ThinkUtils

A powerful, native desktop application that unlocks the full potential of your ThinkPad on Linux. Built with Tauri for blazing-fast performance, ThinkUtils gives you complete control over fan speeds, battery health, CPU performance, and system monitoring—all through a sleek, modern interface inspired by ThinkPad's iconic design.

Screenshots

Home Dashboard

Extended Home View

Fan Control

Performance Tuning

System Monitor

System Information

Settings Sync

Features

🏠 Home Dashboard

Your command center for quick system adjustments. The home dashboard provides real-time monitoring and quick access to essential controls.

• System Overview: Real-time monitoring of CPU usage and temperature, memory usage, fan speed and mode, battery level and status
• Power Profile Control: Instantly switch between Power Saver, Balanced, and Performance modes to match your workflow
• CPU Governor: Quick access to change CPU frequency scaling policy (Powersave, Balanced, Performance)
• Turbo Boost Toggle: Enable or disable CPU turbo frequencies with a single click
• Battery Threshold Display: View current charge limit settings (e.g., 40%-80%) configured for battery longevity

🌀 Fan Control

Take control of your ThinkPad's legendary cooling system. Whether you need whisper-quiet operation in a library or maximum cooling for intensive workloads, ThinkUtils gives you precise control.

• Real-time Monitoring: Watch CPU/GPU temperatures and fan RPM update live—know exactly what's happening inside your machine
• Multiple Control Modes:
  • Auto Mode: Let the system intelligently manage cooling based on temperature (recommended for most users)
  • Manual Mode: Set precise fan speed levels from 0 (silent) to 7 (maximum)—perfect for finding the sweet spot between noise and cooling
  • Maximum Mode: Run fans at full blast for intensive tasks like video rendering or gaming
• Temperature Sensors: Monitor every thermal sensor in your system—CPU cores, GPU, battery, and more
• Permission Management: Secure, one-time elevated access using pkexec—no need to run the entire app as root

🔋 Battery Management

Extend your battery's lifespan by years with intelligent charge management. ThinkUtils helps you implement the 40-80 rule that professionals use to maximize battery longevity.

• Multi-Battery Support: Monitor all installed batteries—perfect for ThinkPads with dual battery setups
• Charge Thresholds: Set custom start/stop charging limits (e.g., start at 40%, stop at 80%) to dramatically reduce battery wear and extend its useful life
• Battery Health: Track capacity degradation, health percentage, and total charge cycles—know when it's time for a replacement
• Real-time Stats: Monitor current charge level, voltage, power draw, and estimated time remaining

⚡ Performance Tuning

Squeeze every drop of performance from your CPU or maximize battery life—your choice. Fine-tune how your ThinkPad manages processor power and frequency scaling.

• CPU Governor Control: Choose your scaling policy—performance for maximum speed, powersave for battery life, schedutil for intelligent scheduling, or ondemand for dynamic adjustment
• Power Profiles: System-wide power management profiles that coordinate CPU, GPU, and other components for optimal performance or efficiency
• Turbo Boost: Toggle Intel Turbo Boost on/off—disable it to reduce heat and power consumption, or enable it for burst performance
• Frequency Monitoring: Watch your CPU frequency scale in real-time and see min/max ranges for each core

📊 System Monitor

A comprehensive system dashboard that shows you everything happening on your ThinkPad. No need for multiple terminal windows—get all your metrics in one beautiful interface.

• CPU Usage: Per-core utilization with frequency display and 1/5/15 minute load averages—spot bottlenecks instantly
• Memory Stats: RAM and swap usage with detailed breakdowns of used, available, and total memory
• Disk Usage: Monitor space usage across all mounted filesystems with device names and mount points
• Network Activity: Total bytes and packets transmitted/received for each network interface
• Process Monitor: View top processes by CPU and memory consumption with PID, name, and status

💻 System Information

Know your machine inside and out. Quick access to all your ThinkPad's hardware specifications and system details.

• Hardware Details: Complete specs including ThinkPad model, CPU type, total memory, and operating system
• Kernel Version: Current Linux kernel version—useful for troubleshooting compatibility
• Hostname: System identification for network management

🔄 Google Drive Sync

Never lose your carefully tuned settings. Sync your ThinkUtils configuration to the cloud and restore it on any ThinkPad.

• Settings Backup: Sync your fan mode, battery thresholds, and application preferences to Google Drive
• Cross-Device: Switch between multiple ThinkPads? Keep your settings consistent across all your machines
• OAuth Integration: Secure authentication using Google's OAuth—your credentials never touch ThinkUtils servers
• Note: Requires Google OAuth credentials to be configured (see GOOGLE_OAUTH_SETUP.md)

🎨 Modern UI

A beautiful interface that feels right at home on your ThinkPad. Inspired by ThinkPad's iconic design language with modern touches.

• Dark Theme: Easy on the eyes with a sleek dark interface accented by ThinkPad's signature red—perfect for late-night work sessions
• Custom Titlebar: Frameless window design with native controls that integrates seamlessly with your desktop environment
• Responsive Design: Clean, organized layout that makes complex system controls feel intuitive and accessible
• Real-time Updates: All metrics refresh automatically—no manual refreshing needed

How it Works

ThinkUtils combines the performance of Rust with the flexibility of web technologies to deliver a native desktop experience:

• Rust backend provides blazing-fast system access and direct hardware control with minimal overhead
• sensors command (lm-sensors) reads temperature data from all available thermal sensors
• /proc/acpi/ibm/fan interface gives direct access to ThinkPad's fan controller via the thinkpad_acpi kernel module
• pkexec handles elevated permissions securely—only specific operations require root access, not the entire application

Prerequisites

Debian / Ubuntu

sudo apt install lm-sensors policykit-1

Fedora / RHEL

sudo dnf install lm_sensors polkit

Arch Linux

sudo pacman -S lm_sensors polkit

Setup ThinkPad Fan Control

Before using ThinkUtils, you need to enable fan control:

1. Create or edit the thinkpad_acpi configuration:

sudo nano /etc/modprobe.d/thinkpad_acpi.conf

2. Add this line:

options thinkpad_acpi fan_control=1

3. Reboot your system or reload the module:

sudo modprobe -r thinkpad_acpi
sudo modprobe thinkpad_acpi

Development

Prerequisites

• Rust (1.70 or later)
• Node.js and npm
• Development dependencies for your distribution

Debian/Ubuntu:

sudo apt install libwebkit2gtk-4.1-dev \
    build-essential \
    curl \
    wget \
    file \
    libssl-dev \
    libayatana-appindicator3-dev \
    librsvg2-dev

Fedora:

sudo dnf install webkit2gtk4.1-devel \
    openssl-devel \
    curl \
    wget \
    file \
    libappindicator-gtk3-devel \
    librsvg2-devel

Getting Started

1. Clone and install dependencies:

git clone https://github.com/vietanhdev/ThinkUtils.git
cd thinkutils
npm install

2. Run in development mode:

npm run tauri dev

3. Build for production:

npm run tauri build

The built packages will be in src-tauri/target/release/bundle/

Code Quality & Linting

ThinkUtils uses comprehensive linting and formatting tools to maintain code quality:

• ESLint - JavaScript linting
• HTMLHint - HTML validation
• Stylelint - CSS linting
• Prettier - Code formatting
• Husky - Git hooks for pre-commit checks
• lint-staged - Run linters on staged files only

Available Commands

# Run all linters
npm run lint

# Auto-fix issues
npm run lint:fix

# Format all files
npm run format

# Full validation (lint + format check)
npm run validate

Pre-commit Hooks

Pre-commit hooks are automatically set up when you run npm install. They will:

1. ✅ Auto-format staged files (JavaScript, HTML, CSS, JSON)
2. ✅ Lint staged files and fix auto-fixable issues
3. ✅ Validate all code before allowing commit
4. ❌ Block commit if linting fails

What happens on commit:

git commit -m "Your message"

🔍 Running pre-commit checks...
📝 Formatting and linting staged files...
  ✓ JavaScript files formatted and linted
  ✓ CSS files formatted and linted
  ✓ HTML files validated
✅ All checks passed!

If issues are found:

❌ Linting failed. Please fix the issues and try again.

The commit will be blocked until you fix the issues. Most issues can be auto-fixed:

npm run lint:fix
git add .
git commit -m "Your message"

IDE Integration

VS Code (Recommended):

1. Install recommended extensions (popup will appear)
2. Reload VS Code
3. Files will auto-format on save!

Recommended extensions:

• ESLint
• Prettier
• HTMLHint
• Stylelint

Other IDEs: See LINTING_SETUP.md for configuration instructions.

Bypassing Pre-commit Hooks

In rare cases where you need to bypass hooks (not recommended):

git commit --no-verify -m "Your message"

Project Structure

thinkutils/
├── src/                    # Frontend
│   ├── index.html         # Main UI
│   ├── styles.css         # Styling
│   └── js/                # Modular JavaScript
│       ├── app.js         # Main entry point
│       ├── dom.js         # DOM references
│       ├── state.js       # State management
│       ├── utils.js       # Utilities
│       ├── navigation.js  # View switching
│       ├── titlebar.js    # Window controls
│       ├── about.js       # About dialog
│       └── views/         # Feature modules
│           ├── home.js
│           ├── fan.js
│           ├── battery.js
│           ├── performance.js
│           ├── monitor.js
│           ├── sync.js
│           └── system.js
├── src-tauri/             # Backend (Rust)
│   ├── src/
│   │   └── lib.rs         # Tauri commands
│   └── tauri.conf.json    # Configuration
├── .husky/                # Git hooks
│   └── pre-commit         # Pre-commit validation
├── .eslintrc.json         # ESLint config
├── .prettierrc.json       # Prettier config
├── .stylelintrc.json      # Stylelint config
├── .htmlhintrc            # HTMLHint config
└── .lintstagedrc.json     # lint-staged config

Development Workflow

1. Create a feature branch:

git checkout -b feature/your-feature

2. Make your changes:

   • Edit files in src/ for frontend
   • Edit files in src-tauri/src/ for backend

3. Test your changes:

npm run tauri dev

4. Validate code quality:

npm run validate

5. Commit your changes:

git add .
git commit -m "feat: add your feature"

• Pre-commit hooks will automatically format and lint
• Commit will be blocked if validation fails

6. Push and create PR:

git push origin feature/your-feature

Coding Standards

• JavaScript: ES6+ modules, single quotes, semicolons
• HTML: HTML5, lowercase tags, double quotes for attributes
• CSS: Standard CSS, consistent spacing
• Formatting: 2-space indentation, LF line endings
• Commits: Follow Conventional Commits

Testing

# Run linters
npm run lint

# Run auto-fix
npm run lint:fix

# Full validation
npm run validate

Documentation

• src/js/README.md - JavaScript module documentation
• docs/ - Feature documentation

Usage

Running the Application

Launch ThinkUtils from your application menu or run:

thinkutils

Navigation

Use the left sidebar to navigate between features:

• Home: Quick settings and system overview
• Fan Control: Manage cooling and temperatures
• Battery: Battery health and charge thresholds
• Performance: CPU governor and power profiles
• Monitor: Real-time system resource monitoring
• System Info: Hardware and OS details
• Sync: Google Drive settings backup
• About: Application information

Home Dashboard

The home screen provides quick access to essential controls:

1. System Overview: Monitor CPU usage/temperature, memory usage, fan speed, and battery level in real-time
2. Power Profile: Click buttons to switch between Power Saver, Balanced, or Performance modes
3. CPU Governor: Select CPU frequency scaling policy (Powersave, Balanced, Performance)
4. Turbo Boost: Toggle CPU turbo frequencies on/off with a switch
5. Battery Threshold: View current charge limit settings (configured in Battery view)

Fan Control

Control your ThinkPad's cooling system:

1. Auto Mode (Default): System manages fan speed automatically
2. Manual Mode: Set specific fan level (0-7)
   • 0: Silent (lowest speed)
   • 7: Maximum speed
3. Maximum Mode: Run fan at full speed for intensive cooling

The status panel shows real-time temperature sensors and fan speeds.

Battery Management

Optimize battery health and longevity:

1. View all installed batteries with current charge levels
2. Set Start Charging threshold (when to begin charging)
3. Set Stop Charging threshold (when to stop charging)
4. Click Apply Thresholds to save settings

Recommended for longevity: Start at 40%, Stop at 80%

Performance Tuning

Optimize CPU performance and power consumption:

1. CPU Governor: Select scaling policy (performance, powersave, schedutil, etc.)
2. Power Profile: Choose system-wide power mode
3. Turbo Boost: Toggle CPU turbo frequencies on/off

Monitor current frequency and min/max ranges in real-time.

System Monitor

Track system resources in real-time:

• CPU: Per-core usage with frequency and load averages (1/5/15 min)
• Memory: RAM and swap utilization with used/available/total breakdown
• Disk: Usage per mounted filesystem with device names
• Network: Total bytes and packets transmitted/received per interface
• Processes: Top processes by CPU/memory with PID, name, and status

All metrics update automatically every 2 seconds.

Google Drive Sync

Backup and sync your settings:

1. Click Sign in with Google (requires OAuth configuration)
2. Authorize ThinkUtils to access Google Drive
3. Use Sync Now to backup current settings
4. Use Download Settings to restore from cloud

Note: Requires Google OAuth credentials configured in source code.

Permissions

ThinkUtils may request elevated permissions for:

• Fan control access
• Battery threshold configuration
• CPU governor changes
• Power profile management

All requests are handled securely using pkexec.

Compatibility

ThinkUtils is designed for IBM/Lenovo ThinkPad laptops running Linux.

Tested on:

• ThinkPad T480, T490, T14
• ThinkPad X1 Carbon (various generations)
• ThinkPad P-series workstations

Requirements:

• Linux kernel with thinkpad_acpi module
• /proc/acpi/ibm/fan interface available

Troubleshooting

Fan control not working

1. Verify thinkpad_acpi is loaded:

   lsmod | grep thinkpad_acpi

2. Check if fan control is enabled:

   cat /etc/modprobe.d/thinkpad_acpi.conf

3. Verify the file exists:

   ls -l /proc/acpi/ibm/fan

Permission errors

ThinkUtils will automatically request elevated permissions. If issues persist:

sudo chmod 666 /proc/acpi/ibm/fan

Note: This needs to be done after each reboot unless you set up udev rules.

No temperature data

Ensure lm-sensors is installed and configured:

sudo sensors-detect
sensors

Project Structure

thinkutils/
├── src/                    # Frontend (HTML/CSS/JS)
│   ├── index.html         # Main UI with all views
│   ├── styles.css         # ThinkPad-themed dark styling
│   ├── main.js            # Application logic and Tauri commands
│   └── icons/             # SVG icons
│       └── fan.svg        # Custom fan icon
├── src-tauri/             # Backend (Rust)
│   ├── src/
│   │   └── lib.rs         # Tauri commands and system access
│   ├── tauri.conf.json    # Tauri configuration
│   └── icons/             # Application icons
├── ubuntu-installer.sh    # Package installation script
└── docs/                  # Documentation
    ├── THINKUTILS_MASTER_PLAN.md
    ├── IMPLEMENTATION_GUIDE.md
    ├── ROADMAP_VISUAL.md
    ├── FAN_CONTROL_FEATURE.md
    ├── BATTERY_FEATURE.md
    ├── PERFORMANCE_FEATURE.md
    └── MONITOR_FEATURE.md

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Areas for improvement:

• Additional ThinkPad utilities (battery, performance, etc.)
• Support for more ThinkPad models
• UI/UX enhancements
• Bug fixes and optimizations

License

ThinkUtils is dual-licensed:

• LGPL v3 - For open source projects
• Commercial License - For commercial/proprietary projects

For commercial licensing inquiries, please contact: https://www.vietanh.dev/contact

Credits

• Built with Tauri
• Icons from Lucide

Disclaimer

ThinkUtils modifies system fan controls. While generally safe, use at your own risk. The authors are not responsible for any hardware damage that may occur from improper use.

Always monitor temperatures when using manual fan control.

---

Made with ❤️ for ThinkPad enthusiasts