beacon amber, the light in the tower. Status colors - emerald for online, orange for warning, rose for critical - are functional only, never decorative.
The one bold element is the tailnet coverage view on the dashboard: an OS-grouped connection mesh, each device drawn as its real OS icon on a lane branching off a control-tower spine, wired back with a signal line when online. Everything else stays quiet so the data leads.
Where to go next
Headtower is an independent project. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or derived from Headscale or Tailscale - it simply speaks Headscale’s API.