WinCTL

Self-hosted Windows process manager with a beautiful web dashboard

Download · Features · Screenshots · CLI · License

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✨ Features

🖥️ Web Dashboard	Mobile-friendly UI accessible from any browser on your network
▶️ Process Control	Start, stop, and restart any process with one click
📋 Real-time Logs	Live streaming stdout/stderr per service, right in the browser
🔄 Auto-restart	Automatically re-launch crashed services with exponential backoff
🚀 Auto-start at Boot	Launch selected services automatically when WinCTL starts
📁 Folders	Group related services into collapsible folders
🎨 14 Built-in Themes	Dark, light, and popular community themes — plus a custom theme creator
🔔 System Tray	Runs silently in the background with a tray icon
⌨️ CLI	Full command-line control via winctl commands
🔗 Port Links	Clickable links that open services directly in the browser
💾 Persistent Config	All services saved to ~\.winctl\services.json
📊 System Stats	Live CPU, RAM, hostname, and uptime at a glance
💻 System Info Popup	Run fastfetch, neofetch, or winfetch from the sidebar — output rendered with full color in a popup
🚫 No Docker / WSL	Runs natively on Windows — just two .exe files

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📸 Screenshots

Gallery View	List View

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⚡ Quick Start

1. Download

Grab the latest release from the Releases page and place both files in the same folder (e.g. C:\winctl\):

winctl.exe          ← CLI / launcher
winctl-daemon.exe   ← background server

2. Initialize

Open a terminal in that folder and run:

winctl init

This adds winctl to your PATH and optionally installs WinCTL as a Windows Service so it survives reboots.

3. Start

winctl start

Then open http://localhost:8080 in any browser. From your phone or tablet on the same network use http://<your-pc-ip>:8080.

Find your PC's IP: run ipconfig in cmd and look for IPv4 Address.

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🖥️ CLI Reference

All commands work from any terminal once winctl init has been run.

Command	Description
winctl start	Start the WinCTL daemon (Windows Service or standalone)
winctl stop	Gracefully stop the daemon
winctl stop -f	Force-kill the daemon immediately
winctl stop -p <port>	Stop the daemon running on a specific port
winctl status	Show daemon status and all managed services
winctl services	List managed services with status, PID, and port
winctl start-svc <id|name>	Start a managed service
winctl stop-svc <id|name>	Stop a managed service
winctl restart-svc <id|name>	Restart a managed service
winctl logs <id|name>	Print recent logs for a service
winctl open	Open the web UI in the default browser
winctl setup-firewall	Add a Windows Firewall rule (run as Admin)
winctl init	Add winctl.exe to user PATH and install service
winctl help [command]	Show help for all commands or a specific one

Services can be identified by their name (case-insensitive) or ID.

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⚙️ Configuration

Config files

All configuration is stored in %USERPROFILE%\.winctl\:

File	Contents
services.json	All services, folders, and their settings
settings.json	App-wide preferences (theme, folder state, auto-start, fetch tool)
themes\	Built-in and custom theme JSON files
winctl.log	Daemon startup and error log

Per-service fields

Field	Description
name	Display name shown in the dashboard
command	Executable or command (e.g. node, python, C:\myapp\app.exe)
args	Command-line arguments (e.g. server.js --port 3000)
cwd	Working directory the process starts in
port	Optional — creates a clickable link to localhost:PORT
autoRestart	Re-launch automatically if the process exits with a non-zero code
autoStart	Launch this service when WinCTL starts

Change the port

Set the WINCTL_PORT environment variable before starting (default: 8080):

set WINCTL_PORT=3500 && winctl start

Allow access from other devices

Run the following command as Administrator once:

netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name="WinCTL" dir=in action=allow protocol=TCP localport=8080

Or use the built-in shortcut: winctl setup-firewall (requires Admin).

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🎨 Themes

WinCTL ships with 14 built-in themes:

Dark Default	Light Default	Midnight Blue	Forest Green
Sunset Warm	Nord	Dracula	Solarized Dark
Monokai	Cyberpunk	Catppuccin Mocha	Gruvbox Dark
Tokyo Night	Rosé Pine	Everforest

You can also build your own theme using the Theme Creator in Settings — customize every color and save it with a name.

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📋 Requirements

• Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit)
• No Node.js, Docker, WSL, or Linux required for the .exe release

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📄 License

© 2026 Andrew-0807

This project is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International license.

✅ Free to use and share for personal and non-commercial purposes ✅ Attribution required — credit the original author ❌ Commercial use is not permitted ❌ Selling, repackaging, or monetising this software is prohibited

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