MAS GUI

Node Manager for ROS (1/2).

The MAS GUI is composed by two main parts: A Back-End component (daemon with WebSocket), and a Front-End Component (powered by Electron and ReactJS). Data exchange between the daemon and the Front-End takes place via the WebSocket. The description of the message formats can be found here.

Install

We need to first install dependencies and run both Front and Back-End components:

Install dependencies

You need a running TTYD to show screen or log output of the nodes.

sudo snap install ttyd --classic

Update nodejs to v22

The code have been tested with NodeJS v22.21.0:

curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_22.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt-get install -y nodejs

Server Side (Back-End)

cd ros_workspace/src
git clone https://github.com/fkie/fkie-multi-agent-suite.git fkie-multi-agent-suite
rosdep update
rosdep install -i --as-root pip:false --reinstall --from-paths fkie-multi-agent-suite

Then build all packages:

catkin build fkie_mas_meta

or

colcon build --packages-up-to fkie_mas_meta

Client Side (Front-End)

Only for developer mode: Download and install JavaScript module dependencies:

cd fkie_mas_gui
npm install
npm run build

Usage

Run the app in developer mode:

npm run dev:ns

The app will start automatically the local daemon and master discovery nodes.

Start only as node (without GUI)

Starts a server on default port 6274. You can change the port in electron.vite.config.ts.

npm run server:ns

Then open in browser http://localhost:6274

Additional Tools

• To package the client component into an AppImage, run:

cd fkie_mas_gui
npm run build:linux

• update licenses of dependencies

export NODE_OPTIONS=--use-env-proxy
npm install -g license-report
license-report --config=./license-report-config.json > src/renderer/deps-licenses.json

Known Issues

• mas-gui: error while loading shared libraries: libasound.so.2: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory

```bash

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Changelog

5.10.2 - 10.09.2026

• fix: install update when no ttyd process is running
• fix: ensure correct node selection across multiple domains
• fix: prevent node deselection when updating another domain tab
• fix: prevent nodes from restarting twice

5.10.1 - 07.09.2026

• fix crash after close terminal tab
• [fkie_mas_daemon] fix: prevent monitors from re-arming their timer after cancellation
• [fkie_mas_daemon] fix: do not let monitor timers block mas-daemon shutdown

5.10.0 - 28.08.2026

• [fkie_mas_daemon] Prevent ros2 component containers from being quit too early on launch
• [fkie_mas_daemon] Prevent update of internal ros graph state when no clients are connected to reduce CPU use.

5.9.13 - 21.08.2026

• Fix edge cases with previous approach to headless startup
• fix: do not apply –join-ws in hidden headless window to fix cpu use regression in mas-daemon

5.9.12 - 14.08.2026

• Fix host display changing its height
• [fkie_mas_daemon] Fix node search with variables
• Add or open parameters directly in launch file
• Fix: correctly track modified launch files
• Fixed load monaco in external window
• Add version selection to update channel

5.9.11 - 12.08.2026

• Anchor launch dialog to prevent upward growth and focus loss when scrolling parameters
• Prevent endless scrolling in launch dialog parameters
• Updated dependency styles and information
• Make external ROS application buttons span the full width.
• Fix duplicate file entries in external editor
• Update dependency minor versions
• [fkie_mas_daemon] Clear daemon caches for files, message, and service structs when reloading packages
• Added copy button to editor toolbar
• [fkie_mas_pylib] fix(websocket): fix race conditions, handler cleanup and JSON errors in client and server
• [fkie_mas_daemon] fix(screen): correct SIGKILL mapping and harden kill_node
• [fkie_mas_daemon] fix(rosstate_servicer): resolve races in state handling and fix node name/JSON encoding bugs
• Added sub capability groups
• [fkie_mas_daemon] More accurate ROS state refresh
• [fkie_mas_daemon] Improvements to launch file loading
• [fkie_mas_daemon] Fix reading of additional environment variables via os.environ in Python launch files
• Fixed: invalid Version while check for update

5.9.10 - 10.08.2026

Merge pull request #16 from RMichaelSwan/fix/additional-envs Merge pull request #17 from RMichaelSwan/fix/component-loading fix: restore ExecuteProcess.additional_env reading fix: load launch files in background thread to reduce launch time

5.9.9 - 30.07.2026

Fixed open content (log, screen) in external terminal

5.9.8 - 29.07.2026

Fixed update ROS_DOMAIN_ID to wrong value while package reload

5.9.7 - 27.07.2026

Fixed quote values for RMW environment in host launch configurations

5.9.6 - 23.07.2026

Adds a close button if a single closable tab is hidden in stretched tabset Added info to host row showing why/how this host was included Added lyrical ubuntu packages

5.9.5 - 22.07.2026

Do not use the CLI argument for host in the new provider configuration Fixed validation of the CLI arguments for ros-domain-id and host

5.9.4 - 22.07.2026

Added join-ws command line argument Updated Vite configuration to pass cliArgs to the development server Fixed update ros domain id from ros state of the provider Do not start the daemon if only the –join argument is specified Avoid unnecessary checks for new updates

5.9.3 - 21.07.2026

Fixed error with duplicate tab id Improved open popouts in browser mode Hide hint dialog if join or start argument was provided Fixed dark mode in headless mode Fixed –join cli argument in headless mode Improved infos in load launch dialog

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