Pulse 5.0 Release Candidate - Call for Testing

[rcourtman]

Pulse v5.0.0-rc.2 is available for testing

This is the first release candidate for Pulse 5.0, which includes AI-powered monitoring, Kubernetes support, and a redesigned agent experience.

This is a release candidate. Please test thoroughly before using in production. Report any issues in this thread or open a separate issue.

---

Major Features in 5.0

AI-Powered Monitoring

Pulse 5.0 introduces an optional AI assistant for infrastructure monitoring:

• Natural Language Queries - Ask questions about your infrastructure in plain English
• Patrol Service - Automated health checks with configurable schedules
• Auto-Fix Capability - AI can diagnose and remediate issues automatically (opt-in)
• Predictive Intelligence - Failure pattern detection and anomaly identification
• Cost Tracking - Monitor AI API usage with budget controls

Kubernetes Support

Native Kubernetes cluster monitoring is now built-in:

• Monitor pods, deployments, services, and nodes
• Namespace filtering and resource sorting
• Column picker for customizable views
• Real-time cluster health status

Multi-Platform Unified Agent

A single agent binary now supports multiple platforms with automatic detection:

• Auto-Detection - Automatically enables Docker, Kubernetes, or Proxmox monitoring
• Multi-Host Tokens - One API token can register multiple hosts
• Linux, macOS, Windows - Cross-platform support
• Linked Host Agents - Host agents automatically link to PVE nodes

Streamlined Setup Experience

The new Setup Wizard simplifies getting started:

• Simplified 3-step onboarding (Welcome, Security, Complete)
• Guided agent installation with platform auto-detection
• Auto-generated install commands with token management

---

How to Install

Docker (recommended):

docker pull rcourtman/pulse:v5.0.0-rc.2

Docker Compose:
Update your docker-compose.yml to use rcourtman/pulse:v5.0.0-rc.2

Binary:

curl -fsSL https://github.com/rcourtman/Pulse/releases/download/v5.0.0-rc.2/install.sh | bash

---

Links

• Release Notes
• Documentation
• Live Demo (running 5.0.0-rc.2)

---

Feedback

Please test and share your experience. I am particularly interested in:

1. AI features - Does the Patrol service work as expected? Any issues with the AI assistant?
2. Kubernetes monitoring - Is cluster data accurate? Any missing information?
3. Agent installation - Does auto-detection work correctly on your hosts?
4. Setup Wizard - Is the onboarding flow intuitive?
5. Performance - Any slowdowns compared to 4.x?

Reply below with any bugs, suggestions, or just to confirm things are working.

---

Thanks for helping test Pulse 5.0.

[faustus1005]

So far, no issues! I'll let you know long term, but initially:

AI features - Working so far, for the bit I've had time to test.
Agent installation - Working perfectly, no issues on old or new hosts
Setup Wizard - Easy as can be! Love it! Upgrade was super easy no issues at all.
Performance - Not that I can tell at the moment!

[krestaino]

I'm getting the following error when trying to use DeepSeek. Let me know if you'd like me to open a separate issue.

Error: AI request failed: API error (400): Model Not Exist

[RLSinRFV]

Just installed v5.0.0-rc.2. I noticed that the agents are still reporting v5.0.0-rc.1.
Do the agent nodes need a separate update script or removed/reinstalled?

[rcourtman]

@krestaino Please open a separate issue for the DeepSeek error. Include:

1. Full browser console output when the error occurs
2. What action triggers the error (clicking Test, sending a message, or something else?)
3. Whether you see the error immediately after saving settings or only when trying to use AI

The error suggests DeepSeek is receiving an invalid model name, but I need more context to trace where it comes from.

---

@RLSinRFV Agents need to be reinstalled to get the new version. The agent binaries are separate from the main Pulse server.

To update agents:

# Stop the agent service first
sudo systemctl stop pulse-agent

# Download and install the new agent
curl -fsSL https://github.com/rcourtman/Pulse/releases/download/v5.0.0-rc.2/pulse-agent-linux-amd64 -o /tmp/pulse-agent
sudo mv /tmp/pulse-agent /usr/local/bin/pulse-agent
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/pulse-agent

# Restart
sudo systemctl start pulse-agent

Alternatively, if you installed via the unified agent installer script, rerun it and it will download the latest version.

[krestaino]

5.0.0-rc.3 fixed my issue. DeepSeek is now working. I did not change anything on my end. I simply updated to 5.0.0-rc.3 and it started working.

[kwat2025]

Wow. Major new features added. Recommend you support current release (critical bug fixes only) for awhile even after release of 5.0 to allow users time to test and upgrade when they are comfortable.

[rcourtman]

Fair point, and I appreciate you raising it.

Honestly, as a solo maintainer I just don't have the bandwidth to keep two branches going properly. The v4 temperature monitoring was complicated. It worked for some setups but never reliably across all Proxmox configurations. I spent a fair bit of time trying to improve it and eventually concluded the only way forward was the v5 agent rewrite.

I won't be pulling v4 releases down, and if something genuinely critical surfaces I'll have a look. But active work is on v5 now. That's where the fixes are going.

If you're hesitant to upgrade, that's completely understandable. Might be worth giving the RC a spin in a test environment when you have a moment. The agent setup is considerably less fiddly than it used to be.

[MichelfrancisBustillos]

After upgrading to v5.0.0-rc3, I appear to be getting 'random' crashes/restarts of the container, with the log info below. When this panic occurs, the container does automatically restart, but all acknowledged alerts are reissued. Each one occurs after Broadcasting state update (ticker) message.

I am also seeing Docker 'blinking' on some agents. It goes away, and the agent disappears from the Docker tab, then it will return after a couple of minutes.

Additionally, the Single Sign-On button is missing from the login page.

This RC does appear to fix the issues in Issue #770

[wwwlicious]

Small UX issue in that models dropdown doesn't scroll on screen overflow

Also posted about OIDC not working #853

[misterlegend]

I was able to get the AI Assistant working once, but every time after it just gives me "I'm a large language model, I can't do XYZ" for every question after that.

5.0.0-rc.3
It happens with llama3.3, mistral, and gpt-oss models via ollama.

[rcourtman]

@misterlegend This is a known limitation with Ollama models and tool calling. The "I'm a large language model, I can't do XYZ" response indicates the model is ignoring the available tools and responding as if it has no capabilities.

Not all Ollama models support function/tool calling reliably. While we pass the tool definitions to Ollama, whether the model actually uses them depends on:

1. Model support - Some models have better tool-calling capabilities than others
2. Model size - Larger parameter models tend to follow tool schemas better
3. Prompt sensitivity - Some models need very explicit prompting to use tools

Workarounds:

• Try llama3.1:70b or llama3.2:latest which have better tool support
• For questions that don't require system access ("what's using the most CPU?"), the model should respond with general guidance even without tools
• Consider using a cloud provider (Anthropic, OpenAI) for more reliable tool execution

I'm looking into whether we can improve the system prompt or tool definitions to encourage more consistent tool usage with smaller Ollama models.

[misterlegend]

Thanks for the tips. llama3.1:70b is having the best success rate so far.

[RLSinRFV]

Getting this error on the host running Pulse (Container 102). I'm running v5.0.0-rc3 and am using the new unified agent.

CT 102 - Pull file
TASK ERROR: failed to open /opt/pulse/bin/pulse-sensor-proxy-linux-amd64: No such file or directory

[rcourtman]

Thanks for reporting this.

Root cause: The install.sh script bundled with v5.0.0-rc.3 was attempting to install the legacy pulse-sensor-proxy, which is deprecated in v5+. The new unified agent (pulse-agent) now handles temperature monitoring, making the sensor proxy unnecessary.

Fix: This has been addressed in main:

1. Skips the sensor proxy installation entirely for v5+
2. Removes the confusing "Temperature Monitoring Setup" prompt
3. Updates the completion message to not show outdated sensor proxy instructions

Workaround for v5.0.0-rc.3:
If you need to install before the next release, you can bypass the sensor proxy by passing --proxy no:

curl -fsSL https://github.com/rcourtman/Pulse/releases/download/v5.0.0-rc.3/install.sh | bash -s -- --proxy no

The fix will be included in the next release candidate (rc.4). Thanks for testing.

[clar2242]

Not getting the login via cidc button anymore using 5.0.0-rc.3
Was working on 4.36.2

I see in /api/security/status
"oidcEnabled": true

[clar2242]

Also X-Forwarded-For and X-Forwarded-Proto set by Caddy are not being honoured.
/api/security/status reports the docker internal IP for client IP, and false for hasHTTPS.

Debug log does see this though, so is getting through.
{"level":"debug","component":"pulse","proxied":true,"secure":true,"cf_ray":"","cf_connecting_ip":"","x_forwarded_for":"192.168.0.69","x_forwarded_proto":"https","time":"2025-12-17T20:38:37Z","message":"Proxy/tunnel detected - adjusting cookie settings"}

[RLSinRFV]

Just FYI @rcourtman, been testing v5.0.0-rc3 pretty thoroughly the last two days, and while my Proxmox environment isn't very complex (2 PVE hosts, no cluster, 2 PBS LXCx, various other VMs/LXCs, 3 Docker environments with agents), everything seems to be working very nicely.
The AI Assistant is DOPE! It uncovered a few things I needed to remedy.

Just saying, Pulse is maturing very quickly - Well done!
May be time for another XDA review...

[Lorondos]

Hmm I ran the bash script directly in my Proxmox LXC container:

It shutdown the LXC after that, rebooted and looks like it did update but now it is reporting the version still as 4.36.2 though I can see the new features, I will try the RC option from settings and will try to resolve.

Edit: Yup, cool, that fixed the versioning, can see the correct version number and RC label now.

[Lorondos]

Feedback:

Looks like everthing is working so far, two things I have noticed:

1. Maybe this is intended based on the ordering logic but a bit of wasted space where it has done the CRLF for the next set of filters.
2. The trueNAS capacity issue is still present, not in this branch? (Reporting 44TB where in reality, it is 28.94TB) - Pulse Host Agent over-reports usable storage on ZFS (TrueNAS) due to dataset AVAIL summation #718

[Lorondos]

I will attempt to update the agent on TrueNAS, still reporting the old v4 one.

[Lorondos]

Success:

[krestaino]

What happened to the drawers that opened when clicking on a resource? Every table row click now selects it for the new AI tool, even if the AI tool is off. Is there a way to get the drawers back, while also using the new AI features?

[rcourtman]

Hey @krestaino, thanks for the feedback.

The drawers were intentionally removed in v5 in favor of a "columns over clicks" approach. For a monitoring platform, I wanted all the information visible at a glance rather than requiring extra clicks to access details.

You can customize which columns are visible using the column toggle in the filter bar – so if you want to see disk I/O, network stats, backup status, etc., you can enable those columns. The gear/columns icon in the toolbar lets you show/hide any of them.

As for row clicking – you're right that it currently only selects resources for AI context. If AI is disabled in your setup, clicking rows won't do anything. I could look into removing the clickable appearance (cursor) when AI isn't enabled to make this clearer. Would that help?

Let me know if there's specific information you were accessing via the drawer that isn't available as a column option.

[RLSinRFV]

@rcourtman remind me again how to update the agents (from v3 to v4 in this case). I can REMOVE them from the Settings -> Agents -> Managed Agents UI, run the Uninstall agent script, then add them again, but wondering if there's a simpler update script I can run.
Tkx in advance.