What Is WTF (wtfutil.com) and What Is It Used For?

WTF is a personal information dashboard that runs inside your terminal. It pulls data from many services and tools into a single screen, so you can check updates without switching between browser tabs or apps. It is aimed at people who spend most of their day in a terminal and want a quick, keyboard-friendly overview of the information they care about.

How WTF Works

WTF is organized around modules. Each module connects to a specific service or data source and displays its information as a widget on the dashboard. You choose which modules to enable, arrange them in a grid, and configure each one with the settings it needs.

The site describes the product as "the personal information dashboard for your terminal" and documents three core areas:

• Configuration — configuration files, global settings, common settings, and grid layout
• Modules — the individual widgets that supply data
• Development — guidance for creating new modules

In practice, this means the dashboard is only as useful as the modules you turn on. A minimal setup might show a clock and a to-do list; a fuller setup might combine work tools, monitoring, and personal feeds.

What You Can Put on the Dashboard

The module list on wtfutil.com is broad and spans several categories. Examples include:

Because the list is long, the practical approach is to start with two or three modules you check daily and add more only when you notice yourself leaving the terminal to look something up.

Who It Is For

WTF fits people who already work in a terminal and want ambient awareness of a handful of services. Typical uses:

• A developer watching build status, open pull requests, and on-call alerts in one place
• An operations person keeping an eye on uptime checks and incident tools
• Anyone who wants headlines, weather, a clock, and a task list without opening a browser

It is less suited to someone who needs rich visualizations, sharing dashboards with a team, or interacting with services through a graphical interface. The output is text-based and lives on your own machine.

How to Get Started

The site's navigation points to a Getting Started section with Quick Start, Installation, and Uninstallation pages, plus a Glossary. The general path is:

1. Install WTF using the instructions on the Installation page.
2. Create or edit the configuration file.
3. Enable the modules you want and set their required options.
4. Arrange modules using the grid layout settings.
5. Run the dashboard and adjust the layout as you learn what you actually check.

The Configuration Files and Global Settings pages cover where settings live and which options apply across the whole dashboard, while Common Settings covers options shared by modules. Check those pages for the exact file locations and option names for your platform rather than assuming defaults.

Things to Know Before You Commit

• Configuration is manual. You will be editing config files, not clicking through a settings screen. Expect some trial and error when adding a module for the first time.
• Each module has its own requirements. Many connect to external services and will need credentials or tokens; the module's documentation page is the place to confirm what it needs.
• The grid layout is the main design decision. A crowded grid makes the dashboard hard to scan, so keep the number of visible modules modest.
• Support and sponsorship are separate pages. The site lists Sponsoring and Support and Sponsoring WTF sections if you want to know how the project is funded or where to ask questions.

If you want a single terminal screen that aggregates the services you already use, WTF is built for exactly that. Start with the Quick Start and Installation pages, enable a small set of modules, and expand from there.