No version for distro humble showing jazzy. Known supported distros are highlighted in the buttons above.

dispatcher package from dispatcher repo

dispatcher

ROS Distro
jazzy

Package Summary

Version	0.4.4
License	Apache-2.0
Build type	AMENT_CMAKE
Use	RECOMMENDED

Repository Summary

Checkout URI	https://github.com/nasa-jpl/dispatcher.git
VCS Type	git
VCS Version	master
Last Updated	2026-09-05
Dev Status	MAINTAINED
Released	UNRELEASED
Contributing	Help Wanted (-) Good First Issues (-) Pull Requests to Review (-)

Package Description

Qt-based ROS 2 application for launching and monitoring ROS nodes and arbitrary processes.

Additional Links

Maintainers

Kristopher Wehage
Daniel Pastor

Authors

Dennis Wai
Alex Brinkman
Preston Rogers

README.md

Dispatcher

A Qt-based ROS 2 widget for starting, stopping, and monitoring both ROS nodes and arbitrary shell processes.

dispatcher

dispatcher builds its UI from a YAML file. Each configured item is launched in its own detached tmux session, and the terminal button can attach a gnome-terminal window to that session when available.

Runtime Parameters

The dispatcher executable uses the following ROS parameters:

Name	Type	Default	Description
`dispatcher_config_path`	`string`	`""`	Path to the dispatcher YAML file.
`initial_configuration`	`string`	`""`	Configuration name to select on startup.
`start_checked_on_startup`	`bool`	`false`	Start all checked process items after loading the initial configuration.
`ssh_timeout_sec`	`int`	`10`	Timeout used when building remote SSH commands.
`target_loop_rate_hz`	`double`	`100.0`	Main process/status polling rate.

YAML Configuration

The top-level dispatcher YAML supports:

Key	Required	Description
`workspace`	Yes	Workspace path used by ROS process items before sourcing `install/setup.bash`.
`nodes`	Yes	Process and category definitions rendered in the main panel.
`configurations`	No	Named runtime configurations. Each entry may be a simple name or a map with `name`, `cmd_prefix`, `environment_variables`, and `icon`.
`cmd_prefix`	No	Default command prefix for the implicit `all` configuration.
`environment_variables`	No	Default environment variables for the implicit `all` configuration.
`hide_unconfigured_processes`	No	If true, items missing in the active configuration are hidden instead of disabled.
`scripts`	No	Script button definitions shown in the scripts panel.
`variables`	No	Variable selectors used for `$VARIABLE` command substitution.

Node Types

Each entry in nodes can be:

A ROS process item. If type is omitted, the item is treated as ROS by default.
A shell process item with type: shell.
A collapsible category with type: category and an items array. Entries in items follow the same rules, including the default to ROS when type is omitted.

Common item fields include:

Key	Description
`name`	UI label and tmux-session base name.
`cmd`	Command used for the implicit `all` configuration.
`configurations`	Per-configuration command definitions.
`start_checked`	Whether the item starts checked in the UI. Optional, defaults to `false`.
`stop_tmux_cmd`	Stop sequence sent to tmux. Optional, defaults to `C-C`.
`hostname` / `user`	Optional remote execution target for local commands or configuration entries.
`use_cmd_prefix`	Enables or disables command-prefix injection.
`use_environment_variables`	Enables or disables environment-variable injection.
`attach_on_start`	Opens a terminal automatically after launch.

ROS process items can additionally define node_name plus an optional namespace, or a ros_nodes array with the same monitoring fields for online-state monitoring. An omitted namespace resolves to the root namespace, so name: talker matches the graph’s /talker; a name that is already absolute, such as /fcat/fcat, carries its own namespace.

Shell process items use pgrep on the item name to infer online state.

Scripts and Variables

Script entries support:

Key	Description
`name`	Button label.
`cmd` or `configurations`	Script command definition.
`row`, `column`	Grid placement in the scripts panel.
`icon`	Optional Qt resource path for the button icon.
`use_terminal`	Whether to wrap execution in `gnome-terminal --`.

Variable entries support:

Key	Description
`name`	Variable name used in commands, for example `$FCAT_LOOP_RATE_HZ`.
`choices`	Selectable values exposed in the UI.

Examples

The following examples build incrementally from a minimal configuration to a full-featured setup. Each one corresponds to a YAML file in config/ and a screenshot in doc/.

ROS 2 Demos (runnable out of the box)

Four examples run without any custom packages, using only the demos that ship with ROS 2. Each is self-contained and includes an rqt_graph button. Install the demo packages if needed:

```bash sudo apt install ros-$ROS_DISTRO-demo-nodes-cpp \

File truncated at 100 lines see the full file

CHANGELOG

Changelog for package dispatcher

Forthcoming

0.4.4 (2026-09-05 02:08)

Merge pull request #6 from nasa-jpl/copilot/fix-bump-github-actions-job

Fix "bump" workflow: use pull_request_target so fork-based merges can push tags
Fix bump workflow: use pull_request_target to get write token for fork PRs

Co-authored-by: PastorD <<7848129+PastorD@users.noreply.github.com>>
Initial plan
Merge pull request #4 from PastorD/feature/start-checked-on-startup

Add checked-item startup parameter
improve config docs
fix category type default to match non-category behaviour
fix namespace resolution
add ros2 examples
Add checked-item startup parameter
Contributors: copilot-swe-agent[bot], Daniel Pastor

0.4.3 (2026-09-03 16:42)

Merge pull request #5 from nasa-jpl/update-authors

update authors
fix author name
update authors
Contributors: Daniel Pastor

0.4.2 (2026-08-31 07:32)

Merge pull request #3 from nasa-jpl/fix-rolling

Fix rolling
add changelo update
use target_link_libraries instead of deprecated ament_target_dependencies
Contributors: Daniel Pastor

0.4.0 (2026-06-28 20:40)

chore: bump version to 0.4.0 [skip ci]
Merge pull request #1 from nasa-jpl/github-ci add actions and workflows
add actions and workflows
Contributors: Daniel Pastor, github-actions[bot]

0.3.0 (2026-06-28 20:02)

Merge branch 'prepare-public-release' into 'master' update license to Apache. Readme corrections. Manually bump version See merge request robotics/ros2/dispatcher!4
update license to Apache. Readme corrections. Manually bump version
Merge branch 'feature/script_categories' into 'master' Add categories to scripts See merge request robotics/ros2/dispatcher!3
doc image resize
Updated docs to mention script categories
Added attribution-free icons
categories extended to scripts
Contributors: Daniel Pastor, Daniel Pastor Moreno, jongreen

0.2.0 (2026-04-24)

manual version bump
Merge branch 'improve_readme' into 'master' Improve readme See merge request robotics/ros2/dispatcher!2
fix tests
add more examples
add more examples with screenshots
make start checked optional

File truncated at 100 lines see the full file

Package Dependencies

Deps	Name
	ament_cmake
	ament_lint_auto
	ament_lint_common
	ament_cmake_gtest
	rclcpp
	std_msgs
	sensor_msgs
	std_srvs
	builtin_interfaces

System Dependencies

Name
tmux
yaml-cpp
qtbase5-dev
libqt5-opengl-dev

Dependant Packages

No known dependants.

Launch files

No launch files found

Messages

No message files found.

Services

No service files found

Plugins

No plugins found.

Recent questions tagged `dispatcher` at Robotics Stack Exchange

API Docs Browse Code

dispatcher package from dispatcher repo

dispatcher

ROS Distro
jazzy

API Docs
Browse Code

Package Summary

Version	0.4.4
License	Apache-2.0
Build type	AMENT_CMAKE
Use	RECOMMENDED

Repository Summary

Checkout URI	https://github.com/nasa-jpl/dispatcher.git
VCS Type	git
VCS Version	master
Last Updated	2026-09-05
Dev Status	MAINTAINED
Released	UNRELEASED
Contributing	Help Wanted (-) Good First Issues (-) Pull Requests to Review (-)

Package Description

Qt-based ROS 2 application for launching and monitoring ROS nodes and arbitrary processes.

Additional Links

Maintainers

Kristopher Wehage
Daniel Pastor

Authors

Dennis Wai
Alex Brinkman
Preston Rogers

README.md

Dispatcher

A Qt-based ROS 2 widget for starting, stopping, and monitoring both ROS nodes and arbitrary shell processes.

dispatcher

dispatcher builds its UI from a YAML file. Each configured item is launched in its own detached tmux session, and the terminal button can attach a gnome-terminal window to that session when available.

Runtime Parameters

The dispatcher executable uses the following ROS parameters:

Name	Type	Default	Description
`dispatcher_config_path`	`string`	`""`	Path to the dispatcher YAML file.
`initial_configuration`	`string`	`""`	Configuration name to select on startup.
`start_checked_on_startup`	`bool`	`false`	Start all checked process items after loading the initial configuration.
`ssh_timeout_sec`	`int`	`10`	Timeout used when building remote SSH commands.
`target_loop_rate_hz`	`double`	`100.0`	Main process/status polling rate.

YAML Configuration

The top-level dispatcher YAML supports:

Key	Required	Description
`workspace`	Yes	Workspace path used by ROS process items before sourcing `install/setup.bash`.
`nodes`	Yes	Process and category definitions rendered in the main panel.
`configurations`	No	Named runtime configurations. Each entry may be a simple name or a map with `name`, `cmd_prefix`, `environment_variables`, and `icon`.
`cmd_prefix`	No	Default command prefix for the implicit `all` configuration.
`environment_variables`	No	Default environment variables for the implicit `all` configuration.
`hide_unconfigured_processes`	No	If true, items missing in the active configuration are hidden instead of disabled.
`scripts`	No	Script button definitions shown in the scripts panel.
`variables`	No	Variable selectors used for `$VARIABLE` command substitution.

Node Types

Each entry in nodes can be:

A ROS process item. If type is omitted, the item is treated as ROS by default.
A shell process item with type: shell.
A collapsible category with type: category and an items array. Entries in items follow the same rules, including the default to ROS when type is omitted.

Common item fields include:

Key	Description
`name`	UI label and tmux-session base name.
`cmd`	Command used for the implicit `all` configuration.
`configurations`	Per-configuration command definitions.
`start_checked`	Whether the item starts checked in the UI. Optional, defaults to `false`.
`stop_tmux_cmd`	Stop sequence sent to tmux. Optional, defaults to `C-C`.
`hostname` / `user`	Optional remote execution target for local commands or configuration entries.
`use_cmd_prefix`	Enables or disables command-prefix injection.
`use_environment_variables`	Enables or disables environment-variable injection.
`attach_on_start`	Opens a terminal automatically after launch.

ROS process items can additionally define node_name plus an optional namespace, or a ros_nodes array with the same monitoring fields for online-state monitoring. An omitted namespace resolves to the root namespace, so name: talker matches the graph’s /talker; a name that is already absolute, such as /fcat/fcat, carries its own namespace.

Shell process items use pgrep on the item name to infer online state.

Scripts and Variables

Script entries support:

Key	Description
`name`	Button label.
`cmd` or `configurations`	Script command definition.
`row`, `column`	Grid placement in the scripts panel.
`icon`	Optional Qt resource path for the button icon.
`use_terminal`	Whether to wrap execution in `gnome-terminal --`.

Variable entries support:

Key	Description
`name`	Variable name used in commands, for example `$FCAT_LOOP_RATE_HZ`.
`choices`	Selectable values exposed in the UI.

Examples

The following examples build incrementally from a minimal configuration to a full-featured setup. Each one corresponds to a YAML file in config/ and a screenshot in doc/.

ROS 2 Demos (runnable out of the box)

Four examples run without any custom packages, using only the demos that ship with ROS 2. Each is self-contained and includes an rqt_graph button. Install the demo packages if needed:

```bash sudo apt install ros-$ROS_DISTRO-demo-nodes-cpp \

File truncated at 100 lines see the full file

CHANGELOG

Changelog for package dispatcher

Forthcoming

0.4.4 (2026-09-05 02:08)

Merge pull request #6 from nasa-jpl/copilot/fix-bump-github-actions-job

Fix "bump" workflow: use pull_request_target so fork-based merges can push tags
Fix bump workflow: use pull_request_target to get write token for fork PRs

Co-authored-by: PastorD <<7848129+PastorD@users.noreply.github.com>>
Initial plan
Merge pull request #4 from PastorD/feature/start-checked-on-startup

Add checked-item startup parameter
improve config docs
fix category type default to match non-category behaviour
fix namespace resolution
add ros2 examples
Add checked-item startup parameter
Contributors: copilot-swe-agent[bot], Daniel Pastor

0.4.3 (2026-09-03 16:42)

Merge pull request #5 from nasa-jpl/update-authors

update authors
fix author name
update authors
Contributors: Daniel Pastor

0.4.2 (2026-08-31 07:32)

Merge pull request #3 from nasa-jpl/fix-rolling

Fix rolling
add changelo update
use target_link_libraries instead of deprecated ament_target_dependencies
Contributors: Daniel Pastor

0.4.0 (2026-06-28 20:40)

chore: bump version to 0.4.0 [skip ci]
Merge pull request #1 from nasa-jpl/github-ci add actions and workflows
add actions and workflows
Contributors: Daniel Pastor, github-actions[bot]

0.3.0 (2026-06-28 20:02)

Merge branch 'prepare-public-release' into 'master' update license to Apache. Readme corrections. Manually bump version See merge request robotics/ros2/dispatcher!4
update license to Apache. Readme corrections. Manually bump version
Merge branch 'feature/script_categories' into 'master' Add categories to scripts See merge request robotics/ros2/dispatcher!3
doc image resize
Updated docs to mention script categories
Added attribution-free icons
categories extended to scripts
Contributors: Daniel Pastor, Daniel Pastor Moreno, jongreen

0.2.0 (2026-04-24)

manual version bump
Merge branch 'improve_readme' into 'master' Improve readme See merge request robotics/ros2/dispatcher!2
fix tests
add more examples
add more examples with screenshots
make start checked optional

File truncated at 100 lines see the full file

Package Dependencies

Deps	Name
	ament_cmake
	ament_lint_auto
	ament_lint_common
	ament_cmake_gtest
	rclcpp
	std_msgs
	sensor_msgs
	std_srvs
	builtin_interfaces

System Dependencies

Name
tmux
yaml-cpp
qtbase5-dev
libqt5-opengl-dev

Dependant Packages

No known dependants.

Launch files

No launch files found

Messages

No message files found.

Services

No service files found

Plugins

No plugins found.

Recent questions tagged `dispatcher` at Robotics Stack Exchange

API Docs Browse Code

No version for distro kilted showing jazzy. Known supported distros are highlighted in the buttons above.

dispatcher package from dispatcher repo

dispatcher

ROS Distro
jazzy

API Docs
Browse Code

Package Summary

Version	0.4.4
License	Apache-2.0
Build type	AMENT_CMAKE
Use	RECOMMENDED

Repository Summary

Checkout URI	https://github.com/nasa-jpl/dispatcher.git
VCS Type	git
VCS Version	master
Last Updated	2026-09-05
Dev Status	MAINTAINED
Released	UNRELEASED
Contributing	Help Wanted (-) Good First Issues (-) Pull Requests to Review (-)

Package Description

Qt-based ROS 2 application for launching and monitoring ROS nodes and arbitrary processes.

Additional Links

Maintainers

Kristopher Wehage
Daniel Pastor

Authors

Dennis Wai
Alex Brinkman
Preston Rogers

README.md

Dispatcher

A Qt-based ROS 2 widget for starting, stopping, and monitoring both ROS nodes and arbitrary shell processes.

dispatcher

dispatcher builds its UI from a YAML file. Each configured item is launched in its own detached tmux session, and the terminal button can attach a gnome-terminal window to that session when available.

Runtime Parameters

The dispatcher executable uses the following ROS parameters:

Name	Type	Default	Description
`dispatcher_config_path`	`string`	`""`	Path to the dispatcher YAML file.
`initial_configuration`	`string`	`""`	Configuration name to select on startup.
`start_checked_on_startup`	`bool`	`false`	Start all checked process items after loading the initial configuration.
`ssh_timeout_sec`	`int`	`10`	Timeout used when building remote SSH commands.
`target_loop_rate_hz`	`double`	`100.0`	Main process/status polling rate.

YAML Configuration

The top-level dispatcher YAML supports:

Key	Required	Description
`workspace`	Yes	Workspace path used by ROS process items before sourcing `install/setup.bash`.
`nodes`	Yes	Process and category definitions rendered in the main panel.
`configurations`	No	Named runtime configurations. Each entry may be a simple name or a map with `name`, `cmd_prefix`, `environment_variables`, and `icon`.
`cmd_prefix`	No	Default command prefix for the implicit `all` configuration.
`environment_variables`	No	Default environment variables for the implicit `all` configuration.
`hide_unconfigured_processes`	No	If true, items missing in the active configuration are hidden instead of disabled.
`scripts`	No	Script button definitions shown in the scripts panel.
`variables`	No	Variable selectors used for `$VARIABLE` command substitution.

Node Types

Each entry in nodes can be:

A ROS process item. If type is omitted, the item is treated as ROS by default.
A shell process item with type: shell.
A collapsible category with type: category and an items array. Entries in items follow the same rules, including the default to ROS when type is omitted.

Common item fields include:

Key	Description
`name`	UI label and tmux-session base name.
`cmd`	Command used for the implicit `all` configuration.
`configurations`	Per-configuration command definitions.
`start_checked`	Whether the item starts checked in the UI. Optional, defaults to `false`.
`stop_tmux_cmd`	Stop sequence sent to tmux. Optional, defaults to `C-C`.
`hostname` / `user`	Optional remote execution target for local commands or configuration entries.
`use_cmd_prefix`	Enables or disables command-prefix injection.
`use_environment_variables`	Enables or disables environment-variable injection.
`attach_on_start`	Opens a terminal automatically after launch.

ROS process items can additionally define node_name plus an optional namespace, or a ros_nodes array with the same monitoring fields for online-state monitoring. An omitted namespace resolves to the root namespace, so name: talker matches the graph’s /talker; a name that is already absolute, such as /fcat/fcat, carries its own namespace.

Shell process items use pgrep on the item name to infer online state.

Scripts and Variables

Script entries support:

Key	Description
`name`	Button label.
`cmd` or `configurations`	Script command definition.
`row`, `column`	Grid placement in the scripts panel.
`icon`	Optional Qt resource path for the button icon.
`use_terminal`	Whether to wrap execution in `gnome-terminal --`.

Variable entries support:

Key	Description
`name`	Variable name used in commands, for example `$FCAT_LOOP_RATE_HZ`.
`choices`	Selectable values exposed in the UI.

Examples

The following examples build incrementally from a minimal configuration to a full-featured setup. Each one corresponds to a YAML file in config/ and a screenshot in doc/.

ROS 2 Demos (runnable out of the box)

Four examples run without any custom packages, using only the demos that ship with ROS 2. Each is self-contained and includes an rqt_graph button. Install the demo packages if needed:

```bash sudo apt install ros-$ROS_DISTRO-demo-nodes-cpp \

File truncated at 100 lines see the full file

CHANGELOG

Changelog for package dispatcher

Forthcoming

0.4.4 (2026-09-05 02:08)

Merge pull request #6 from nasa-jpl/copilot/fix-bump-github-actions-job

Fix "bump" workflow: use pull_request_target so fork-based merges can push tags
Fix bump workflow: use pull_request_target to get write token for fork PRs

Co-authored-by: PastorD <<7848129+PastorD@users.noreply.github.com>>
Initial plan
Merge pull request #4 from PastorD/feature/start-checked-on-startup

Add checked-item startup parameter
improve config docs
fix category type default to match non-category behaviour
fix namespace resolution
add ros2 examples
Add checked-item startup parameter
Contributors: copilot-swe-agent[bot], Daniel Pastor

0.4.3 (2026-09-03 16:42)

Merge pull request #5 from nasa-jpl/update-authors

update authors
fix author name
update authors
Contributors: Daniel Pastor

0.4.2 (2026-08-31 07:32)

Merge pull request #3 from nasa-jpl/fix-rolling

Fix rolling
add changelo update
use target_link_libraries instead of deprecated ament_target_dependencies
Contributors: Daniel Pastor

0.4.0 (2026-06-28 20:40)

chore: bump version to 0.4.0 [skip ci]
Merge pull request #1 from nasa-jpl/github-ci add actions and workflows
add actions and workflows
Contributors: Daniel Pastor, github-actions[bot]

0.3.0 (2026-06-28 20:02)

Merge branch 'prepare-public-release' into 'master' update license to Apache. Readme corrections. Manually bump version See merge request robotics/ros2/dispatcher!4
update license to Apache. Readme corrections. Manually bump version
Merge branch 'feature/script_categories' into 'master' Add categories to scripts See merge request robotics/ros2/dispatcher!3
doc image resize
Updated docs to mention script categories
Added attribution-free icons
categories extended to scripts
Contributors: Daniel Pastor, Daniel Pastor Moreno, jongreen

0.2.0 (2026-04-24)

manual version bump
Merge branch 'improve_readme' into 'master' Improve readme See merge request robotics/ros2/dispatcher!2
fix tests
add more examples
add more examples with screenshots
make start checked optional

File truncated at 100 lines see the full file

Package Dependencies

Deps	Name
	ament_cmake
	ament_lint_auto
	ament_lint_common
	ament_cmake_gtest
	rclcpp
	std_msgs
	sensor_msgs
	std_srvs
	builtin_interfaces

System Dependencies

Name
tmux
yaml-cpp
qtbase5-dev
libqt5-opengl-dev

Dependant Packages

No known dependants.

Launch files

No launch files found

Messages

No message files found.

Services

No service files found

Plugins

No plugins found.

Recent questions tagged `dispatcher` at Robotics Stack Exchange

API Docs Browse Code

No version for distro lyrical showing jazzy. Known supported distros are highlighted in the buttons above.

dispatcher package from dispatcher repo

dispatcher

ROS Distro
jazzy

API Docs
Browse Code

Package Summary

Version	0.4.4
License	Apache-2.0
Build type	AMENT_CMAKE
Use	RECOMMENDED

Repository Summary

Checkout URI	https://github.com/nasa-jpl/dispatcher.git
VCS Type	git
VCS Version	master
Last Updated	2026-09-05
Dev Status	MAINTAINED
Released	UNRELEASED
Contributing	Help Wanted (-) Good First Issues (-) Pull Requests to Review (-)

Package Description

Qt-based ROS 2 application for launching and monitoring ROS nodes and arbitrary processes.

Additional Links

Maintainers

Kristopher Wehage
Daniel Pastor

Authors

Dennis Wai
Alex Brinkman
Preston Rogers

README.md

Dispatcher

A Qt-based ROS 2 widget for starting, stopping, and monitoring both ROS nodes and arbitrary shell processes.

dispatcher

dispatcher builds its UI from a YAML file. Each configured item is launched in its own detached tmux session, and the terminal button can attach a gnome-terminal window to that session when available.

Runtime Parameters

The dispatcher executable uses the following ROS parameters:

Name	Type	Default	Description
`dispatcher_config_path`	`string`	`""`	Path to the dispatcher YAML file.
`initial_configuration`	`string`	`""`	Configuration name to select on startup.
`start_checked_on_startup`	`bool`	`false`	Start all checked process items after loading the initial configuration.
`ssh_timeout_sec`	`int`	`10`	Timeout used when building remote SSH commands.
`target_loop_rate_hz`	`double`	`100.0`	Main process/status polling rate.

YAML Configuration

The top-level dispatcher YAML supports:

Key	Required	Description
`workspace`	Yes	Workspace path used by ROS process items before sourcing `install/setup.bash`.
`nodes`	Yes	Process and category definitions rendered in the main panel.
`configurations`	No	Named runtime configurations. Each entry may be a simple name or a map with `name`, `cmd_prefix`, `environment_variables`, and `icon`.
`cmd_prefix`	No	Default command prefix for the implicit `all` configuration.
`environment_variables`	No	Default environment variables for the implicit `all` configuration.
`hide_unconfigured_processes`	No	If true, items missing in the active configuration are hidden instead of disabled.
`scripts`	No	Script button definitions shown in the scripts panel.
`variables`	No	Variable selectors used for `$VARIABLE` command substitution.

Node Types

Each entry in nodes can be:

A ROS process item. If type is omitted, the item is treated as ROS by default.
A shell process item with type: shell.
A collapsible category with type: category and an items array. Entries in items follow the same rules, including the default to ROS when type is omitted.

Common item fields include:

Key	Description
`name`	UI label and tmux-session base name.
`cmd`	Command used for the implicit `all` configuration.
`configurations`	Per-configuration command definitions.
`start_checked`	Whether the item starts checked in the UI. Optional, defaults to `false`.
`stop_tmux_cmd`	Stop sequence sent to tmux. Optional, defaults to `C-C`.
`hostname` / `user`	Optional remote execution target for local commands or configuration entries.
`use_cmd_prefix`	Enables or disables command-prefix injection.
`use_environment_variables`	Enables or disables environment-variable injection.
`attach_on_start`	Opens a terminal automatically after launch.

ROS process items can additionally define node_name plus an optional namespace, or a ros_nodes array with the same monitoring fields for online-state monitoring. An omitted namespace resolves to the root namespace, so name: talker matches the graph’s /talker; a name that is already absolute, such as /fcat/fcat, carries its own namespace.

Shell process items use pgrep on the item name to infer online state.

Scripts and Variables

Script entries support:

Key	Description
`name`	Button label.
`cmd` or `configurations`	Script command definition.
`row`, `column`	Grid placement in the scripts panel.
`icon`	Optional Qt resource path for the button icon.
`use_terminal`	Whether to wrap execution in `gnome-terminal --`.

Variable entries support:

Key	Description
`name`	Variable name used in commands, for example `$FCAT_LOOP_RATE_HZ`.
`choices`	Selectable values exposed in the UI.

Examples

The following examples build incrementally from a minimal configuration to a full-featured setup. Each one corresponds to a YAML file in config/ and a screenshot in doc/.

ROS 2 Demos (runnable out of the box)

Four examples run without any custom packages, using only the demos that ship with ROS 2. Each is self-contained and includes an rqt_graph button. Install the demo packages if needed:

```bash sudo apt install ros-$ROS_DISTRO-demo-nodes-cpp \

File truncated at 100 lines see the full file

CHANGELOG

Changelog for package dispatcher

Forthcoming

0.4.4 (2026-09-05 02:08)

Merge pull request #6 from nasa-jpl/copilot/fix-bump-github-actions-job

Fix "bump" workflow: use pull_request_target so fork-based merges can push tags
Fix bump workflow: use pull_request_target to get write token for fork PRs

Co-authored-by: PastorD <<7848129+PastorD@users.noreply.github.com>>
Initial plan
Merge pull request #4 from PastorD/feature/start-checked-on-startup

Add checked-item startup parameter
improve config docs
fix category type default to match non-category behaviour
fix namespace resolution
add ros2 examples
Add checked-item startup parameter
Contributors: copilot-swe-agent[bot], Daniel Pastor

0.4.3 (2026-09-03 16:42)

Merge pull request #5 from nasa-jpl/update-authors

update authors
fix author name
update authors
Contributors: Daniel Pastor

0.4.2 (2026-08-31 07:32)

Merge pull request #3 from nasa-jpl/fix-rolling

Fix rolling
add changelo update
use target_link_libraries instead of deprecated ament_target_dependencies
Contributors: Daniel Pastor

0.4.0 (2026-06-28 20:40)

chore: bump version to 0.4.0 [skip ci]
Merge pull request #1 from nasa-jpl/github-ci add actions and workflows
add actions and workflows
Contributors: Daniel Pastor, github-actions[bot]

0.3.0 (2026-06-28 20:02)

Merge branch 'prepare-public-release' into 'master' update license to Apache. Readme corrections. Manually bump version See merge request robotics/ros2/dispatcher!4
update license to Apache. Readme corrections. Manually bump version
Merge branch 'feature/script_categories' into 'master' Add categories to scripts See merge request robotics/ros2/dispatcher!3
doc image resize
Updated docs to mention script categories
Added attribution-free icons
categories extended to scripts
Contributors: Daniel Pastor, Daniel Pastor Moreno, jongreen

0.2.0 (2026-04-24)

manual version bump
Merge branch 'improve_readme' into 'master' Improve readme See merge request robotics/ros2/dispatcher!2
fix tests
add more examples
add more examples with screenshots
make start checked optional

File truncated at 100 lines see the full file

Package Dependencies

Deps	Name
	ament_cmake
	ament_lint_auto
	ament_lint_common
	ament_cmake_gtest
	rclcpp
	std_msgs
	sensor_msgs
	std_srvs
	builtin_interfaces

System Dependencies

Name
tmux
yaml-cpp
qtbase5-dev
libqt5-opengl-dev

Dependant Packages

No known dependants.

Launch files

No launch files found

Messages

No message files found.

Services

No service files found

Plugins

No plugins found.

Recent questions tagged `dispatcher` at Robotics Stack Exchange

API Docs Browse Code

dispatcher package from dispatcher repo

dispatcher

ROS Distro
rolling

API Docs
Browse Code

Package Summary

Version	0.4.4
License	Apache-2.0
Build type	AMENT_CMAKE
Use	RECOMMENDED

Repository Summary

Checkout URI	https://github.com/nasa-jpl/dispatcher.git
VCS Type	git
VCS Version	master
Last Updated	2026-09-05
Dev Status	MAINTAINED
Released	UNRELEASED
Contributing	Help Wanted (-) Good First Issues (-) Pull Requests to Review (-)

Package Description

Qt-based ROS 2 application for launching and monitoring ROS nodes and arbitrary processes.

Additional Links

Maintainers

Kristopher Wehage
Daniel Pastor

Authors

Dennis Wai
Alex Brinkman
Preston Rogers

README.md

Dispatcher

A Qt-based ROS 2 widget for starting, stopping, and monitoring both ROS nodes and arbitrary shell processes.

dispatcher

dispatcher builds its UI from a YAML file. Each configured item is launched in its own detached tmux session, and the terminal button can attach a gnome-terminal window to that session when available.

Runtime Parameters

The dispatcher executable uses the following ROS parameters:

Name	Type	Default	Description
`dispatcher_config_path`	`string`	`""`	Path to the dispatcher YAML file.
`initial_configuration`	`string`	`""`	Configuration name to select on startup.
`start_checked_on_startup`	`bool`	`false`	Start all checked process items after loading the initial configuration.
`ssh_timeout_sec`	`int`	`10`	Timeout used when building remote SSH commands.
`target_loop_rate_hz`	`double`	`100.0`	Main process/status polling rate.

YAML Configuration

The top-level dispatcher YAML supports:

Key	Required	Description
`workspace`	Yes	Workspace path used by ROS process items before sourcing `install/setup.bash`.
`nodes`	Yes	Process and category definitions rendered in the main panel.
`configurations`	No	Named runtime configurations. Each entry may be a simple name or a map with `name`, `cmd_prefix`, `environment_variables`, and `icon`.
`cmd_prefix`	No	Default command prefix for the implicit `all` configuration.
`environment_variables`	No	Default environment variables for the implicit `all` configuration.
`hide_unconfigured_processes`	No	If true, items missing in the active configuration are hidden instead of disabled.
`scripts`	No	Script button definitions shown in the scripts panel.
`variables`	No	Variable selectors used for `$VARIABLE` command substitution.

Node Types

Each entry in nodes can be:

A ROS process item. If type is omitted, the item is treated as ROS by default.
A shell process item with type: shell.
A collapsible category with type: category and an items array. Entries in items follow the same rules, including the default to ROS when type is omitted.

Common item fields include:

Key	Description
`name`	UI label and tmux-session base name.
`cmd`	Command used for the implicit `all` configuration.
`configurations`	Per-configuration command definitions.
`start_checked`	Whether the item starts checked in the UI. Optional, defaults to `false`.
`stop_tmux_cmd`	Stop sequence sent to tmux. Optional, defaults to `C-C`.
`hostname` / `user`	Optional remote execution target for local commands or configuration entries.
`use_cmd_prefix`	Enables or disables command-prefix injection.
`use_environment_variables`	Enables or disables environment-variable injection.
`attach_on_start`	Opens a terminal automatically after launch.

ROS process items can additionally define node_name plus an optional namespace, or a ros_nodes array with the same monitoring fields for online-state monitoring. An omitted namespace resolves to the root namespace, so name: talker matches the graph’s /talker; a name that is already absolute, such as /fcat/fcat, carries its own namespace.

Shell process items use pgrep on the item name to infer online state.

Scripts and Variables

Script entries support:

Key	Description
`name`	Button label.
`cmd` or `configurations`	Script command definition.
`row`, `column`	Grid placement in the scripts panel.
`icon`	Optional Qt resource path for the button icon.
`use_terminal`	Whether to wrap execution in `gnome-terminal --`.

Variable entries support:

Key	Description
`name`	Variable name used in commands, for example `$FCAT_LOOP_RATE_HZ`.
`choices`	Selectable values exposed in the UI.

Examples

The following examples build incrementally from a minimal configuration to a full-featured setup. Each one corresponds to a YAML file in config/ and a screenshot in doc/.

ROS 2 Demos (runnable out of the box)

Four examples run without any custom packages, using only the demos that ship with ROS 2. Each is self-contained and includes an rqt_graph button. Install the demo packages if needed:

```bash sudo apt install ros-$ROS_DISTRO-demo-nodes-cpp \

File truncated at 100 lines see the full file

CHANGELOG

Changelog for package dispatcher

Forthcoming

0.4.4 (2026-09-05 02:08)

Merge pull request #6 from nasa-jpl/copilot/fix-bump-github-actions-job

Fix "bump" workflow: use pull_request_target so fork-based merges can push tags
Fix bump workflow: use pull_request_target to get write token for fork PRs

Co-authored-by: PastorD <<7848129+PastorD@users.noreply.github.com>>
Initial plan
Merge pull request #4 from PastorD/feature/start-checked-on-startup

Add checked-item startup parameter
improve config docs
fix category type default to match non-category behaviour
fix namespace resolution
add ros2 examples
Add checked-item startup parameter
Contributors: copilot-swe-agent[bot], Daniel Pastor

0.4.3 (2026-09-03 16:42)

Merge pull request #5 from nasa-jpl/update-authors

update authors
fix author name
update authors
Contributors: Daniel Pastor

0.4.2 (2026-08-31 07:32)

Merge pull request #3 from nasa-jpl/fix-rolling

Fix rolling
add changelo update
use target_link_libraries instead of deprecated ament_target_dependencies
Contributors: Daniel Pastor

0.4.0 (2026-06-28 20:40)

chore: bump version to 0.4.0 [skip ci]
Merge pull request #1 from nasa-jpl/github-ci add actions and workflows
add actions and workflows
Contributors: Daniel Pastor, github-actions[bot]

0.3.0 (2026-06-28 20:02)

Merge branch 'prepare-public-release' into 'master' update license to Apache. Readme corrections. Manually bump version See merge request robotics/ros2/dispatcher!4
update license to Apache. Readme corrections. Manually bump version
Merge branch 'feature/script_categories' into 'master' Add categories to scripts See merge request robotics/ros2/dispatcher!3
doc image resize
Updated docs to mention script categories
Added attribution-free icons
categories extended to scripts
Contributors: Daniel Pastor, Daniel Pastor Moreno, jongreen

0.2.0 (2026-04-24)

manual version bump
Merge branch 'improve_readme' into 'master' Improve readme See merge request robotics/ros2/dispatcher!2
fix tests
add more examples
add more examples with screenshots
make start checked optional

File truncated at 100 lines see the full file

Package Dependencies

Deps	Name
	ament_cmake
	ament_lint_auto
	ament_lint_common
	ament_cmake_gtest
	rclcpp
	std_msgs
	sensor_msgs
	std_srvs
	builtin_interfaces

System Dependencies

Name
tmux
yaml-cpp
qtbase5-dev
libqt5-opengl-dev

Dependant Packages

No known dependants.

Launch files

No launch files found

Messages

No message files found.

Services

No service files found

Plugins

No plugins found.

Recent questions tagged `dispatcher` at Robotics Stack Exchange

API Docs Browse Code

No version for distro ardent showing jazzy. Known supported distros are highlighted in the buttons above.

dispatcher package from dispatcher repo

dispatcher

ROS Distro
jazzy

API Docs
Browse Code

Package Summary

Version	0.4.4
License	Apache-2.0
Build type	AMENT_CMAKE
Use	RECOMMENDED

Repository Summary

Checkout URI	https://github.com/nasa-jpl/dispatcher.git
VCS Type	git
VCS Version	master
Last Updated	2026-09-05
Dev Status	MAINTAINED
Released	UNRELEASED
Contributing	Help Wanted (-) Good First Issues (-) Pull Requests to Review (-)

Package Description

Qt-based ROS 2 application for launching and monitoring ROS nodes and arbitrary processes.

Additional Links

Maintainers

Kristopher Wehage
Daniel Pastor

Authors

Dennis Wai
Alex Brinkman
Preston Rogers

README.md

Dispatcher

A Qt-based ROS 2 widget for starting, stopping, and monitoring both ROS nodes and arbitrary shell processes.

dispatcher

dispatcher builds its UI from a YAML file. Each configured item is launched in its own detached tmux session, and the terminal button can attach a gnome-terminal window to that session when available.

Runtime Parameters

The dispatcher executable uses the following ROS parameters:

Name	Type	Default	Description
`dispatcher_config_path`	`string`	`""`	Path to the dispatcher YAML file.
`initial_configuration`	`string`	`""`	Configuration name to select on startup.
`start_checked_on_startup`	`bool`	`false`	Start all checked process items after loading the initial configuration.
`ssh_timeout_sec`	`int`	`10`	Timeout used when building remote SSH commands.
`target_loop_rate_hz`	`double`	`100.0`	Main process/status polling rate.

YAML Configuration

The top-level dispatcher YAML supports:

Key	Required	Description
`workspace`	Yes	Workspace path used by ROS process items before sourcing `install/setup.bash`.
`nodes`	Yes	Process and category definitions rendered in the main panel.
`configurations`	No	Named runtime configurations. Each entry may be a simple name or a map with `name`, `cmd_prefix`, `environment_variables`, and `icon`.
`cmd_prefix`	No	Default command prefix for the implicit `all` configuration.
`environment_variables`	No	Default environment variables for the implicit `all` configuration.
`hide_unconfigured_processes`	No	If true, items missing in the active configuration are hidden instead of disabled.
`scripts`	No	Script button definitions shown in the scripts panel.
`variables`	No	Variable selectors used for `$VARIABLE` command substitution.

Node Types

Each entry in nodes can be:

A ROS process item. If type is omitted, the item is treated as ROS by default.
A shell process item with type: shell.
A collapsible category with type: category and an items array. Entries in items follow the same rules, including the default to ROS when type is omitted.

Common item fields include:

Key	Description
`name`	UI label and tmux-session base name.
`cmd`	Command used for the implicit `all` configuration.
`configurations`	Per-configuration command definitions.
`start_checked`	Whether the item starts checked in the UI. Optional, defaults to `false`.
`stop_tmux_cmd`	Stop sequence sent to tmux. Optional, defaults to `C-C`.
`hostname` / `user`	Optional remote execution target for local commands or configuration entries.
`use_cmd_prefix`	Enables or disables command-prefix injection.
`use_environment_variables`	Enables or disables environment-variable injection.
`attach_on_start`	Opens a terminal automatically after launch.

ROS process items can additionally define node_name plus an optional namespace, or a ros_nodes array with the same monitoring fields for online-state monitoring. An omitted namespace resolves to the root namespace, so name: talker matches the graph’s /talker; a name that is already absolute, such as /fcat/fcat, carries its own namespace.

Shell process items use pgrep on the item name to infer online state.

Scripts and Variables

Script entries support:

Key	Description
`name`	Button label.
`cmd` or `configurations`	Script command definition.
`row`, `column`	Grid placement in the scripts panel.
`icon`	Optional Qt resource path for the button icon.
`use_terminal`	Whether to wrap execution in `gnome-terminal --`.

Variable entries support:

Key	Description
`name`	Variable name used in commands, for example `$FCAT_LOOP_RATE_HZ`.
`choices`	Selectable values exposed in the UI.

Examples

The following examples build incrementally from a minimal configuration to a full-featured setup. Each one corresponds to a YAML file in config/ and a screenshot in doc/.

ROS 2 Demos (runnable out of the box)

Four examples run without any custom packages, using only the demos that ship with ROS 2. Each is self-contained and includes an rqt_graph button. Install the demo packages if needed:

```bash sudo apt install ros-$ROS_DISTRO-demo-nodes-cpp \

File truncated at 100 lines see the full file

CHANGELOG

Changelog for package dispatcher

Forthcoming

0.4.4 (2026-09-05 02:08)

Merge pull request #6 from nasa-jpl/copilot/fix-bump-github-actions-job

Fix "bump" workflow: use pull_request_target so fork-based merges can push tags
Fix bump workflow: use pull_request_target to get write token for fork PRs

Co-authored-by: PastorD <<7848129+PastorD@users.noreply.github.com>>
Initial plan
Merge pull request #4 from PastorD/feature/start-checked-on-startup

Add checked-item startup parameter
improve config docs
fix category type default to match non-category behaviour
fix namespace resolution
add ros2 examples
Add checked-item startup parameter
Contributors: copilot-swe-agent[bot], Daniel Pastor

0.4.3 (2026-09-03 16:42)

Merge pull request #5 from nasa-jpl/update-authors

update authors
fix author name
update authors
Contributors: Daniel Pastor

0.4.2 (2026-08-31 07:32)

Merge pull request #3 from nasa-jpl/fix-rolling

Fix rolling
add changelo update
use target_link_libraries instead of deprecated ament_target_dependencies
Contributors: Daniel Pastor

0.4.0 (2026-06-28 20:40)

chore: bump version to 0.4.0 [skip ci]
Merge pull request #1 from nasa-jpl/github-ci add actions and workflows
add actions and workflows
Contributors: Daniel Pastor, github-actions[bot]

0.3.0 (2026-06-28 20:02)

Merge branch 'prepare-public-release' into 'master' update license to Apache. Readme corrections. Manually bump version See merge request robotics/ros2/dispatcher!4
update license to Apache. Readme corrections. Manually bump version
Merge branch 'feature/script_categories' into 'master' Add categories to scripts See merge request robotics/ros2/dispatcher!3
doc image resize
Updated docs to mention script categories
Added attribution-free icons
categories extended to scripts
Contributors: Daniel Pastor, Daniel Pastor Moreno, jongreen

0.2.0 (2026-04-24)

manual version bump
Merge branch 'improve_readme' into 'master' Improve readme See merge request robotics/ros2/dispatcher!2
fix tests
add more examples
add more examples with screenshots
make start checked optional

File truncated at 100 lines see the full file

Package Dependencies

Deps	Name
	ament_cmake
	ament_lint_auto
	ament_lint_common
	ament_cmake_gtest
	rclcpp
	std_msgs
	sensor_msgs
	std_srvs
	builtin_interfaces

System Dependencies

Name
tmux
yaml-cpp
qtbase5-dev
libqt5-opengl-dev

Dependant Packages

No known dependants.

Launch files

No launch files found

Messages

No message files found.

Services

No service files found

Plugins

No plugins found.

Recent questions tagged `dispatcher` at Robotics Stack Exchange

API Docs Browse Code

No version for distro bouncy showing jazzy. Known supported distros are highlighted in the buttons above.

dispatcher package from dispatcher repo

dispatcher

ROS Distro
jazzy

API Docs
Browse Code

Package Summary

Version	0.4.4
License	Apache-2.0
Build type	AMENT_CMAKE
Use	RECOMMENDED

Repository Summary

Checkout URI	https://github.com/nasa-jpl/dispatcher.git
VCS Type	git
VCS Version	master
Last Updated	2026-09-05
Dev Status	MAINTAINED
Released	UNRELEASED
Contributing	Help Wanted (-) Good First Issues (-) Pull Requests to Review (-)

Package Description

Qt-based ROS 2 application for launching and monitoring ROS nodes and arbitrary processes.

Additional Links

Maintainers

Kristopher Wehage
Daniel Pastor

Authors

Dennis Wai
Alex Brinkman
Preston Rogers

README.md

Dispatcher

A Qt-based ROS 2 widget for starting, stopping, and monitoring both ROS nodes and arbitrary shell processes.

dispatcher

dispatcher builds its UI from a YAML file. Each configured item is launched in its own detached tmux session, and the terminal button can attach a gnome-terminal window to that session when available.

Runtime Parameters

The dispatcher executable uses the following ROS parameters:

Name	Type	Default	Description
`dispatcher_config_path`	`string`	`""`	Path to the dispatcher YAML file.
`initial_configuration`	`string`	`""`	Configuration name to select on startup.
`start_checked_on_startup`	`bool`	`false`	Start all checked process items after loading the initial configuration.
`ssh_timeout_sec`	`int`	`10`	Timeout used when building remote SSH commands.
`target_loop_rate_hz`	`double`	`100.0`	Main process/status polling rate.

YAML Configuration

The top-level dispatcher YAML supports:

Key	Required	Description
`workspace`	Yes	Workspace path used by ROS process items before sourcing `install/setup.bash`.
`nodes`	Yes	Process and category definitions rendered in the main panel.
`configurations`	No	Named runtime configurations. Each entry may be a simple name or a map with `name`, `cmd_prefix`, `environment_variables`, and `icon`.
`cmd_prefix`	No	Default command prefix for the implicit `all` configuration.
`environment_variables`	No	Default environment variables for the implicit `all` configuration.
`hide_unconfigured_processes`	No	If true, items missing in the active configuration are hidden instead of disabled.
`scripts`	No	Script button definitions shown in the scripts panel.
`variables`	No	Variable selectors used for `$VARIABLE` command substitution.

Node Types

Each entry in nodes can be:

A ROS process item. If type is omitted, the item is treated as ROS by default.
A shell process item with type: shell.
A collapsible category with type: category and an items array. Entries in items follow the same rules, including the default to ROS when type is omitted.

Common item fields include:

Key	Description
`name`	UI label and tmux-session base name.
`cmd`	Command used for the implicit `all` configuration.
`configurations`	Per-configuration command definitions.
`start_checked`	Whether the item starts checked in the UI. Optional, defaults to `false`.
`stop_tmux_cmd`	Stop sequence sent to tmux. Optional, defaults to `C-C`.
`hostname` / `user`	Optional remote execution target for local commands or configuration entries.
`use_cmd_prefix`	Enables or disables command-prefix injection.
`use_environment_variables`	Enables or disables environment-variable injection.
`attach_on_start`	Opens a terminal automatically after launch.

ROS process items can additionally define node_name plus an optional namespace, or a ros_nodes array with the same monitoring fields for online-state monitoring. An omitted namespace resolves to the root namespace, so name: talker matches the graph’s /talker; a name that is already absolute, such as /fcat/fcat, carries its own namespace.

Shell process items use pgrep on the item name to infer online state.

Scripts and Variables

Script entries support:

Key	Description
`name`	Button label.
`cmd` or `configurations`	Script command definition.
`row`, `column`	Grid placement in the scripts panel.
`icon`	Optional Qt resource path for the button icon.
`use_terminal`	Whether to wrap execution in `gnome-terminal --`.

Variable entries support:

Key	Description
`name`	Variable name used in commands, for example `$FCAT_LOOP_RATE_HZ`.
`choices`	Selectable values exposed in the UI.

Examples

The following examples build incrementally from a minimal configuration to a full-featured setup. Each one corresponds to a YAML file in config/ and a screenshot in doc/.

ROS 2 Demos (runnable out of the box)

Four examples run without any custom packages, using only the demos that ship with ROS 2. Each is self-contained and includes an rqt_graph button. Install the demo packages if needed:

```bash sudo apt install ros-$ROS_DISTRO-demo-nodes-cpp \

File truncated at 100 lines see the full file

CHANGELOG

Changelog for package dispatcher

Forthcoming

0.4.4 (2026-09-05 02:08)

Merge pull request #6 from nasa-jpl/copilot/fix-bump-github-actions-job

Fix "bump" workflow: use pull_request_target so fork-based merges can push tags
Fix bump workflow: use pull_request_target to get write token for fork PRs

Co-authored-by: PastorD <<7848129+PastorD@users.noreply.github.com>>
Initial plan
Merge pull request #4 from PastorD/feature/start-checked-on-startup

Add checked-item startup parameter
improve config docs
fix category type default to match non-category behaviour
fix namespace resolution
add ros2 examples
Add checked-item startup parameter
Contributors: copilot-swe-agent[bot], Daniel Pastor

0.4.3 (2026-09-03 16:42)

Merge pull request #5 from nasa-jpl/update-authors

update authors
fix author name
update authors
Contributors: Daniel Pastor

0.4.2 (2026-08-31 07:32)

Merge pull request #3 from nasa-jpl/fix-rolling

Fix rolling
add changelo update
use target_link_libraries instead of deprecated ament_target_dependencies
Contributors: Daniel Pastor

0.4.0 (2026-06-28 20:40)

chore: bump version to 0.4.0 [skip ci]
Merge pull request #1 from nasa-jpl/github-ci add actions and workflows
add actions and workflows
Contributors: Daniel Pastor, github-actions[bot]

0.3.0 (2026-06-28 20:02)

Merge branch 'prepare-public-release' into 'master' update license to Apache. Readme corrections. Manually bump version See merge request robotics/ros2/dispatcher!4
update license to Apache. Readme corrections. Manually bump version
Merge branch 'feature/script_categories' into 'master' Add categories to scripts See merge request robotics/ros2/dispatcher!3
doc image resize
Updated docs to mention script categories
Added attribution-free icons
categories extended to scripts
Contributors: Daniel Pastor, Daniel Pastor Moreno, jongreen

0.2.0 (2026-04-24)

manual version bump
Merge branch 'improve_readme' into 'master' Improve readme See merge request robotics/ros2/dispatcher!2
fix tests
add more examples
add more examples with screenshots
make start checked optional

File truncated at 100 lines see the full file

Package Dependencies

Deps	Name
	ament_cmake
	ament_lint_auto
	ament_lint_common
	ament_cmake_gtest
	rclcpp
	std_msgs
	sensor_msgs
	std_srvs
	builtin_interfaces

System Dependencies

Name
tmux
yaml-cpp
qtbase5-dev
libqt5-opengl-dev

Dependant Packages

No known dependants.

Launch files

No launch files found

Messages

No message files found.

Services

No service files found

Plugins

No plugins found.

Recent questions tagged `dispatcher` at Robotics Stack Exchange

API Docs Browse Code

No version for distro crystal showing jazzy. Known supported distros are highlighted in the buttons above.

dispatcher package from dispatcher repo

dispatcher

ROS Distro
jazzy

API Docs
Browse Code

Package Summary

Version	0.4.4
License	Apache-2.0
Build type	AMENT_CMAKE
Use	RECOMMENDED

Repository Summary

Checkout URI	https://github.com/nasa-jpl/dispatcher.git
VCS Type	git
VCS Version	master
Last Updated	2026-09-05
Dev Status	MAINTAINED
Released	UNRELEASED
Contributing	Help Wanted (-) Good First Issues (-) Pull Requests to Review (-)

Package Description

Qt-based ROS 2 application for launching and monitoring ROS nodes and arbitrary processes.

Additional Links

Maintainers

Kristopher Wehage
Daniel Pastor

Authors

Dennis Wai
Alex Brinkman
Preston Rogers

README.md

Dispatcher

A Qt-based ROS 2 widget for starting, stopping, and monitoring both ROS nodes and arbitrary shell processes.

dispatcher

dispatcher builds its UI from a YAML file. Each configured item is launched in its own detached tmux session, and the terminal button can attach a gnome-terminal window to that session when available.

Runtime Parameters

The dispatcher executable uses the following ROS parameters:

Name	Type	Default	Description
`dispatcher_config_path`	`string`	`""`	Path to the dispatcher YAML file.
`initial_configuration`	`string`	`""`	Configuration name to select on startup.
`start_checked_on_startup`	`bool`	`false`	Start all checked process items after loading the initial configuration.
`ssh_timeout_sec`	`int`	`10`	Timeout used when building remote SSH commands.
`target_loop_rate_hz`	`double`	`100.0`	Main process/status polling rate.

YAML Configuration

The top-level dispatcher YAML supports:

Key	Required	Description
`workspace`	Yes	Workspace path used by ROS process items before sourcing `install/setup.bash`.
`nodes`	Yes	Process and category definitions rendered in the main panel.
`configurations`	No	Named runtime configurations. Each entry may be a simple name or a map with `name`, `cmd_prefix`, `environment_variables`, and `icon`.
`cmd_prefix`	No	Default command prefix for the implicit `all` configuration.
`environment_variables`	No	Default environment variables for the implicit `all` configuration.
`hide_unconfigured_processes`	No	If true, items missing in the active configuration are hidden instead of disabled.
`scripts`	No	Script button definitions shown in the scripts panel.
`variables`	No	Variable selectors used for `$VARIABLE` command substitution.

Node Types

Each entry in nodes can be:

A ROS process item. If type is omitted, the item is treated as ROS by default.
A shell process item with type: shell.
A collapsible category with type: category and an items array. Entries in items follow the same rules, including the default to ROS when type is omitted.

Common item fields include:

Key	Description
`name`	UI label and tmux-session base name.
`cmd`	Command used for the implicit `all` configuration.
`configurations`	Per-configuration command definitions.
`start_checked`	Whether the item starts checked in the UI. Optional, defaults to `false`.
`stop_tmux_cmd`	Stop sequence sent to tmux. Optional, defaults to `C-C`.
`hostname` / `user`	Optional remote execution target for local commands or configuration entries.
`use_cmd_prefix`	Enables or disables command-prefix injection.
`use_environment_variables`	Enables or disables environment-variable injection.
`attach_on_start`	Opens a terminal automatically after launch.

ROS process items can additionally define node_name plus an optional namespace, or a ros_nodes array with the same monitoring fields for online-state monitoring. An omitted namespace resolves to the root namespace, so name: talker matches the graph’s /talker; a name that is already absolute, such as /fcat/fcat, carries its own namespace.

Shell process items use pgrep on the item name to infer online state.

Scripts and Variables

Script entries support:

Key	Description
`name`	Button label.
`cmd` or `configurations`	Script command definition.
`row`, `column`	Grid placement in the scripts panel.
`icon`	Optional Qt resource path for the button icon.
`use_terminal`	Whether to wrap execution in `gnome-terminal --`.

Variable entries support:

Key	Description
`name`	Variable name used in commands, for example `$FCAT_LOOP_RATE_HZ`.
`choices`	Selectable values exposed in the UI.

Examples

The following examples build incrementally from a minimal configuration to a full-featured setup. Each one corresponds to a YAML file in config/ and a screenshot in doc/.

ROS 2 Demos (runnable out of the box)

Four examples run without any custom packages, using only the demos that ship with ROS 2. Each is self-contained and includes an rqt_graph button. Install the demo packages if needed:

```bash sudo apt install ros-$ROS_DISTRO-demo-nodes-cpp \

File truncated at 100 lines see the full file

CHANGELOG

Changelog for package dispatcher

Forthcoming

0.4.4 (2026-09-05 02:08)

Merge pull request #6 from nasa-jpl/copilot/fix-bump-github-actions-job

Fix "bump" workflow: use pull_request_target so fork-based merges can push tags
Fix bump workflow: use pull_request_target to get write token for fork PRs

Co-authored-by: PastorD <<7848129+PastorD@users.noreply.github.com>>
Initial plan
Merge pull request #4 from PastorD/feature/start-checked-on-startup

Add checked-item startup parameter
improve config docs
fix category type default to match non-category behaviour
fix namespace resolution
add ros2 examples
Add checked-item startup parameter
Contributors: copilot-swe-agent[bot], Daniel Pastor

0.4.3 (2026-09-03 16:42)

Merge pull request #5 from nasa-jpl/update-authors

update authors
fix author name
update authors
Contributors: Daniel Pastor

0.4.2 (2026-08-31 07:32)

Merge pull request #3 from nasa-jpl/fix-rolling

Fix rolling
add changelo update
use target_link_libraries instead of deprecated ament_target_dependencies
Contributors: Daniel Pastor

0.4.0 (2026-06-28 20:40)

chore: bump version to 0.4.0 [skip ci]
Merge pull request #1 from nasa-jpl/github-ci add actions and workflows
add actions and workflows
Contributors: Daniel Pastor, github-actions[bot]

0.3.0 (2026-06-28 20:02)

Merge branch 'prepare-public-release' into 'master' update license to Apache. Readme corrections. Manually bump version See merge request robotics/ros2/dispatcher!4
update license to Apache. Readme corrections. Manually bump version
Merge branch 'feature/script_categories' into 'master' Add categories to scripts See merge request robotics/ros2/dispatcher!3
doc image resize
Updated docs to mention script categories
Added attribution-free icons
categories extended to scripts
Contributors: Daniel Pastor, Daniel Pastor Moreno, jongreen

0.2.0 (2026-04-24)

manual version bump
Merge branch 'improve_readme' into 'master' Improve readme See merge request robotics/ros2/dispatcher!2
fix tests
add more examples
add more examples with screenshots
make start checked optional

File truncated at 100 lines see the full file

Package Dependencies

Deps	Name
	ament_cmake
	ament_lint_auto
	ament_lint_common
	ament_cmake_gtest
	rclcpp
	std_msgs
	sensor_msgs
	std_srvs
	builtin_interfaces

System Dependencies

Name
tmux
yaml-cpp
qtbase5-dev
libqt5-opengl-dev

Dependant Packages

No known dependants.

Launch files

No launch files found

Messages

No message files found.

Services

No service files found

Plugins

No plugins found.

Recent questions tagged `dispatcher` at Robotics Stack Exchange

API Docs Browse Code

No version for distro eloquent showing jazzy. Known supported distros are highlighted in the buttons above.

dispatcher package from dispatcher repo

dispatcher

ROS Distro
jazzy

API Docs
Browse Code

Package Summary

Version	0.4.4
License	Apache-2.0
Build type	AMENT_CMAKE
Use	RECOMMENDED

Repository Summary

Checkout URI	https://github.com/nasa-jpl/dispatcher.git
VCS Type	git
VCS Version	master
Last Updated	2026-09-05
Dev Status	MAINTAINED
Released	UNRELEASED
Contributing	Help Wanted (-) Good First Issues (-) Pull Requests to Review (-)

Package Description

Qt-based ROS 2 application for launching and monitoring ROS nodes and arbitrary processes.

Additional Links

Maintainers

Kristopher Wehage
Daniel Pastor

Authors

Dennis Wai
Alex Brinkman
Preston Rogers

README.md

Dispatcher

A Qt-based ROS 2 widget for starting, stopping, and monitoring both ROS nodes and arbitrary shell processes.

dispatcher

dispatcher builds its UI from a YAML file. Each configured item is launched in its own detached tmux session, and the terminal button can attach a gnome-terminal window to that session when available.

Runtime Parameters

The dispatcher executable uses the following ROS parameters:

Name	Type	Default	Description
`dispatcher_config_path`	`string`	`""`	Path to the dispatcher YAML file.
`initial_configuration`	`string`	`""`	Configuration name to select on startup.
`start_checked_on_startup`	`bool`	`false`	Start all checked process items after loading the initial configuration.
`ssh_timeout_sec`	`int`	`10`	Timeout used when building remote SSH commands.
`target_loop_rate_hz`	`double`	`100.0`	Main process/status polling rate.

YAML Configuration

The top-level dispatcher YAML supports:

Key	Required	Description
`workspace`	Yes	Workspace path used by ROS process items before sourcing `install/setup.bash`.
`nodes`	Yes	Process and category definitions rendered in the main panel.
`configurations`	No	Named runtime configurations. Each entry may be a simple name or a map with `name`, `cmd_prefix`, `environment_variables`, and `icon`.
`cmd_prefix`	No	Default command prefix for the implicit `all` configuration.
`environment_variables`	No	Default environment variables for the implicit `all` configuration.
`hide_unconfigured_processes`	No	If true, items missing in the active configuration are hidden instead of disabled.
`scripts`	No	Script button definitions shown in the scripts panel.
`variables`	No	Variable selectors used for `$VARIABLE` command substitution.

Node Types

Each entry in nodes can be:

A ROS process item. If type is omitted, the item is treated as ROS by default.
A shell process item with type: shell.
A collapsible category with type: category and an items array. Entries in items follow the same rules, including the default to ROS when type is omitted.

Common item fields include:

Key	Description
`name`	UI label and tmux-session base name.
`cmd`	Command used for the implicit `all` configuration.
`configurations`	Per-configuration command definitions.
`start_checked`	Whether the item starts checked in the UI. Optional, defaults to `false`.
`stop_tmux_cmd`	Stop sequence sent to tmux. Optional, defaults to `C-C`.
`hostname` / `user`	Optional remote execution target for local commands or configuration entries.
`use_cmd_prefix`	Enables or disables command-prefix injection.
`use_environment_variables`	Enables or disables environment-variable injection.
`attach_on_start`	Opens a terminal automatically after launch.

ROS process items can additionally define node_name plus an optional namespace, or a ros_nodes array with the same monitoring fields for online-state monitoring. An omitted namespace resolves to the root namespace, so name: talker matches the graph’s /talker; a name that is already absolute, such as /fcat/fcat, carries its own namespace.

Shell process items use pgrep on the item name to infer online state.

Scripts and Variables

Script entries support:

Key	Description
`name`	Button label.
`cmd` or `configurations`	Script command definition.
`row`, `column`	Grid placement in the scripts panel.
`icon`	Optional Qt resource path for the button icon.
`use_terminal`	Whether to wrap execution in `gnome-terminal --`.

Variable entries support:

Key	Description
`name`	Variable name used in commands, for example `$FCAT_LOOP_RATE_HZ`.
`choices`	Selectable values exposed in the UI.

Examples

The following examples build incrementally from a minimal configuration to a full-featured setup. Each one corresponds to a YAML file in config/ and a screenshot in doc/.

ROS 2 Demos (runnable out of the box)

Four examples run without any custom packages, using only the demos that ship with ROS 2. Each is self-contained and includes an rqt_graph button. Install the demo packages if needed:

```bash sudo apt install ros-$ROS_DISTRO-demo-nodes-cpp \

File truncated at 100 lines see the full file

CHANGELOG

Changelog for package dispatcher

Forthcoming

0.4.4 (2026-09-05 02:08)

Merge pull request #6 from nasa-jpl/copilot/fix-bump-github-actions-job

Fix "bump" workflow: use pull_request_target so fork-based merges can push tags
Fix bump workflow: use pull_request_target to get write token for fork PRs

Co-authored-by: PastorD <<7848129+PastorD@users.noreply.github.com>>
Initial plan
Merge pull request #4 from PastorD/feature/start-checked-on-startup

Add checked-item startup parameter
improve config docs
fix category type default to match non-category behaviour
fix namespace resolution
add ros2 examples
Add checked-item startup parameter
Contributors: copilot-swe-agent[bot], Daniel Pastor

0.4.3 (2026-09-03 16:42)

Merge pull request #5 from nasa-jpl/update-authors

update authors
fix author name
update authors
Contributors: Daniel Pastor

0.4.2 (2026-08-31 07:32)

Merge pull request #3 from nasa-jpl/fix-rolling

Fix rolling
add changelo update
use target_link_libraries instead of deprecated ament_target_dependencies
Contributors: Daniel Pastor

0.4.0 (2026-06-28 20:40)

chore: bump version to 0.4.0 [skip ci]
Merge pull request #1 from nasa-jpl/github-ci add actions and workflows
add actions and workflows
Contributors: Daniel Pastor, github-actions[bot]

0.3.0 (2026-06-28 20:02)

Merge branch 'prepare-public-release' into 'master' update license to Apache. Readme corrections. Manually bump version See merge request robotics/ros2/dispatcher!4
update license to Apache. Readme corrections. Manually bump version
Merge branch 'feature/script_categories' into 'master' Add categories to scripts See merge request robotics/ros2/dispatcher!3
doc image resize
Updated docs to mention script categories
Added attribution-free icons
categories extended to scripts
Contributors: Daniel Pastor, Daniel Pastor Moreno, jongreen

0.2.0 (2026-04-24)

manual version bump
Merge branch 'improve_readme' into 'master' Improve readme See merge request robotics/ros2/dispatcher!2
fix tests
add more examples
add more examples with screenshots
make start checked optional

File truncated at 100 lines see the full file

Package Dependencies

Deps	Name
	ament_cmake
	ament_lint_auto
	ament_lint_common
	ament_cmake_gtest
	rclcpp
	std_msgs
	sensor_msgs
	std_srvs
	builtin_interfaces

System Dependencies

Name
tmux
yaml-cpp
qtbase5-dev
libqt5-opengl-dev

Dependant Packages

No known dependants.

Launch files

No launch files found

Messages

No message files found.

Services

No service files found

Plugins

No plugins found.

Recent questions tagged `dispatcher` at Robotics Stack Exchange

API Docs Browse Code

No version for distro dashing showing jazzy. Known supported distros are highlighted in the buttons above.

dispatcher package from dispatcher repo

dispatcher

ROS Distro
jazzy

API Docs
Browse Code

Package Summary

Version	0.4.4
License	Apache-2.0
Build type	AMENT_CMAKE
Use	RECOMMENDED

Repository Summary

Checkout URI	https://github.com/nasa-jpl/dispatcher.git
VCS Type	git
VCS Version	master
Last Updated	2026-09-05
Dev Status	MAINTAINED
Released	UNRELEASED
Contributing	Help Wanted (-) Good First Issues (-) Pull Requests to Review (-)

Package Description

Qt-based ROS 2 application for launching and monitoring ROS nodes and arbitrary processes.

Additional Links

Maintainers

Kristopher Wehage
Daniel Pastor

Authors

Dennis Wai
Alex Brinkman
Preston Rogers

README.md

Dispatcher

A Qt-based ROS 2 widget for starting, stopping, and monitoring both ROS nodes and arbitrary shell processes.

dispatcher

dispatcher builds its UI from a YAML file. Each configured item is launched in its own detached tmux session, and the terminal button can attach a gnome-terminal window to that session when available.

Runtime Parameters

The dispatcher executable uses the following ROS parameters:

Name	Type	Default	Description
`dispatcher_config_path`	`string`	`""`	Path to the dispatcher YAML file.
`initial_configuration`	`string`	`""`	Configuration name to select on startup.
`start_checked_on_startup`	`bool`	`false`	Start all checked process items after loading the initial configuration.
`ssh_timeout_sec`	`int`	`10`	Timeout used when building remote SSH commands.
`target_loop_rate_hz`	`double`	`100.0`	Main process/status polling rate.

YAML Configuration

The top-level dispatcher YAML supports:

Key	Required	Description
`workspace`	Yes	Workspace path used by ROS process items before sourcing `install/setup.bash`.
`nodes`	Yes	Process and category definitions rendered in the main panel.
`configurations`	No	Named runtime configurations. Each entry may be a simple name or a map with `name`, `cmd_prefix`, `environment_variables`, and `icon`.
`cmd_prefix`	No	Default command prefix for the implicit `all` configuration.
`environment_variables`	No	Default environment variables for the implicit `all` configuration.
`hide_unconfigured_processes`	No	If true, items missing in the active configuration are hidden instead of disabled.
`scripts`	No	Script button definitions shown in the scripts panel.
`variables`	No	Variable selectors used for `$VARIABLE` command substitution.

Node Types

Each entry in nodes can be:

A ROS process item. If type is omitted, the item is treated as ROS by default.
A shell process item with type: shell.
A collapsible category with type: category and an items array. Entries in items follow the same rules, including the default to ROS when type is omitted.

Common item fields include:

Key	Description
`name`	UI label and tmux-session base name.
`cmd`	Command used for the implicit `all` configuration.
`configurations`	Per-configuration command definitions.
`start_checked`	Whether the item starts checked in the UI. Optional, defaults to `false`.
`stop_tmux_cmd`	Stop sequence sent to tmux. Optional, defaults to `C-C`.
`hostname` / `user`	Optional remote execution target for local commands or configuration entries.
`use_cmd_prefix`	Enables or disables command-prefix injection.
`use_environment_variables`	Enables or disables environment-variable injection.
`attach_on_start`	Opens a terminal automatically after launch.

ROS process items can additionally define node_name plus an optional namespace, or a ros_nodes array with the same monitoring fields for online-state monitoring. An omitted namespace resolves to the root namespace, so name: talker matches the graph’s /talker; a name that is already absolute, such as /fcat/fcat, carries its own namespace.

Shell process items use pgrep on the item name to infer online state.

Scripts and Variables

Script entries support:

Key	Description
`name`	Button label.
`cmd` or `configurations`	Script command definition.
`row`, `column`	Grid placement in the scripts panel.
`icon`	Optional Qt resource path for the button icon.
`use_terminal`	Whether to wrap execution in `gnome-terminal --`.

Variable entries support:

Key	Description
`name`	Variable name used in commands, for example `$FCAT_LOOP_RATE_HZ`.
`choices`	Selectable values exposed in the UI.

Examples

The following examples build incrementally from a minimal configuration to a full-featured setup. Each one corresponds to a YAML file in config/ and a screenshot in doc/.

ROS 2 Demos (runnable out of the box)

Four examples run without any custom packages, using only the demos that ship with ROS 2. Each is self-contained and includes an rqt_graph button. Install the demo packages if needed:

```bash sudo apt install ros-$ROS_DISTRO-demo-nodes-cpp \

File truncated at 100 lines see the full file

CHANGELOG

Changelog for package dispatcher

Forthcoming

0.4.4 (2026-09-05 02:08)

Merge pull request #6 from nasa-jpl/copilot/fix-bump-github-actions-job

Fix "bump" workflow: use pull_request_target so fork-based merges can push tags
Fix bump workflow: use pull_request_target to get write token for fork PRs

Co-authored-by: PastorD <<7848129+PastorD@users.noreply.github.com>>
Initial plan
Merge pull request #4 from PastorD/feature/start-checked-on-startup

Add checked-item startup parameter
improve config docs
fix category type default to match non-category behaviour
fix namespace resolution
add ros2 examples
Add checked-item startup parameter
Contributors: copilot-swe-agent[bot], Daniel Pastor

0.4.3 (2026-09-03 16:42)

Merge pull request #5 from nasa-jpl/update-authors

update authors
fix author name
update authors
Contributors: Daniel Pastor

0.4.2 (2026-08-31 07:32)

Merge pull request #3 from nasa-jpl/fix-rolling

Fix rolling
add changelo update
use target_link_libraries instead of deprecated ament_target_dependencies
Contributors: Daniel Pastor

0.4.0 (2026-06-28 20:40)

chore: bump version to 0.4.0 [skip ci]
Merge pull request #1 from nasa-jpl/github-ci add actions and workflows
add actions and workflows
Contributors: Daniel Pastor, github-actions[bot]

0.3.0 (2026-06-28 20:02)

Merge branch 'prepare-public-release' into 'master' update license to Apache. Readme corrections. Manually bump version See merge request robotics/ros2/dispatcher!4
update license to Apache. Readme corrections. Manually bump version
Merge branch 'feature/script_categories' into 'master' Add categories to scripts See merge request robotics/ros2/dispatcher!3
doc image resize
Updated docs to mention script categories
Added attribution-free icons
categories extended to scripts
Contributors: Daniel Pastor, Daniel Pastor Moreno, jongreen

0.2.0 (2026-04-24)

manual version bump
Merge branch 'improve_readme' into 'master' Improve readme See merge request robotics/ros2/dispatcher!2
fix tests
add more examples
add more examples with screenshots
make start checked optional

File truncated at 100 lines see the full file

Package Dependencies

Deps	Name
	ament_cmake
	ament_lint_auto
	ament_lint_common
	ament_cmake_gtest
	rclcpp
	std_msgs
	sensor_msgs
	std_srvs
	builtin_interfaces

System Dependencies

Name
tmux
yaml-cpp
qtbase5-dev
libqt5-opengl-dev

Dependant Packages

No known dependants.

Launch files

No launch files found

Messages

No message files found.

Services

No service files found

Plugins

No plugins found.

Recent questions tagged `dispatcher` at Robotics Stack Exchange

API Docs Browse Code

No version for distro galactic showing jazzy. Known supported distros are highlighted in the buttons above.

dispatcher package from dispatcher repo

dispatcher

ROS Distro
jazzy

API Docs
Browse Code

Package Summary

Version	0.4.4
License	Apache-2.0
Build type	AMENT_CMAKE
Use	RECOMMENDED

Repository Summary

Checkout URI	https://github.com/nasa-jpl/dispatcher.git
VCS Type	git
VCS Version	master
Last Updated	2026-09-05
Dev Status	MAINTAINED
Released	UNRELEASED
Contributing	Help Wanted (-) Good First Issues (-) Pull Requests to Review (-)

Package Description

Qt-based ROS 2 application for launching and monitoring ROS nodes and arbitrary processes.

Additional Links

Maintainers

Kristopher Wehage
Daniel Pastor

Authors

Dennis Wai
Alex Brinkman
Preston Rogers

README.md

Dispatcher

A Qt-based ROS 2 widget for starting, stopping, and monitoring both ROS nodes and arbitrary shell processes.

dispatcher

dispatcher builds its UI from a YAML file. Each configured item is launched in its own detached tmux session, and the terminal button can attach a gnome-terminal window to that session when available.

Runtime Parameters

The dispatcher executable uses the following ROS parameters:

Name	Type	Default	Description
`dispatcher_config_path`	`string`	`""`	Path to the dispatcher YAML file.
`initial_configuration`	`string`	`""`	Configuration name to select on startup.
`start_checked_on_startup`	`bool`	`false`	Start all checked process items after loading the initial configuration.
`ssh_timeout_sec`	`int`	`10`	Timeout used when building remote SSH commands.
`target_loop_rate_hz`	`double`	`100.0`	Main process/status polling rate.

YAML Configuration

The top-level dispatcher YAML supports:

Key	Required	Description
`workspace`	Yes	Workspace path used by ROS process items before sourcing `install/setup.bash`.
`nodes`	Yes	Process and category definitions rendered in the main panel.
`configurations`	No	Named runtime configurations. Each entry may be a simple name or a map with `name`, `cmd_prefix`, `environment_variables`, and `icon`.
`cmd_prefix`	No	Default command prefix for the implicit `all` configuration.
`environment_variables`	No	Default environment variables for the implicit `all` configuration.
`hide_unconfigured_processes`	No	If true, items missing in the active configuration are hidden instead of disabled.
`scripts`	No	Script button definitions shown in the scripts panel.
`variables`	No	Variable selectors used for `$VARIABLE` command substitution.

Node Types

Each entry in nodes can be:

A ROS process item. If type is omitted, the item is treated as ROS by default.
A shell process item with type: shell.
A collapsible category with type: category and an items array. Entries in items follow the same rules, including the default to ROS when type is omitted.

Common item fields include:

Key	Description
`name`	UI label and tmux-session base name.
`cmd`	Command used for the implicit `all` configuration.
`configurations`	Per-configuration command definitions.
`start_checked`	Whether the item starts checked in the UI. Optional, defaults to `false`.
`stop_tmux_cmd`	Stop sequence sent to tmux. Optional, defaults to `C-C`.
`hostname` / `user`	Optional remote execution target for local commands or configuration entries.
`use_cmd_prefix`	Enables or disables command-prefix injection.
`use_environment_variables`	Enables or disables environment-variable injection.
`attach_on_start`	Opens a terminal automatically after launch.

ROS process items can additionally define node_name plus an optional namespace, or a ros_nodes array with the same monitoring fields for online-state monitoring. An omitted namespace resolves to the root namespace, so name: talker matches the graph’s /talker; a name that is already absolute, such as /fcat/fcat, carries its own namespace.

Shell process items use pgrep on the item name to infer online state.

Scripts and Variables

Script entries support:

Key	Description
`name`	Button label.
`cmd` or `configurations`	Script command definition.
`row`, `column`	Grid placement in the scripts panel.
`icon`	Optional Qt resource path for the button icon.
`use_terminal`	Whether to wrap execution in `gnome-terminal --`.

Variable entries support:

Key	Description
`name`	Variable name used in commands, for example `$FCAT_LOOP_RATE_HZ`.
`choices`	Selectable values exposed in the UI.

Examples

The following examples build incrementally from a minimal configuration to a full-featured setup. Each one corresponds to a YAML file in config/ and a screenshot in doc/.

ROS 2 Demos (runnable out of the box)

Four examples run without any custom packages, using only the demos that ship with ROS 2. Each is self-contained and includes an rqt_graph button. Install the demo packages if needed:

```bash sudo apt install ros-$ROS_DISTRO-demo-nodes-cpp \

File truncated at 100 lines see the full file

CHANGELOG

Changelog for package dispatcher

Forthcoming

0.4.4 (2026-09-05 02:08)

Merge pull request #6 from nasa-jpl/copilot/fix-bump-github-actions-job

Fix "bump" workflow: use pull_request_target so fork-based merges can push tags
Fix bump workflow: use pull_request_target to get write token for fork PRs

Co-authored-by: PastorD <<7848129+PastorD@users.noreply.github.com>>
Initial plan
Merge pull request #4 from PastorD/feature/start-checked-on-startup

Add checked-item startup parameter
improve config docs
fix category type default to match non-category behaviour
fix namespace resolution
add ros2 examples
Add checked-item startup parameter
Contributors: copilot-swe-agent[bot], Daniel Pastor

0.4.3 (2026-09-03 16:42)

Merge pull request #5 from nasa-jpl/update-authors

update authors
fix author name
update authors
Contributors: Daniel Pastor

0.4.2 (2026-08-31 07:32)

Merge pull request #3 from nasa-jpl/fix-rolling

Fix rolling
add changelo update
use target_link_libraries instead of deprecated ament_target_dependencies
Contributors: Daniel Pastor

0.4.0 (2026-06-28 20:40)

chore: bump version to 0.4.0 [skip ci]
Merge pull request #1 from nasa-jpl/github-ci add actions and workflows
add actions and workflows
Contributors: Daniel Pastor, github-actions[bot]

0.3.0 (2026-06-28 20:02)

Merge branch 'prepare-public-release' into 'master' update license to Apache. Readme corrections. Manually bump version See merge request robotics/ros2/dispatcher!4
update license to Apache. Readme corrections. Manually bump version
Merge branch 'feature/script_categories' into 'master' Add categories to scripts See merge request robotics/ros2/dispatcher!3
doc image resize
Updated docs to mention script categories
Added attribution-free icons
categories extended to scripts
Contributors: Daniel Pastor, Daniel Pastor Moreno, jongreen

0.2.0 (2026-04-24)

manual version bump
Merge branch 'improve_readme' into 'master' Improve readme See merge request robotics/ros2/dispatcher!2
fix tests
add more examples
add more examples with screenshots
make start checked optional

File truncated at 100 lines see the full file

Package Dependencies

Deps	Name
	ament_cmake
	ament_lint_auto
	ament_lint_common
	ament_cmake_gtest
	rclcpp
	std_msgs
	sensor_msgs
	std_srvs
	builtin_interfaces

System Dependencies

Name
tmux
yaml-cpp
qtbase5-dev
libqt5-opengl-dev

Dependant Packages

No known dependants.

Launch files

No launch files found

Messages

No message files found.

Services

No service files found

Plugins

No plugins found.

Recent questions tagged `dispatcher` at Robotics Stack Exchange

API Docs Browse Code

No version for distro foxy showing jazzy. Known supported distros are highlighted in the buttons above.

dispatcher package from dispatcher repo

dispatcher

ROS Distro
jazzy

API Docs
Browse Code

Package Summary

Version	0.4.4
License	Apache-2.0
Build type	AMENT_CMAKE
Use	RECOMMENDED

Repository Summary

Checkout URI	https://github.com/nasa-jpl/dispatcher.git
VCS Type	git
VCS Version	master
Last Updated	2026-09-05
Dev Status	MAINTAINED
Released	UNRELEASED
Contributing	Help Wanted (-) Good First Issues (-) Pull Requests to Review (-)

Package Description

Qt-based ROS 2 application for launching and monitoring ROS nodes and arbitrary processes.

Additional Links

Maintainers

Kristopher Wehage
Daniel Pastor

Authors

Dennis Wai
Alex Brinkman
Preston Rogers

README.md

Dispatcher

A Qt-based ROS 2 widget for starting, stopping, and monitoring both ROS nodes and arbitrary shell processes.

dispatcher

dispatcher builds its UI from a YAML file. Each configured item is launched in its own detached tmux session, and the terminal button can attach a gnome-terminal window to that session when available.

Runtime Parameters

The dispatcher executable uses the following ROS parameters:

Name	Type	Default	Description
`dispatcher_config_path`	`string`	`""`	Path to the dispatcher YAML file.
`initial_configuration`	`string`	`""`	Configuration name to select on startup.
`start_checked_on_startup`	`bool`	`false`	Start all checked process items after loading the initial configuration.
`ssh_timeout_sec`	`int`	`10`	Timeout used when building remote SSH commands.
`target_loop_rate_hz`	`double`	`100.0`	Main process/status polling rate.

YAML Configuration

The top-level dispatcher YAML supports:

Key	Required	Description
`workspace`	Yes	Workspace path used by ROS process items before sourcing `install/setup.bash`.
`nodes`	Yes	Process and category definitions rendered in the main panel.
`configurations`	No	Named runtime configurations. Each entry may be a simple name or a map with `name`, `cmd_prefix`, `environment_variables`, and `icon`.
`cmd_prefix`	No	Default command prefix for the implicit `all` configuration.
`environment_variables`	No	Default environment variables for the implicit `all` configuration.
`hide_unconfigured_processes`	No	If true, items missing in the active configuration are hidden instead of disabled.
`scripts`	No	Script button definitions shown in the scripts panel.
`variables`	No	Variable selectors used for `$VARIABLE` command substitution.

Node Types

Each entry in nodes can be:

A ROS process item. If type is omitted, the item is treated as ROS by default.
A shell process item with type: shell.
A collapsible category with type: category and an items array. Entries in items follow the same rules, including the default to ROS when type is omitted.

Common item fields include:

Key	Description
`name`	UI label and tmux-session base name.
`cmd`	Command used for the implicit `all` configuration.
`configurations`	Per-configuration command definitions.
`start_checked`	Whether the item starts checked in the UI. Optional, defaults to `false`.
`stop_tmux_cmd`	Stop sequence sent to tmux. Optional, defaults to `C-C`.
`hostname` / `user`	Optional remote execution target for local commands or configuration entries.
`use_cmd_prefix`	Enables or disables command-prefix injection.
`use_environment_variables`	Enables or disables environment-variable injection.
`attach_on_start`	Opens a terminal automatically after launch.

ROS process items can additionally define node_name plus an optional namespace, or a ros_nodes array with the same monitoring fields for online-state monitoring. An omitted namespace resolves to the root namespace, so name: talker matches the graph’s /talker; a name that is already absolute, such as /fcat/fcat, carries its own namespace.

Shell process items use pgrep on the item name to infer online state.

Scripts and Variables

Script entries support:

Key	Description
`name`	Button label.
`cmd` or `configurations`	Script command definition.
`row`, `column`	Grid placement in the scripts panel.
`icon`	Optional Qt resource path for the button icon.
`use_terminal`	Whether to wrap execution in `gnome-terminal --`.

Variable entries support:

Key	Description
`name`	Variable name used in commands, for example `$FCAT_LOOP_RATE_HZ`.
`choices`	Selectable values exposed in the UI.

Examples

The following examples build incrementally from a minimal configuration to a full-featured setup. Each one corresponds to a YAML file in config/ and a screenshot in doc/.

ROS 2 Demos (runnable out of the box)

Four examples run without any custom packages, using only the demos that ship with ROS 2. Each is self-contained and includes an rqt_graph button. Install the demo packages if needed:

```bash sudo apt install ros-$ROS_DISTRO-demo-nodes-cpp \

File truncated at 100 lines see the full file

CHANGELOG

Changelog for package dispatcher

Forthcoming

0.4.4 (2026-09-05 02:08)

Merge pull request #6 from nasa-jpl/copilot/fix-bump-github-actions-job

Fix "bump" workflow: use pull_request_target so fork-based merges can push tags
Fix bump workflow: use pull_request_target to get write token for fork PRs

Co-authored-by: PastorD <<7848129+PastorD@users.noreply.github.com>>
Initial plan
Merge pull request #4 from PastorD/feature/start-checked-on-startup

Add checked-item startup parameter
improve config docs
fix category type default to match non-category behaviour
fix namespace resolution
add ros2 examples
Add checked-item startup parameter
Contributors: copilot-swe-agent[bot], Daniel Pastor

0.4.3 (2026-09-03 16:42)

Merge pull request #5 from nasa-jpl/update-authors

update authors
fix author name
update authors
Contributors: Daniel Pastor

0.4.2 (2026-08-31 07:32)

Merge pull request #3 from nasa-jpl/fix-rolling

Fix rolling
add changelo update
use target_link_libraries instead of deprecated ament_target_dependencies
Contributors: Daniel Pastor

0.4.0 (2026-06-28 20:40)

chore: bump version to 0.4.0 [skip ci]
Merge pull request #1 from nasa-jpl/github-ci add actions and workflows
add actions and workflows
Contributors: Daniel Pastor, github-actions[bot]

0.3.0 (2026-06-28 20:02)

Merge branch 'prepare-public-release' into 'master' update license to Apache. Readme corrections. Manually bump version See merge request robotics/ros2/dispatcher!4
update license to Apache. Readme corrections. Manually bump version
Merge branch 'feature/script_categories' into 'master' Add categories to scripts See merge request robotics/ros2/dispatcher!3
doc image resize
Updated docs to mention script categories
Added attribution-free icons
categories extended to scripts
Contributors: Daniel Pastor, Daniel Pastor Moreno, jongreen

0.2.0 (2026-04-24)

manual version bump
Merge branch 'improve_readme' into 'master' Improve readme See merge request robotics/ros2/dispatcher!2
fix tests
add more examples
add more examples with screenshots
make start checked optional

File truncated at 100 lines see the full file

Package Dependencies

Deps	Name
	ament_cmake
	ament_lint_auto
	ament_lint_common
	ament_cmake_gtest
	rclcpp
	std_msgs
	sensor_msgs
	std_srvs
	builtin_interfaces

System Dependencies

Name
tmux
yaml-cpp
qtbase5-dev
libqt5-opengl-dev

Dependant Packages

No known dependants.

Launch files

No launch files found

Messages

No message files found.

Services

No service files found

Plugins

No plugins found.

Recent questions tagged `dispatcher` at Robotics Stack Exchange

API Docs Browse Code

No version for distro iron showing jazzy. Known supported distros are highlighted in the buttons above.

dispatcher package from dispatcher repo

dispatcher

ROS Distro
jazzy

API Docs
Browse Code

Package Summary

Version	0.4.4
License	Apache-2.0
Build type	AMENT_CMAKE
Use	RECOMMENDED

Repository Summary

Checkout URI	https://github.com/nasa-jpl/dispatcher.git
VCS Type	git
VCS Version	master
Last Updated	2026-09-05
Dev Status	MAINTAINED
Released	UNRELEASED
Contributing	Help Wanted (-) Good First Issues (-) Pull Requests to Review (-)

Package Description

Qt-based ROS 2 application for launching and monitoring ROS nodes and arbitrary processes.

Additional Links

Maintainers

Kristopher Wehage
Daniel Pastor

Authors

Dennis Wai
Alex Brinkman
Preston Rogers

README.md

Dispatcher

A Qt-based ROS 2 widget for starting, stopping, and monitoring both ROS nodes and arbitrary shell processes.

dispatcher

dispatcher builds its UI from a YAML file. Each configured item is launched in its own detached tmux session, and the terminal button can attach a gnome-terminal window to that session when available.

Runtime Parameters

The dispatcher executable uses the following ROS parameters:

Name	Type	Default	Description
`dispatcher_config_path`	`string`	`""`	Path to the dispatcher YAML file.
`initial_configuration`	`string`	`""`	Configuration name to select on startup.
`start_checked_on_startup`	`bool`	`false`	Start all checked process items after loading the initial configuration.
`ssh_timeout_sec`	`int`	`10`	Timeout used when building remote SSH commands.
`target_loop_rate_hz`	`double`	`100.0`	Main process/status polling rate.

YAML Configuration

The top-level dispatcher YAML supports:

Key	Required	Description
`workspace`	Yes	Workspace path used by ROS process items before sourcing `install/setup.bash`.
`nodes`	Yes	Process and category definitions rendered in the main panel.
`configurations`	No	Named runtime configurations. Each entry may be a simple name or a map with `name`, `cmd_prefix`, `environment_variables`, and `icon`.
`cmd_prefix`	No	Default command prefix for the implicit `all` configuration.
`environment_variables`	No	Default environment variables for the implicit `all` configuration.
`hide_unconfigured_processes`	No	If true, items missing in the active configuration are hidden instead of disabled.
`scripts`	No	Script button definitions shown in the scripts panel.
`variables`	No	Variable selectors used for `$VARIABLE` command substitution.

Node Types

Each entry in nodes can be:

A ROS process item. If type is omitted, the item is treated as ROS by default.
A shell process item with type: shell.
A collapsible category with type: category and an items array. Entries in items follow the same rules, including the default to ROS when type is omitted.

Common item fields include:

Key	Description
`name`	UI label and tmux-session base name.
`cmd`	Command used for the implicit `all` configuration.
`configurations`	Per-configuration command definitions.
`start_checked`	Whether the item starts checked in the UI. Optional, defaults to `false`.
`stop_tmux_cmd`	Stop sequence sent to tmux. Optional, defaults to `C-C`.
`hostname` / `user`	Optional remote execution target for local commands or configuration entries.
`use_cmd_prefix`	Enables or disables command-prefix injection.
`use_environment_variables`	Enables or disables environment-variable injection.
`attach_on_start`	Opens a terminal automatically after launch.

ROS process items can additionally define node_name plus an optional namespace, or a ros_nodes array with the same monitoring fields for online-state monitoring. An omitted namespace resolves to the root namespace, so name: talker matches the graph’s /talker; a name that is already absolute, such as /fcat/fcat, carries its own namespace.

Shell process items use pgrep on the item name to infer online state.

Scripts and Variables

Script entries support:

Key	Description
`name`	Button label.
`cmd` or `configurations`	Script command definition.
`row`, `column`	Grid placement in the scripts panel.
`icon`	Optional Qt resource path for the button icon.
`use_terminal`	Whether to wrap execution in `gnome-terminal --`.

Variable entries support:

Key	Description
`name`	Variable name used in commands, for example `$FCAT_LOOP_RATE_HZ`.
`choices`	Selectable values exposed in the UI.

Examples

The following examples build incrementally from a minimal configuration to a full-featured setup. Each one corresponds to a YAML file in config/ and a screenshot in doc/.

ROS 2 Demos (runnable out of the box)

Four examples run without any custom packages, using only the demos that ship with ROS 2. Each is self-contained and includes an rqt_graph button. Install the demo packages if needed:

```bash sudo apt install ros-$ROS_DISTRO-demo-nodes-cpp \

File truncated at 100 lines see the full file

CHANGELOG

Changelog for package dispatcher

Forthcoming

0.4.4 (2026-09-05 02:08)

Merge pull request #6 from nasa-jpl/copilot/fix-bump-github-actions-job

Fix "bump" workflow: use pull_request_target so fork-based merges can push tags
Fix bump workflow: use pull_request_target to get write token for fork PRs

Co-authored-by: PastorD <<7848129+PastorD@users.noreply.github.com>>
Initial plan
Merge pull request #4 from PastorD/feature/start-checked-on-startup

Add checked-item startup parameter
improve config docs
fix category type default to match non-category behaviour
fix namespace resolution
add ros2 examples
Add checked-item startup parameter
Contributors: copilot-swe-agent[bot], Daniel Pastor

0.4.3 (2026-09-03 16:42)

Merge pull request #5 from nasa-jpl/update-authors

update authors
fix author name
update authors
Contributors: Daniel Pastor

0.4.2 (2026-08-31 07:32)

Merge pull request #3 from nasa-jpl/fix-rolling

Fix rolling
add changelo update
use target_link_libraries instead of deprecated ament_target_dependencies
Contributors: Daniel Pastor

0.4.0 (2026-06-28 20:40)

chore: bump version to 0.4.0 [skip ci]
Merge pull request #1 from nasa-jpl/github-ci add actions and workflows
add actions and workflows
Contributors: Daniel Pastor, github-actions[bot]

0.3.0 (2026-06-28 20:02)

Merge branch 'prepare-public-release' into 'master' update license to Apache. Readme corrections. Manually bump version See merge request robotics/ros2/dispatcher!4
update license to Apache. Readme corrections. Manually bump version
Merge branch 'feature/script_categories' into 'master' Add categories to scripts See merge request robotics/ros2/dispatcher!3
doc image resize
Updated docs to mention script categories
Added attribution-free icons
categories extended to scripts
Contributors: Daniel Pastor, Daniel Pastor Moreno, jongreen

0.2.0 (2026-04-24)

manual version bump
Merge branch 'improve_readme' into 'master' Improve readme See merge request robotics/ros2/dispatcher!2
fix tests
add more examples
add more examples with screenshots
make start checked optional

File truncated at 100 lines see the full file

Package Dependencies

Deps	Name
	ament_cmake
	ament_lint_auto
	ament_lint_common
	ament_cmake_gtest
	rclcpp
	std_msgs
	sensor_msgs
	std_srvs
	builtin_interfaces

System Dependencies

Name
tmux
yaml-cpp
qtbase5-dev
libqt5-opengl-dev

Dependant Packages

No known dependants.

Launch files

No launch files found

Messages

No message files found.

Services

No service files found

Plugins

No plugins found.

Recent questions tagged `dispatcher` at Robotics Stack Exchange

API Docs Browse Code

No version for distro lunar showing jazzy. Known supported distros are highlighted in the buttons above.

dispatcher package from dispatcher repo

dispatcher

ROS Distro
jazzy

API Docs
Browse Code
Wiki

Package Summary

Version	0.4.4
License	Apache-2.0
Build type	AMENT_CMAKE
Use	RECOMMENDED

Repository Summary

Checkout URI	https://github.com/nasa-jpl/dispatcher.git
VCS Type	git
VCS Version	master
Last Updated	2026-09-05
Dev Status	MAINTAINED
Released	UNRELEASED
Contributing	Help Wanted (-) Good First Issues (-) Pull Requests to Review (-)

Package Description

Qt-based ROS 2 application for launching and monitoring ROS nodes and arbitrary processes.

Additional Links

Maintainers

Kristopher Wehage
Daniel Pastor

Authors

Dennis Wai
Alex Brinkman
Preston Rogers

README.md

Dispatcher

A Qt-based ROS 2 widget for starting, stopping, and monitoring both ROS nodes and arbitrary shell processes.

dispatcher

dispatcher builds its UI from a YAML file. Each configured item is launched in its own detached tmux session, and the terminal button can attach a gnome-terminal window to that session when available.

Runtime Parameters

The dispatcher executable uses the following ROS parameters:

Name	Type	Default	Description
`dispatcher_config_path`	`string`	`""`	Path to the dispatcher YAML file.
`initial_configuration`	`string`	`""`	Configuration name to select on startup.
`start_checked_on_startup`	`bool`	`false`	Start all checked process items after loading the initial configuration.
`ssh_timeout_sec`	`int`	`10`	Timeout used when building remote SSH commands.
`target_loop_rate_hz`	`double`	`100.0`	Main process/status polling rate.

YAML Configuration

The top-level dispatcher YAML supports:

Key	Required	Description
`workspace`	Yes	Workspace path used by ROS process items before sourcing `install/setup.bash`.
`nodes`	Yes	Process and category definitions rendered in the main panel.
`configurations`	No	Named runtime configurations. Each entry may be a simple name or a map with `name`, `cmd_prefix`, `environment_variables`, and `icon`.
`cmd_prefix`	No	Default command prefix for the implicit `all` configuration.
`environment_variables`	No	Default environment variables for the implicit `all` configuration.
`hide_unconfigured_processes`	No	If true, items missing in the active configuration are hidden instead of disabled.
`scripts`	No	Script button definitions shown in the scripts panel.
`variables`	No	Variable selectors used for `$VARIABLE` command substitution.

Node Types

Each entry in nodes can be:

A ROS process item. If type is omitted, the item is treated as ROS by default.
A shell process item with type: shell.
A collapsible category with type: category and an items array. Entries in items follow the same rules, including the default to ROS when type is omitted.

Common item fields include:

Key	Description
`name`	UI label and tmux-session base name.
`cmd`	Command used for the implicit `all` configuration.
`configurations`	Per-configuration command definitions.
`start_checked`	Whether the item starts checked in the UI. Optional, defaults to `false`.
`stop_tmux_cmd`	Stop sequence sent to tmux. Optional, defaults to `C-C`.
`hostname` / `user`	Optional remote execution target for local commands or configuration entries.
`use_cmd_prefix`	Enables or disables command-prefix injection.
`use_environment_variables`	Enables or disables environment-variable injection.
`attach_on_start`	Opens a terminal automatically after launch.

ROS process items can additionally define node_name plus an optional namespace, or a ros_nodes array with the same monitoring fields for online-state monitoring. An omitted namespace resolves to the root namespace, so name: talker matches the graph’s /talker; a name that is already absolute, such as /fcat/fcat, carries its own namespace.

Shell process items use pgrep on the item name to infer online state.

Scripts and Variables

Script entries support:

Key	Description
`name`	Button label.
`cmd` or `configurations`	Script command definition.
`row`, `column`	Grid placement in the scripts panel.
`icon`	Optional Qt resource path for the button icon.
`use_terminal`	Whether to wrap execution in `gnome-terminal --`.

Variable entries support:

Key	Description
`name`	Variable name used in commands, for example `$FCAT_LOOP_RATE_HZ`.
`choices`	Selectable values exposed in the UI.

Examples

The following examples build incrementally from a minimal configuration to a full-featured setup. Each one corresponds to a YAML file in config/ and a screenshot in doc/.

ROS 2 Demos (runnable out of the box)

Four examples run without any custom packages, using only the demos that ship with ROS 2. Each is self-contained and includes an rqt_graph button. Install the demo packages if needed:

```bash sudo apt install ros-$ROS_DISTRO-demo-nodes-cpp \

File truncated at 100 lines see the full file

CHANGELOG

Changelog for package dispatcher

Forthcoming

0.4.4 (2026-09-05 02:08)

Merge pull request #6 from nasa-jpl/copilot/fix-bump-github-actions-job

Fix "bump" workflow: use pull_request_target so fork-based merges can push tags
Fix bump workflow: use pull_request_target to get write token for fork PRs

Co-authored-by: PastorD <<7848129+PastorD@users.noreply.github.com>>
Initial plan
Merge pull request #4 from PastorD/feature/start-checked-on-startup

Add checked-item startup parameter
improve config docs
fix category type default to match non-category behaviour
fix namespace resolution
add ros2 examples
Add checked-item startup parameter
Contributors: copilot-swe-agent[bot], Daniel Pastor

0.4.3 (2026-09-03 16:42)

Merge pull request #5 from nasa-jpl/update-authors

update authors
fix author name
update authors
Contributors: Daniel Pastor

0.4.2 (2026-08-31 07:32)

Merge pull request #3 from nasa-jpl/fix-rolling

Fix rolling
add changelo update
use target_link_libraries instead of deprecated ament_target_dependencies
Contributors: Daniel Pastor

0.4.0 (2026-06-28 20:40)

chore: bump version to 0.4.0 [skip ci]
Merge pull request #1 from nasa-jpl/github-ci add actions and workflows
add actions and workflows
Contributors: Daniel Pastor, github-actions[bot]

0.3.0 (2026-06-28 20:02)

Merge branch 'prepare-public-release' into 'master' update license to Apache. Readme corrections. Manually bump version See merge request robotics/ros2/dispatcher!4
update license to Apache. Readme corrections. Manually bump version
Merge branch 'feature/script_categories' into 'master' Add categories to scripts See merge request robotics/ros2/dispatcher!3
doc image resize
Updated docs to mention script categories
Added attribution-free icons
categories extended to scripts
Contributors: Daniel Pastor, Daniel Pastor Moreno, jongreen

0.2.0 (2026-04-24)

manual version bump
Merge branch 'improve_readme' into 'master' Improve readme See merge request robotics/ros2/dispatcher!2
fix tests
add more examples
add more examples with screenshots
make start checked optional

File truncated at 100 lines see the full file

Package Dependencies

Deps	Name
	ament_cmake
	ament_lint_auto
	ament_lint_common
	ament_cmake_gtest
	rclcpp
	std_msgs
	sensor_msgs
	std_srvs
	builtin_interfaces

System Dependencies

Name
tmux
yaml-cpp
qtbase5-dev
libqt5-opengl-dev

Dependant Packages

No known dependants.

Launch files

No launch files found

Messages

No message files found.

Services

No service files found

Plugins

No plugins found.

Recent questions tagged `dispatcher` at Robotics Stack Exchange

API Docs Browse Code Wiki

No version for distro jade showing jazzy. Known supported distros are highlighted in the buttons above.

dispatcher package from dispatcher repo

dispatcher

ROS Distro
jazzy

API Docs
Browse Code
Wiki

Package Summary

Version	0.4.4
License	Apache-2.0
Build type	AMENT_CMAKE
Use	RECOMMENDED

Repository Summary

Checkout URI	https://github.com/nasa-jpl/dispatcher.git
VCS Type	git
VCS Version	master
Last Updated	2026-09-05
Dev Status	MAINTAINED
Released	UNRELEASED
Contributing	Help Wanted (-) Good First Issues (-) Pull Requests to Review (-)

Package Description

Qt-based ROS 2 application for launching and monitoring ROS nodes and arbitrary processes.

Additional Links

Maintainers

Kristopher Wehage
Daniel Pastor

Authors

Dennis Wai
Alex Brinkman
Preston Rogers

README.md

Dispatcher

A Qt-based ROS 2 widget for starting, stopping, and monitoring both ROS nodes and arbitrary shell processes.

dispatcher

dispatcher builds its UI from a YAML file. Each configured item is launched in its own detached tmux session, and the terminal button can attach a gnome-terminal window to that session when available.

Runtime Parameters

The dispatcher executable uses the following ROS parameters:

Name	Type	Default	Description
`dispatcher_config_path`	`string`	`""`	Path to the dispatcher YAML file.
`initial_configuration`	`string`	`""`	Configuration name to select on startup.
`start_checked_on_startup`	`bool`	`false`	Start all checked process items after loading the initial configuration.
`ssh_timeout_sec`	`int`	`10`	Timeout used when building remote SSH commands.
`target_loop_rate_hz`	`double`	`100.0`	Main process/status polling rate.

YAML Configuration

The top-level dispatcher YAML supports:

Key	Required	Description
`workspace`	Yes	Workspace path used by ROS process items before sourcing `install/setup.bash`.
`nodes`	Yes	Process and category definitions rendered in the main panel.
`configurations`	No	Named runtime configurations. Each entry may be a simple name or a map with `name`, `cmd_prefix`, `environment_variables`, and `icon`.
`cmd_prefix`	No	Default command prefix for the implicit `all` configuration.
`environment_variables`	No	Default environment variables for the implicit `all` configuration.
`hide_unconfigured_processes`	No	If true, items missing in the active configuration are hidden instead of disabled.
`scripts`	No	Script button definitions shown in the scripts panel.
`variables`	No	Variable selectors used for `$VARIABLE` command substitution.

Node Types

Each entry in nodes can be:

A ROS process item. If type is omitted, the item is treated as ROS by default.
A shell process item with type: shell.
A collapsible category with type: category and an items array. Entries in items follow the same rules, including the default to ROS when type is omitted.

Common item fields include:

Key	Description
`name`	UI label and tmux-session base name.
`cmd`	Command used for the implicit `all` configuration.
`configurations`	Per-configuration command definitions.
`start_checked`	Whether the item starts checked in the UI. Optional, defaults to `false`.
`stop_tmux_cmd`	Stop sequence sent to tmux. Optional, defaults to `C-C`.
`hostname` / `user`	Optional remote execution target for local commands or configuration entries.
`use_cmd_prefix`	Enables or disables command-prefix injection.
`use_environment_variables`	Enables or disables environment-variable injection.
`attach_on_start`	Opens a terminal automatically after launch.

ROS process items can additionally define node_name plus an optional namespace, or a ros_nodes array with the same monitoring fields for online-state monitoring. An omitted namespace resolves to the root namespace, so name: talker matches the graph’s /talker; a name that is already absolute, such as /fcat/fcat, carries its own namespace.

Shell process items use pgrep on the item name to infer online state.

Scripts and Variables

Script entries support:

Key	Description
`name`	Button label.
`cmd` or `configurations`	Script command definition.
`row`, `column`	Grid placement in the scripts panel.
`icon`	Optional Qt resource path for the button icon.
`use_terminal`	Whether to wrap execution in `gnome-terminal --`.

Variable entries support:

Key	Description
`name`	Variable name used in commands, for example `$FCAT_LOOP_RATE_HZ`.
`choices`	Selectable values exposed in the UI.

Examples

The following examples build incrementally from a minimal configuration to a full-featured setup. Each one corresponds to a YAML file in config/ and a screenshot in doc/.

ROS 2 Demos (runnable out of the box)

Four examples run without any custom packages, using only the demos that ship with ROS 2. Each is self-contained and includes an rqt_graph button. Install the demo packages if needed:

```bash sudo apt install ros-$ROS_DISTRO-demo-nodes-cpp \

File truncated at 100 lines see the full file

CHANGELOG

Changelog for package dispatcher

Forthcoming

0.4.4 (2026-09-05 02:08)

Merge pull request #6 from nasa-jpl/copilot/fix-bump-github-actions-job

Fix "bump" workflow: use pull_request_target so fork-based merges can push tags
Fix bump workflow: use pull_request_target to get write token for fork PRs

Co-authored-by: PastorD <<7848129+PastorD@users.noreply.github.com>>
Initial plan
Merge pull request #4 from PastorD/feature/start-checked-on-startup

Add checked-item startup parameter
improve config docs
fix category type default to match non-category behaviour
fix namespace resolution
add ros2 examples
Add checked-item startup parameter
Contributors: copilot-swe-agent[bot], Daniel Pastor

0.4.3 (2026-09-03 16:42)

Merge pull request #5 from nasa-jpl/update-authors

update authors
fix author name
update authors
Contributors: Daniel Pastor

0.4.2 (2026-08-31 07:32)

Merge pull request #3 from nasa-jpl/fix-rolling

Fix rolling
add changelo update
use target_link_libraries instead of deprecated ament_target_dependencies
Contributors: Daniel Pastor

0.4.0 (2026-06-28 20:40)

chore: bump version to 0.4.0 [skip ci]
Merge pull request #1 from nasa-jpl/github-ci add actions and workflows
add actions and workflows
Contributors: Daniel Pastor, github-actions[bot]

0.3.0 (2026-06-28 20:02)

Merge branch 'prepare-public-release' into 'master' update license to Apache. Readme corrections. Manually bump version See merge request robotics/ros2/dispatcher!4
update license to Apache. Readme corrections. Manually bump version
Merge branch 'feature/script_categories' into 'master' Add categories to scripts See merge request robotics/ros2/dispatcher!3
doc image resize
Updated docs to mention script categories
Added attribution-free icons
categories extended to scripts
Contributors: Daniel Pastor, Daniel Pastor Moreno, jongreen

0.2.0 (2026-04-24)

manual version bump
Merge branch 'improve_readme' into 'master' Improve readme See merge request robotics/ros2/dispatcher!2
fix tests
add more examples
add more examples with screenshots
make start checked optional

File truncated at 100 lines see the full file

Package Dependencies

Deps	Name
	ament_cmake
	ament_lint_auto
	ament_lint_common
	ament_cmake_gtest
	rclcpp
	std_msgs
	sensor_msgs
	std_srvs
	builtin_interfaces

System Dependencies

Name
tmux
yaml-cpp
qtbase5-dev
libqt5-opengl-dev

Dependant Packages

No known dependants.

Launch files

No launch files found

Messages

No message files found.

Services

No service files found

Plugins

No plugins found.

Recent questions tagged `dispatcher` at Robotics Stack Exchange

API Docs Browse Code Wiki

No version for distro indigo showing jazzy. Known supported distros are highlighted in the buttons above.

dispatcher package from dispatcher repo

dispatcher

ROS Distro
jazzy

API Docs
Browse Code
Wiki

Package Summary

Version	0.4.4
License	Apache-2.0
Build type	AMENT_CMAKE
Use	RECOMMENDED

Repository Summary

Checkout URI	https://github.com/nasa-jpl/dispatcher.git
VCS Type	git
VCS Version	master
Last Updated	2026-09-05
Dev Status	MAINTAINED
Released	UNRELEASED
Contributing	Help Wanted (-) Good First Issues (-) Pull Requests to Review (-)

Package Description

Qt-based ROS 2 application for launching and monitoring ROS nodes and arbitrary processes.

Additional Links

Maintainers

Kristopher Wehage
Daniel Pastor

Authors

Dennis Wai
Alex Brinkman
Preston Rogers

README.md

Dispatcher

A Qt-based ROS 2 widget for starting, stopping, and monitoring both ROS nodes and arbitrary shell processes.

dispatcher

dispatcher builds its UI from a YAML file. Each configured item is launched in its own detached tmux session, and the terminal button can attach a gnome-terminal window to that session when available.

Runtime Parameters

The dispatcher executable uses the following ROS parameters:

Name	Type	Default	Description
`dispatcher_config_path`	`string`	`""`	Path to the dispatcher YAML file.
`initial_configuration`	`string`	`""`	Configuration name to select on startup.
`start_checked_on_startup`	`bool`	`false`	Start all checked process items after loading the initial configuration.
`ssh_timeout_sec`	`int`	`10`	Timeout used when building remote SSH commands.
`target_loop_rate_hz`	`double`	`100.0`	Main process/status polling rate.

YAML Configuration

The top-level dispatcher YAML supports:

Key	Required	Description
`workspace`	Yes	Workspace path used by ROS process items before sourcing `install/setup.bash`.
`nodes`	Yes	Process and category definitions rendered in the main panel.
`configurations`	No	Named runtime configurations. Each entry may be a simple name or a map with `name`, `cmd_prefix`, `environment_variables`, and `icon`.
`cmd_prefix`	No	Default command prefix for the implicit `all` configuration.
`environment_variables`	No	Default environment variables for the implicit `all` configuration.
`hide_unconfigured_processes`	No	If true, items missing in the active configuration are hidden instead of disabled.
`scripts`	No	Script button definitions shown in the scripts panel.
`variables`	No	Variable selectors used for `$VARIABLE` command substitution.

Node Types

Each entry in nodes can be:

A ROS process item. If type is omitted, the item is treated as ROS by default.
A shell process item with type: shell.
A collapsible category with type: category and an items array. Entries in items follow the same rules, including the default to ROS when type is omitted.

Common item fields include:

Key	Description
`name`	UI label and tmux-session base name.
`cmd`	Command used for the implicit `all` configuration.
`configurations`	Per-configuration command definitions.
`start_checked`	Whether the item starts checked in the UI. Optional, defaults to `false`.
`stop_tmux_cmd`	Stop sequence sent to tmux. Optional, defaults to `C-C`.
`hostname` / `user`	Optional remote execution target for local commands or configuration entries.
`use_cmd_prefix`	Enables or disables command-prefix injection.
`use_environment_variables`	Enables or disables environment-variable injection.
`attach_on_start`	Opens a terminal automatically after launch.

ROS process items can additionally define node_name plus an optional namespace, or a ros_nodes array with the same monitoring fields for online-state monitoring. An omitted namespace resolves to the root namespace, so name: talker matches the graph’s /talker; a name that is already absolute, such as /fcat/fcat, carries its own namespace.

Shell process items use pgrep on the item name to infer online state.

Scripts and Variables

Script entries support:

Key	Description
`name`	Button label.
`cmd` or `configurations`	Script command definition.
`row`, `column`	Grid placement in the scripts panel.
`icon`	Optional Qt resource path for the button icon.
`use_terminal`	Whether to wrap execution in `gnome-terminal --`.

Variable entries support:

Key	Description
`name`	Variable name used in commands, for example `$FCAT_LOOP_RATE_HZ`.
`choices`	Selectable values exposed in the UI.

Examples

The following examples build incrementally from a minimal configuration to a full-featured setup. Each one corresponds to a YAML file in config/ and a screenshot in doc/.

ROS 2 Demos (runnable out of the box)

Four examples run without any custom packages, using only the demos that ship with ROS 2. Each is self-contained and includes an rqt_graph button. Install the demo packages if needed:

```bash sudo apt install ros-$ROS_DISTRO-demo-nodes-cpp \

File truncated at 100 lines see the full file

CHANGELOG

Changelog for package dispatcher

Forthcoming

0.4.4 (2026-09-05 02:08)

Merge pull request #6 from nasa-jpl/copilot/fix-bump-github-actions-job

Fix "bump" workflow: use pull_request_target so fork-based merges can push tags
Fix bump workflow: use pull_request_target to get write token for fork PRs

Co-authored-by: PastorD <<7848129+PastorD@users.noreply.github.com>>
Initial plan
Merge pull request #4 from PastorD/feature/start-checked-on-startup

Add checked-item startup parameter
improve config docs
fix category type default to match non-category behaviour
fix namespace resolution
add ros2 examples
Add checked-item startup parameter
Contributors: copilot-swe-agent[bot], Daniel Pastor

0.4.3 (2026-09-03 16:42)

Merge pull request #5 from nasa-jpl/update-authors

update authors
fix author name
update authors
Contributors: Daniel Pastor

0.4.2 (2026-08-31 07:32)

Merge pull request #3 from nasa-jpl/fix-rolling

Fix rolling
add changelo update
use target_link_libraries instead of deprecated ament_target_dependencies
Contributors: Daniel Pastor

0.4.0 (2026-06-28 20:40)

chore: bump version to 0.4.0 [skip ci]
Merge pull request #1 from nasa-jpl/github-ci add actions and workflows
add actions and workflows
Contributors: Daniel Pastor, github-actions[bot]

0.3.0 (2026-06-28 20:02)

Merge branch 'prepare-public-release' into 'master' update license to Apache. Readme corrections. Manually bump version See merge request robotics/ros2/dispatcher!4
update license to Apache. Readme corrections. Manually bump version
Merge branch 'feature/script_categories' into 'master' Add categories to scripts See merge request robotics/ros2/dispatcher!3
doc image resize
Updated docs to mention script categories
Added attribution-free icons
categories extended to scripts
Contributors: Daniel Pastor, Daniel Pastor Moreno, jongreen

0.2.0 (2026-04-24)

manual version bump
Merge branch 'improve_readme' into 'master' Improve readme See merge request robotics/ros2/dispatcher!2
fix tests
add more examples
add more examples with screenshots
make start checked optional

File truncated at 100 lines see the full file

Package Dependencies

Deps	Name
	ament_cmake
	ament_lint_auto
	ament_lint_common
	ament_cmake_gtest
	rclcpp
	std_msgs
	sensor_msgs
	std_srvs
	builtin_interfaces

System Dependencies

Name
tmux
yaml-cpp
qtbase5-dev
libqt5-opengl-dev

Dependant Packages

No known dependants.

Launch files

No launch files found

Messages

No message files found.

Services

No service files found

Plugins

No plugins found.

Recent questions tagged `dispatcher` at Robotics Stack Exchange

API Docs Browse Code Wiki

No version for distro hydro showing jazzy. Known supported distros are highlighted in the buttons above.

dispatcher package from dispatcher repo

dispatcher

ROS Distro
jazzy

API Docs
Browse Code
Wiki

Package Summary

Version	0.4.4
License	Apache-2.0
Build type	AMENT_CMAKE
Use	RECOMMENDED

Repository Summary

Checkout URI	https://github.com/nasa-jpl/dispatcher.git
VCS Type	git
VCS Version	master
Last Updated	2026-09-05
Dev Status	MAINTAINED
Released	UNRELEASED
Contributing	Help Wanted (-) Good First Issues (-) Pull Requests to Review (-)

Package Description

Qt-based ROS 2 application for launching and monitoring ROS nodes and arbitrary processes.

Additional Links

Maintainers

Kristopher Wehage
Daniel Pastor

Authors

Dennis Wai
Alex Brinkman
Preston Rogers

README.md

Dispatcher

A Qt-based ROS 2 widget for starting, stopping, and monitoring both ROS nodes and arbitrary shell processes.

dispatcher

dispatcher builds its UI from a YAML file. Each configured item is launched in its own detached tmux session, and the terminal button can attach a gnome-terminal window to that session when available.

Runtime Parameters

The dispatcher executable uses the following ROS parameters:

Name	Type	Default	Description
`dispatcher_config_path`	`string`	`""`	Path to the dispatcher YAML file.
`initial_configuration`	`string`	`""`	Configuration name to select on startup.
`start_checked_on_startup`	`bool`	`false`	Start all checked process items after loading the initial configuration.
`ssh_timeout_sec`	`int`	`10`	Timeout used when building remote SSH commands.
`target_loop_rate_hz`	`double`	`100.0`	Main process/status polling rate.

YAML Configuration

The top-level dispatcher YAML supports:

Key	Required	Description
`workspace`	Yes	Workspace path used by ROS process items before sourcing `install/setup.bash`.
`nodes`	Yes	Process and category definitions rendered in the main panel.
`configurations`	No	Named runtime configurations. Each entry may be a simple name or a map with `name`, `cmd_prefix`, `environment_variables`, and `icon`.
`cmd_prefix`	No	Default command prefix for the implicit `all` configuration.
`environment_variables`	No	Default environment variables for the implicit `all` configuration.
`hide_unconfigured_processes`	No	If true, items missing in the active configuration are hidden instead of disabled.
`scripts`	No	Script button definitions shown in the scripts panel.
`variables`	No	Variable selectors used for `$VARIABLE` command substitution.

Node Types

Each entry in nodes can be:

A ROS process item. If type is omitted, the item is treated as ROS by default.
A shell process item with type: shell.
A collapsible category with type: category and an items array. Entries in items follow the same rules, including the default to ROS when type is omitted.

Common item fields include:

Key	Description
`name`	UI label and tmux-session base name.
`cmd`	Command used for the implicit `all` configuration.
`configurations`	Per-configuration command definitions.
`start_checked`	Whether the item starts checked in the UI. Optional, defaults to `false`.
`stop_tmux_cmd`	Stop sequence sent to tmux. Optional, defaults to `C-C`.
`hostname` / `user`	Optional remote execution target for local commands or configuration entries.
`use_cmd_prefix`	Enables or disables command-prefix injection.
`use_environment_variables`	Enables or disables environment-variable injection.
`attach_on_start`	Opens a terminal automatically after launch.

ROS process items can additionally define node_name plus an optional namespace, or a ros_nodes array with the same monitoring fields for online-state monitoring. An omitted namespace resolves to the root namespace, so name: talker matches the graph’s /talker; a name that is already absolute, such as /fcat/fcat, carries its own namespace.

Shell process items use pgrep on the item name to infer online state.

Scripts and Variables

Script entries support:

Key	Description
`name`	Button label.
`cmd` or `configurations`	Script command definition.
`row`, `column`	Grid placement in the scripts panel.
`icon`	Optional Qt resource path for the button icon.
`use_terminal`	Whether to wrap execution in `gnome-terminal --`.

Variable entries support:

Key	Description
`name`	Variable name used in commands, for example `$FCAT_LOOP_RATE_HZ`.
`choices`	Selectable values exposed in the UI.

Examples

The following examples build incrementally from a minimal configuration to a full-featured setup. Each one corresponds to a YAML file in config/ and a screenshot in doc/.

ROS 2 Demos (runnable out of the box)

Four examples run without any custom packages, using only the demos that ship with ROS 2. Each is self-contained and includes an rqt_graph button. Install the demo packages if needed:

```bash sudo apt install ros-$ROS_DISTRO-demo-nodes-cpp \

File truncated at 100 lines see the full file

CHANGELOG

Changelog for package dispatcher

Forthcoming

0.4.4 (2026-09-05 02:08)

Merge pull request #6 from nasa-jpl/copilot/fix-bump-github-actions-job

Fix "bump" workflow: use pull_request_target so fork-based merges can push tags
Fix bump workflow: use pull_request_target to get write token for fork PRs

Co-authored-by: PastorD <<7848129+PastorD@users.noreply.github.com>>
Initial plan
Merge pull request #4 from PastorD/feature/start-checked-on-startup

Add checked-item startup parameter
improve config docs
fix category type default to match non-category behaviour
fix namespace resolution
add ros2 examples
Add checked-item startup parameter
Contributors: copilot-swe-agent[bot], Daniel Pastor

0.4.3 (2026-09-03 16:42)

Merge pull request #5 from nasa-jpl/update-authors

update authors
fix author name
update authors
Contributors: Daniel Pastor

0.4.2 (2026-08-31 07:32)

Merge pull request #3 from nasa-jpl/fix-rolling

Fix rolling
add changelo update
use target_link_libraries instead of deprecated ament_target_dependencies
Contributors: Daniel Pastor

0.4.0 (2026-06-28 20:40)

chore: bump version to 0.4.0 [skip ci]
Merge pull request #1 from nasa-jpl/github-ci add actions and workflows
add actions and workflows
Contributors: Daniel Pastor, github-actions[bot]

0.3.0 (2026-06-28 20:02)

Merge branch 'prepare-public-release' into 'master' update license to Apache. Readme corrections. Manually bump version See merge request robotics/ros2/dispatcher!4
update license to Apache. Readme corrections. Manually bump version
Merge branch 'feature/script_categories' into 'master' Add categories to scripts See merge request robotics/ros2/dispatcher!3
doc image resize
Updated docs to mention script categories
Added attribution-free icons
categories extended to scripts
Contributors: Daniel Pastor, Daniel Pastor Moreno, jongreen

0.2.0 (2026-04-24)

manual version bump
Merge branch 'improve_readme' into 'master' Improve readme See merge request robotics/ros2/dispatcher!2
fix tests
add more examples
add more examples with screenshots
make start checked optional

File truncated at 100 lines see the full file

Package Dependencies

Deps	Name
	ament_cmake
	ament_lint_auto
	ament_lint_common
	ament_cmake_gtest
	rclcpp
	std_msgs
	sensor_msgs
	std_srvs
	builtin_interfaces

System Dependencies

Name
tmux
yaml-cpp
qtbase5-dev
libqt5-opengl-dev

Dependant Packages

No known dependants.

Launch files

No launch files found

Messages

No message files found.

Services

No service files found

Plugins

No plugins found.

Recent questions tagged `dispatcher` at Robotics Stack Exchange

API Docs Browse Code Wiki

No version for distro kinetic showing jazzy. Known supported distros are highlighted in the buttons above.

dispatcher package from dispatcher repo

dispatcher

ROS Distro
jazzy

API Docs
Browse Code
Wiki

Package Summary

Version	0.4.4
License	Apache-2.0
Build type	AMENT_CMAKE
Use	RECOMMENDED

Repository Summary

Checkout URI	https://github.com/nasa-jpl/dispatcher.git
VCS Type	git
VCS Version	master
Last Updated	2026-09-05
Dev Status	MAINTAINED
Released	UNRELEASED
Contributing	Help Wanted (-) Good First Issues (-) Pull Requests to Review (-)

Package Description

Qt-based ROS 2 application for launching and monitoring ROS nodes and arbitrary processes.

Additional Links

Maintainers

Kristopher Wehage
Daniel Pastor

Authors

Dennis Wai
Alex Brinkman
Preston Rogers

README.md

Dispatcher

A Qt-based ROS 2 widget for starting, stopping, and monitoring both ROS nodes and arbitrary shell processes.

dispatcher

dispatcher builds its UI from a YAML file. Each configured item is launched in its own detached tmux session, and the terminal button can attach a gnome-terminal window to that session when available.

Runtime Parameters

The dispatcher executable uses the following ROS parameters:

Name	Type	Default	Description
`dispatcher_config_path`	`string`	`""`	Path to the dispatcher YAML file.
`initial_configuration`	`string`	`""`	Configuration name to select on startup.
`start_checked_on_startup`	`bool`	`false`	Start all checked process items after loading the initial configuration.
`ssh_timeout_sec`	`int`	`10`	Timeout used when building remote SSH commands.
`target_loop_rate_hz`	`double`	`100.0`	Main process/status polling rate.

YAML Configuration

The top-level dispatcher YAML supports:

Key	Required	Description
`workspace`	Yes	Workspace path used by ROS process items before sourcing `install/setup.bash`.
`nodes`	Yes	Process and category definitions rendered in the main panel.
`configurations`	No	Named runtime configurations. Each entry may be a simple name or a map with `name`, `cmd_prefix`, `environment_variables`, and `icon`.
`cmd_prefix`	No	Default command prefix for the implicit `all` configuration.
`environment_variables`	No	Default environment variables for the implicit `all` configuration.
`hide_unconfigured_processes`	No	If true, items missing in the active configuration are hidden instead of disabled.
`scripts`	No	Script button definitions shown in the scripts panel.
`variables`	No	Variable selectors used for `$VARIABLE` command substitution.

Node Types

Each entry in nodes can be:

A ROS process item. If type is omitted, the item is treated as ROS by default.
A shell process item with type: shell.
A collapsible category with type: category and an items array. Entries in items follow the same rules, including the default to ROS when type is omitted.

Common item fields include:

Key	Description
`name`	UI label and tmux-session base name.
`cmd`	Command used for the implicit `all` configuration.
`configurations`	Per-configuration command definitions.
`start_checked`	Whether the item starts checked in the UI. Optional, defaults to `false`.
`stop_tmux_cmd`	Stop sequence sent to tmux. Optional, defaults to `C-C`.
`hostname` / `user`	Optional remote execution target for local commands or configuration entries.
`use_cmd_prefix`	Enables or disables command-prefix injection.
`use_environment_variables`	Enables or disables environment-variable injection.
`attach_on_start`	Opens a terminal automatically after launch.

ROS process items can additionally define node_name plus an optional namespace, or a ros_nodes array with the same monitoring fields for online-state monitoring. An omitted namespace resolves to the root namespace, so name: talker matches the graph’s /talker; a name that is already absolute, such as /fcat/fcat, carries its own namespace.

Shell process items use pgrep on the item name to infer online state.

Scripts and Variables

Script entries support:

Key	Description
`name`	Button label.
`cmd` or `configurations`	Script command definition.
`row`, `column`	Grid placement in the scripts panel.
`icon`	Optional Qt resource path for the button icon.
`use_terminal`	Whether to wrap execution in `gnome-terminal --`.

Variable entries support:

Key	Description
`name`	Variable name used in commands, for example `$FCAT_LOOP_RATE_HZ`.
`choices`	Selectable values exposed in the UI.

Examples

The following examples build incrementally from a minimal configuration to a full-featured setup. Each one corresponds to a YAML file in config/ and a screenshot in doc/.

ROS 2 Demos (runnable out of the box)

Four examples run without any custom packages, using only the demos that ship with ROS 2. Each is self-contained and includes an rqt_graph button. Install the demo packages if needed:

```bash sudo apt install ros-$ROS_DISTRO-demo-nodes-cpp \

File truncated at 100 lines see the full file

CHANGELOG

Changelog for package dispatcher

Forthcoming

0.4.4 (2026-09-05 02:08)

Merge pull request #6 from nasa-jpl/copilot/fix-bump-github-actions-job

Fix "bump" workflow: use pull_request_target so fork-based merges can push tags
Fix bump workflow: use pull_request_target to get write token for fork PRs

Co-authored-by: PastorD <<7848129+PastorD@users.noreply.github.com>>
Initial plan
Merge pull request #4 from PastorD/feature/start-checked-on-startup

Add checked-item startup parameter
improve config docs
fix category type default to match non-category behaviour
fix namespace resolution
add ros2 examples
Add checked-item startup parameter
Contributors: copilot-swe-agent[bot], Daniel Pastor

0.4.3 (2026-09-03 16:42)

Merge pull request #5 from nasa-jpl/update-authors

update authors
fix author name
update authors
Contributors: Daniel Pastor

0.4.2 (2026-08-31 07:32)

Merge pull request #3 from nasa-jpl/fix-rolling

Fix rolling
add changelo update
use target_link_libraries instead of deprecated ament_target_dependencies
Contributors: Daniel Pastor

0.4.0 (2026-06-28 20:40)

chore: bump version to 0.4.0 [skip ci]
Merge pull request #1 from nasa-jpl/github-ci add actions and workflows
add actions and workflows
Contributors: Daniel Pastor, github-actions[bot]

0.3.0 (2026-06-28 20:02)

Merge branch 'prepare-public-release' into 'master' update license to Apache. Readme corrections. Manually bump version See merge request robotics/ros2/dispatcher!4
update license to Apache. Readme corrections. Manually bump version
Merge branch 'feature/script_categories' into 'master' Add categories to scripts See merge request robotics/ros2/dispatcher!3
doc image resize
Updated docs to mention script categories
Added attribution-free icons
categories extended to scripts
Contributors: Daniel Pastor, Daniel Pastor Moreno, jongreen

0.2.0 (2026-04-24)

manual version bump
Merge branch 'improve_readme' into 'master' Improve readme See merge request robotics/ros2/dispatcher!2
fix tests
add more examples
add more examples with screenshots
make start checked optional

File truncated at 100 lines see the full file

Package Dependencies

Deps	Name
	ament_cmake
	ament_lint_auto
	ament_lint_common
	ament_cmake_gtest
	rclcpp
	std_msgs
	sensor_msgs
	std_srvs
	builtin_interfaces

System Dependencies

Name
tmux
yaml-cpp
qtbase5-dev
libqt5-opengl-dev

Dependant Packages

No known dependants.

Launch files

No launch files found

Messages

No message files found.

Services

No service files found

Plugins

No plugins found.

Recent questions tagged `dispatcher` at Robotics Stack Exchange

API Docs Browse Code Wiki

No version for distro melodic showing jazzy. Known supported distros are highlighted in the buttons above.

dispatcher package from dispatcher repo

dispatcher

ROS Distro
jazzy

API Docs
Browse Code
Wiki

Package Summary

Version	0.4.4
License	Apache-2.0
Build type	AMENT_CMAKE
Use	RECOMMENDED

Repository Summary

Checkout URI	https://github.com/nasa-jpl/dispatcher.git
VCS Type	git
VCS Version	master
Last Updated	2026-09-05
Dev Status	MAINTAINED
Released	UNRELEASED
Contributing	Help Wanted (-) Good First Issues (-) Pull Requests to Review (-)

Package Description

Qt-based ROS 2 application for launching and monitoring ROS nodes and arbitrary processes.

Additional Links

Maintainers

Kristopher Wehage
Daniel Pastor

Authors

Dennis Wai
Alex Brinkman
Preston Rogers

README.md

Dispatcher

A Qt-based ROS 2 widget for starting, stopping, and monitoring both ROS nodes and arbitrary shell processes.

dispatcher

dispatcher builds its UI from a YAML file. Each configured item is launched in its own detached tmux session, and the terminal button can attach a gnome-terminal window to that session when available.

Runtime Parameters

The dispatcher executable uses the following ROS parameters:

Name	Type	Default	Description
`dispatcher_config_path`	`string`	`""`	Path to the dispatcher YAML file.
`initial_configuration`	`string`	`""`	Configuration name to select on startup.
`start_checked_on_startup`	`bool`	`false`	Start all checked process items after loading the initial configuration.
`ssh_timeout_sec`	`int`	`10`	Timeout used when building remote SSH commands.
`target_loop_rate_hz`	`double`	`100.0`	Main process/status polling rate.

YAML Configuration

The top-level dispatcher YAML supports:

Key	Required	Description
`workspace`	Yes	Workspace path used by ROS process items before sourcing `install/setup.bash`.
`nodes`	Yes	Process and category definitions rendered in the main panel.
`configurations`	No	Named runtime configurations. Each entry may be a simple name or a map with `name`, `cmd_prefix`, `environment_variables`, and `icon`.
`cmd_prefix`	No	Default command prefix for the implicit `all` configuration.
`environment_variables`	No	Default environment variables for the implicit `all` configuration.
`hide_unconfigured_processes`	No	If true, items missing in the active configuration are hidden instead of disabled.
`scripts`	No	Script button definitions shown in the scripts panel.
`variables`	No	Variable selectors used for `$VARIABLE` command substitution.

Node Types

Each entry in nodes can be:

A ROS process item. If type is omitted, the item is treated as ROS by default.
A shell process item with type: shell.
A collapsible category with type: category and an items array. Entries in items follow the same rules, including the default to ROS when type is omitted.

Common item fields include:

Key	Description
`name`	UI label and tmux-session base name.
`cmd`	Command used for the implicit `all` configuration.
`configurations`	Per-configuration command definitions.
`start_checked`	Whether the item starts checked in the UI. Optional, defaults to `false`.
`stop_tmux_cmd`	Stop sequence sent to tmux. Optional, defaults to `C-C`.
`hostname` / `user`	Optional remote execution target for local commands or configuration entries.
`use_cmd_prefix`	Enables or disables command-prefix injection.
`use_environment_variables`	Enables or disables environment-variable injection.
`attach_on_start`	Opens a terminal automatically after launch.

ROS process items can additionally define node_name plus an optional namespace, or a ros_nodes array with the same monitoring fields for online-state monitoring. An omitted namespace resolves to the root namespace, so name: talker matches the graph’s /talker; a name that is already absolute, such as /fcat/fcat, carries its own namespace.

Shell process items use pgrep on the item name to infer online state.

Scripts and Variables

Script entries support:

Key	Description
`name`	Button label.
`cmd` or `configurations`	Script command definition.
`row`, `column`	Grid placement in the scripts panel.
`icon`	Optional Qt resource path for the button icon.
`use_terminal`	Whether to wrap execution in `gnome-terminal --`.

Variable entries support:

Key	Description
`name`	Variable name used in commands, for example `$FCAT_LOOP_RATE_HZ`.
`choices`	Selectable values exposed in the UI.

Examples

The following examples build incrementally from a minimal configuration to a full-featured setup. Each one corresponds to a YAML file in config/ and a screenshot in doc/.

ROS 2 Demos (runnable out of the box)

Four examples run without any custom packages, using only the demos that ship with ROS 2. Each is self-contained and includes an rqt_graph button. Install the demo packages if needed:

```bash sudo apt install ros-$ROS_DISTRO-demo-nodes-cpp \

File truncated at 100 lines see the full file

CHANGELOG

Changelog for package dispatcher

Forthcoming

0.4.4 (2026-09-05 02:08)

Merge pull request #6 from nasa-jpl/copilot/fix-bump-github-actions-job

Fix "bump" workflow: use pull_request_target so fork-based merges can push tags
Fix bump workflow: use pull_request_target to get write token for fork PRs

Co-authored-by: PastorD <<7848129+PastorD@users.noreply.github.com>>
Initial plan
Merge pull request #4 from PastorD/feature/start-checked-on-startup

Add checked-item startup parameter
improve config docs
fix category type default to match non-category behaviour
fix namespace resolution
add ros2 examples
Add checked-item startup parameter
Contributors: copilot-swe-agent[bot], Daniel Pastor

0.4.3 (2026-09-03 16:42)

Merge pull request #5 from nasa-jpl/update-authors

update authors
fix author name
update authors
Contributors: Daniel Pastor

0.4.2 (2026-08-31 07:32)

Merge pull request #3 from nasa-jpl/fix-rolling

Fix rolling
add changelo update
use target_link_libraries instead of deprecated ament_target_dependencies
Contributors: Daniel Pastor

0.4.0 (2026-06-28 20:40)

chore: bump version to 0.4.0 [skip ci]
Merge pull request #1 from nasa-jpl/github-ci add actions and workflows
add actions and workflows
Contributors: Daniel Pastor, github-actions[bot]

0.3.0 (2026-06-28 20:02)

Merge branch 'prepare-public-release' into 'master' update license to Apache. Readme corrections. Manually bump version See merge request robotics/ros2/dispatcher!4
update license to Apache. Readme corrections. Manually bump version
Merge branch 'feature/script_categories' into 'master' Add categories to scripts See merge request robotics/ros2/dispatcher!3
doc image resize
Updated docs to mention script categories
Added attribution-free icons
categories extended to scripts
Contributors: Daniel Pastor, Daniel Pastor Moreno, jongreen

0.2.0 (2026-04-24)

manual version bump
Merge branch 'improve_readme' into 'master' Improve readme See merge request robotics/ros2/dispatcher!2
fix tests
add more examples
add more examples with screenshots
make start checked optional

File truncated at 100 lines see the full file

Package Dependencies

Deps	Name
	ament_cmake
	ament_lint_auto
	ament_lint_common
	ament_cmake_gtest
	rclcpp
	std_msgs
	sensor_msgs
	std_srvs
	builtin_interfaces

System Dependencies

Name
tmux
yaml-cpp
qtbase5-dev
libqt5-opengl-dev

Dependant Packages

No known dependants.

Launch files

No launch files found

Messages

No message files found.

Services

No service files found

Plugins

No plugins found.

Recent questions tagged `dispatcher` at Robotics Stack Exchange

API Docs Browse Code Wiki

No version for distro noetic showing jazzy. Known supported distros are highlighted in the buttons above.

dispatcher package from dispatcher repo

dispatcher

ROS Distro
jazzy

API Docs
Browse Code
Wiki

Package Summary

Version	0.4.4
License	Apache-2.0
Build type	AMENT_CMAKE
Use	RECOMMENDED

Repository Summary

Checkout URI	https://github.com/nasa-jpl/dispatcher.git
VCS Type	git
VCS Version	master
Last Updated	2026-09-05
Dev Status	MAINTAINED
Released	UNRELEASED
Contributing	Help Wanted (-) Good First Issues (-) Pull Requests to Review (-)

Package Description

Qt-based ROS 2 application for launching and monitoring ROS nodes and arbitrary processes.

Additional Links

Maintainers

Kristopher Wehage
Daniel Pastor

Authors

Dennis Wai
Alex Brinkman
Preston Rogers

README.md

Dispatcher

A Qt-based ROS 2 widget for starting, stopping, and monitoring both ROS nodes and arbitrary shell processes.

dispatcher

dispatcher builds its UI from a YAML file. Each configured item is launched in its own detached tmux session, and the terminal button can attach a gnome-terminal window to that session when available.

Runtime Parameters

The dispatcher executable uses the following ROS parameters:

Name	Type	Default	Description
`dispatcher_config_path`	`string`	`""`	Path to the dispatcher YAML file.
`initial_configuration`	`string`	`""`	Configuration name to select on startup.
`start_checked_on_startup`	`bool`	`false`	Start all checked process items after loading the initial configuration.
`ssh_timeout_sec`	`int`	`10`	Timeout used when building remote SSH commands.
`target_loop_rate_hz`	`double`	`100.0`	Main process/status polling rate.

YAML Configuration

The top-level dispatcher YAML supports:

Key	Required	Description
`workspace`	Yes	Workspace path used by ROS process items before sourcing `install/setup.bash`.
`nodes`	Yes	Process and category definitions rendered in the main panel.
`configurations`	No	Named runtime configurations. Each entry may be a simple name or a map with `name`, `cmd_prefix`, `environment_variables`, and `icon`.
`cmd_prefix`	No	Default command prefix for the implicit `all` configuration.
`environment_variables`	No	Default environment variables for the implicit `all` configuration.
`hide_unconfigured_processes`	No	If true, items missing in the active configuration are hidden instead of disabled.
`scripts`	No	Script button definitions shown in the scripts panel.
`variables`	No	Variable selectors used for `$VARIABLE` command substitution.

Node Types

Each entry in nodes can be:

A ROS process item. If type is omitted, the item is treated as ROS by default.
A shell process item with type: shell.
A collapsible category with type: category and an items array. Entries in items follow the same rules, including the default to ROS when type is omitted.

Common item fields include:

Key	Description
`name`	UI label and tmux-session base name.
`cmd`	Command used for the implicit `all` configuration.
`configurations`	Per-configuration command definitions.
`start_checked`	Whether the item starts checked in the UI. Optional, defaults to `false`.
`stop_tmux_cmd`	Stop sequence sent to tmux. Optional, defaults to `C-C`.
`hostname` / `user`	Optional remote execution target for local commands or configuration entries.
`use_cmd_prefix`	Enables or disables command-prefix injection.
`use_environment_variables`	Enables or disables environment-variable injection.
`attach_on_start`	Opens a terminal automatically after launch.

ROS process items can additionally define node_name plus an optional namespace, or a ros_nodes array with the same monitoring fields for online-state monitoring. An omitted namespace resolves to the root namespace, so name: talker matches the graph’s /talker; a name that is already absolute, such as /fcat/fcat, carries its own namespace.

Shell process items use pgrep on the item name to infer online state.

Scripts and Variables

Script entries support:

Key	Description
`name`	Button label.
`cmd` or `configurations`	Script command definition.
`row`, `column`	Grid placement in the scripts panel.
`icon`	Optional Qt resource path for the button icon.
`use_terminal`	Whether to wrap execution in `gnome-terminal --`.

Variable entries support:

Key	Description
`name`	Variable name used in commands, for example `$FCAT_LOOP_RATE_HZ`.
`choices`	Selectable values exposed in the UI.

Examples

The following examples build incrementally from a minimal configuration to a full-featured setup. Each one corresponds to a YAML file in config/ and a screenshot in doc/.

ROS 2 Demos (runnable out of the box)

Four examples run without any custom packages, using only the demos that ship with ROS 2. Each is self-contained and includes an rqt_graph button. Install the demo packages if needed:

```bash sudo apt install ros-$ROS_DISTRO-demo-nodes-cpp \

File truncated at 100 lines see the full file

CHANGELOG

Changelog for package dispatcher

Forthcoming

0.4.4 (2026-09-05 02:08)

Merge pull request #6 from nasa-jpl/copilot/fix-bump-github-actions-job

Fix "bump" workflow: use pull_request_target so fork-based merges can push tags
Fix bump workflow: use pull_request_target to get write token for fork PRs

Co-authored-by: PastorD <<7848129+PastorD@users.noreply.github.com>>
Initial plan
Merge pull request #4 from PastorD/feature/start-checked-on-startup

Add checked-item startup parameter
improve config docs
fix category type default to match non-category behaviour
fix namespace resolution
add ros2 examples
Add checked-item startup parameter
Contributors: copilot-swe-agent[bot], Daniel Pastor

0.4.3 (2026-09-03 16:42)

Merge pull request #5 from nasa-jpl/update-authors

update authors
fix author name
update authors
Contributors: Daniel Pastor

0.4.2 (2026-08-31 07:32)

Merge pull request #3 from nasa-jpl/fix-rolling

Fix rolling
add changelo update
use target_link_libraries instead of deprecated ament_target_dependencies
Contributors: Daniel Pastor

0.4.0 (2026-06-28 20:40)

chore: bump version to 0.4.0 [skip ci]
Merge pull request #1 from nasa-jpl/github-ci add actions and workflows
add actions and workflows
Contributors: Daniel Pastor, github-actions[bot]

0.3.0 (2026-06-28 20:02)

Merge branch 'prepare-public-release' into 'master' update license to Apache. Readme corrections. Manually bump version See merge request robotics/ros2/dispatcher!4
update license to Apache. Readme corrections. Manually bump version
Merge branch 'feature/script_categories' into 'master' Add categories to scripts See merge request robotics/ros2/dispatcher!3
doc image resize
Updated docs to mention script categories
Added attribution-free icons
categories extended to scripts
Contributors: Daniel Pastor, Daniel Pastor Moreno, jongreen

0.2.0 (2026-04-24)

manual version bump
Merge branch 'improve_readme' into 'master' Improve readme See merge request robotics/ros2/dispatcher!2
fix tests
add more examples
add more examples with screenshots
make start checked optional

File truncated at 100 lines see the full file

Package Dependencies

Deps	Name
	ament_cmake
	ament_lint_auto
	ament_lint_common
	ament_cmake_gtest
	rclcpp
	std_msgs
	sensor_msgs
	std_srvs
	builtin_interfaces

System Dependencies

Name
tmux
yaml-cpp
qtbase5-dev
libqt5-opengl-dev

Dependant Packages

No known dependants.

Launch files

No launch files found

Messages

No message files found.

Services

No service files found

Plugins

No plugins found.

Recent questions tagged `dispatcher` at Robotics Stack Exchange

API Docs Browse Code Wiki

dispatcher package from dispatcher repo

ROS Distrojazzy

Package Summary

Repository Summary

Package Description

Additional Links

Maintainers

Authors

Dispatcher

Runtime Parameters

YAML Configuration

Node Types

Scripts and Variables

Examples

ROS 2 Demos (runnable out of the box)

Changelog for package dispatcher

Forthcoming

0.4.4 (2026-09-05 02:08)

0.4.3 (2026-09-03 16:42)

0.4.2 (2026-08-31 07:32)

0.4.0 (2026-06-28 20:40)

0.3.0 (2026-06-28 20:02)

0.2.0 (2026-04-24)

Package Dependencies

System Dependencies

Dependant Packages

Launch files

Messages

Services

Plugins

Recent questions tagged dispatcher at Robotics Stack Exchange

dispatcher package from dispatcher repo

ROS Distrojazzy

Package Summary

Repository Summary

Package Description

Additional Links

Maintainers

Authors

Dispatcher

Runtime Parameters

YAML Configuration

Node Types

Scripts and Variables

Examples

ROS 2 Demos (runnable out of the box)

Changelog for package dispatcher

Forthcoming

0.4.4 (2026-09-05 02:08)

0.4.3 (2026-09-03 16:42)

0.4.2 (2026-08-31 07:32)

0.4.0 (2026-06-28 20:40)

0.3.0 (2026-06-28 20:02)

0.2.0 (2026-04-24)

Package Dependencies

System Dependencies

Dependant Packages

Launch files

Messages

Services

Plugins

Recent questions tagged dispatcher at Robotics Stack Exchange

dispatcher package from dispatcher repo

ROS Distrojazzy

Package Summary

Repository Summary

Package Description

Additional Links

Maintainers

Authors

Dispatcher

Runtime Parameters

YAML Configuration

Node Types

Scripts and Variables

Examples

ROS 2 Demos (runnable out of the box)

Changelog for package dispatcher

Forthcoming

0.4.4 (2026-09-05 02:08)

ROS Distro
jazzy

Recent questions tagged `dispatcher` at Robotics Stack Exchange

ROS Distro
jazzy

Recent questions tagged `dispatcher` at Robotics Stack Exchange

ROS Distro
jazzy

Recent questions tagged `dispatcher` at Robotics Stack Exchange

ROS Distro
jazzy

Recent questions tagged `dispatcher` at Robotics Stack Exchange

ROS Distro
rolling