Pulse 1.0.1: Nine Lanes for the Plugins the App Already Registered

A field app fails in the yard and the log is a wall of framework noise. The useful line is the one the app already raised: captive portal, a failed job, a sync conflict.

Pulse shows those lines in a nine-lane table while the session is still running. Version 1.0.1 ships as two packages at the same version. The host listens. The CLI draws.

This post is the walkthrough: UseMauiPulse(), maui-pulse attach, and how to read a quiet row.

What Pulse is

Plugin.Maui.Pulse is a Debug sink inside the MAUI app. UseMauiPulse() finds allow-listed plugins that are already in dependency injection, stays subscribed to their events, and POSTs JSON to the development machine.

Plugin.Maui.Pulse.Cli is the global tool. maui-pulse attach listens on port 7878 and draws the table. The person using the app does not tap anything for Pulse.

Pulse does not scrape logcat, Charles, Firebase, Sentry, or MAUI Connectivity. Unknown sources are dropped. It does not start a plugin, and it does not invent a row from the operating system when a package is missing.

Register the host

Add the host package to the app. Install the CLI on the machine. Do not add Plugin.Maui.Pulse.Cli as a PackageReference.

dotnet add package Plugin.Maui.Pulse --version 1.0.1
dotnet tool install -g Plugin.Maui.Pulse.Cli --source https://api.nuget.org/v3/index.json

builder
    .UseMauiApp<App>()
    .UseMauiPulse();

UseMauiPulse() only registers services. After Build(), the initializer resolves the package name (AppInfo.PackageName unless you set Package), opens the sink, walks the allow-list, and subscribes to instances already in DI. A plugin registered after that pass is missed.

Release builds set Enabled to false before your callback. Set options.Enabled = true only when you intend the sink to run in Release. A closed CLI does not crash the host: the POST times out in 3 seconds and the error is swallowed.

The app still registers the plugins it already uses. Pulse only listens.

Attach

USB Android needs a reverse before the phone can reach the CLI:

adb reverse tcp:7878 tcp:7878
maui-pulse attach --package com.myapp.android --android --port 7878

iOS:

maui-pulse attach --package com.myapp.ios --ios --port 7878

Every session command requires --package (one Android application id or one iOS bundle id). attach and listen also require --android or --ios. JSON for a different package is dropped. Two apps need two Pulse windows.

maui-pulse 1.0.1  attach  com.myapp.android  android  :7878
session 8f2a

NETWORK   Plugin.Maui.NetworkMonitor      captive portal
API       Plugin.Maui.NetworkDiagnostics  —
QUEUE     Plugin.Maui.JobQueue            visits#184
          Plugin.Maui.RetryQueue          — not installed
SYNC      Plugin.Maui.OfflineSync         conflict on Visit
PERMS     Plugin.Maui.PermissionFlow      —
HEALTH    Plugin.Maui.AppHealth           battery 18%
LEAK      Plugin.Maui.LeakAnalyser        —
CRASH     Plugin.Maui.Diagnostics         —
SESSION   Plugin.Maui.DeviceSession       session 8f2a

--lanes network,sync,queue hides rows. It does not add plugins to the allow-list. GeoLocator, PushRouter, SmartUpload, and every other package are never a lane.

The nine lanes, and the registration Pulse looks for:

QUEUE is two plugins. JobQueue alone is a valid session. RetryQueue then shows — not installed.

After the session

maui-pulse listen is the same HTTP sink with no table. GET / returns { "ok": true, "tool": "maui-pulse" }. --stdin accepts one JSON payload for a test or an agent.

Live events are optional for the file lanes. Copy the known files off the device, then inspect them. pull copies from a folder you already have. --adb only prints how to copy. It does not scrape logcat, and logcat.txt in that folder is ignored.

maui-pulse pull --package com.myapp.android --from ./device-files --out ./pulled
maui-pulse queues --package com.myapp.android --from ./pulled
maui-pulse sync --package com.myapp.android --from ./pulled
maui-pulse incident --package com.myapp.android --from ./pulled --out incident.zip

Known names: plugin.maui.jobqueue.db3, plugin.maui.retryqueue.db3, offlinesync.db3, and maui-diagnostics/. queues and sync are read-only. They do not drain a queue or retry a row. incident zips the allow-listed files plus manifest.json.

Exit 0 includes skipped lanes and missing queue files. Exit 1 means no allow-listed evidence or the port bind failed. Exit 2 is usage.

On an interactive terminal the CLI asks every 4 hours whether to update from nuget.org. Skip it with --no-update-check or NUVYNTRA_NO_UPDATE_CHECK=1. CI, --format json, and piped output skip the prompt. The CLI does not phone home.

When something looks wrong

Plugin.Maui.Observability can POST at the same port. It is a pipe, not a tenth lane. Domains other than Network, Health, Sync, and Session are dropped.

Where Pulse sits next to the other tools

adb logcat, Charles, Firebase Performance, and Sentry remain the tools for raw logs, HTTP, and a report that arrives after the session. Pulse is the table for the plugins you already registered.

Try it

dotnet add package Plugin.Maui.Pulse --version 1.0.1
dotnet tool install -g Plugin.Maui.Pulse.Cli --source https://api.nuget.org/v3/index.json
adb reverse tcp:7878 tcp:7878
maui-pulse attach --package com.myapp.android --android --port 7878

Call UseMauiPulse(), keep the UseX() lines you already have, and read a — as waiting.

• Host: Plugin.Maui.Pulse
• CLI: Plugin.Maui.Pulse.Cli
• Repository: github.com/nuvyntralabs/MauiPulse
• Toolkit page: nuvyntralabs.github.io/toolkits/maui-pulse/

By Niladri