Accessing and Opening Dashboard
ClashX Dashboard is a powerful web control panel that enables you to monitor and manage proxy connections in real-time through a visual interface. Compared to the simple menu bar operations, Dashboard provides more detailed information and finer control capabilities.
Quick Access Methods
There are multiple ways to open ClashX Dashboard:
First-Time Access Setup
When opening Dashboard for the first time, you need to complete simple initialization:
Initialization Steps
1. Dashboard will auto-detect ClashX API port (default 9090)
2. If needed, enter API Secret (set in config file)
3. Choose language and theme (supports light/dark mode)
4. Click connect to enter the main interface
Dashboard can only be accessed from localhost (127.0.0.1) by default. To access from other devices, you need to configure external-controller and secret in the config file, and ensure network security.
Dashboard Interface Overview
Main Function Modules
Dashboard interface is divided into five main functional areas, each providing different management capabilities:
| Module | Main Function | Usage Frequency |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | System status, traffic stats, quick settings | High frequency |
| Proxies | Node selection, latency testing, policy group management | High frequency |
| Rules | View rule list, rule matching status | Medium frequency |
| Connections | Real-time connection monitoring, connection details | High frequency |
| Logs | Real-time log viewing, request record analysis | When debugging |
Overview Page Explained
The Overview page is the core of Dashboard, displaying the most important real-time information:
- Traffic Statistics: Real-time upload/download speed, total traffic usage
- Active Connections: Number of current active network connections
- Proxy Mode: Quickly switch between global/rule/direct mode
- System Proxy: One-click enable/disable system proxy
- Traffic Chart: Visualize historical traffic trends
Quick Action Panel
On the Overview page, you can quickly perform common operations: switch proxy mode, test all node latency, refresh config, clear connection records, etc., without switching between multiple pages.
Real-Time Traffic Monitoring
Traffic Chart Analysis
Dashboard provides intuitive real-time traffic visualization to help you understand network usage:
Traffic Data Interpretation
Through traffic monitoring, you can discover and solve various issues:
- Abnormal Traffic Detection: Unusual uploads/downloads from background programs
- Bandwidth Usage Analysis: Identify connections consuming the most bandwidth
- Peak Period Statistics: Understand traffic usage peak times
- Quota Management: Monitor when approaching traffic limits
Chart Customization Options
Dashboard supports multiple chart display modes:
โข Time Range: Choose to display last 1, 5, or 15 minutes of data
โข Chart Type: Line chart, area chart, bar chart
โข Data Units: Auto-switch between KB/s, MB/s, GB/s
โข Refresh Rate: Adjustable update interval (500ms - 5s)
Connection Management and Active Connection Viewing
Connection List Features
The Connections page displays all network connections through ClashX with detailed connection information:
| Field | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Host | Target domain or IP address | google.com:443 |
| Network | Protocol type | TCP / UDP |
| Type | Connection type | HTTP / HTTPS / SOCKS5 |
| Chains | Proxy chain used | DIRECT / Proxy / Reject |
| Rule | Matched rule | DOMAIN-SUFFIX,google.com |
| Speed | Upload/download speed | โ12KB/s โ156KB/s |
| Source | Process initiating the connection | Chrome.app |
Connection Filtering and Search
When there are many connections, you can use powerful filtering features:
Filter Options
โข Search by hostname: Quickly find connections to specific domains
โข Filter by proxy type: Show only DIRECT, PROXY, or REJECT connections
โข Filter by protocol: Display only TCP or UDP connections
โข Filter by process: View all connections from a specific app
Connection Operations
Dashboard allows you to manage individual or batch connections:
- Close Connection: Immediately terminate selected connections
- Clear All: Close all active connections with one click
- View Details: Click connection to view complete metadata
- Copy Info: Quickly copy hostname, IP, and other info
If a website cannot be accessed, search for that domain in the connection list to see which rule it matched and what proxy it used - this is the fastest way to troubleshoot.
Rules Debugging and Rule Matching
Rule List Display
The Rules page displays all configured routing rules in a clear format:
Rule Information
DOMAIN-SUFFIX,google.com,Proxy
DOMAIN-KEYWORD,youtube,Proxy
GEOIP,CN,DIRECT
IP-CIDR,192.168.0.0/16,DIRECT
FINAL,Proxy
Rule Matching Test
Dashboard provides rule testing functionality to help you verify rule configuration:
- Enter the domain or IP to test at the top of the Rules page
- System will match all rules in order
- Highlight the first matching rule
- Display which proxy policy the request will use
When testing "twitter.com", if it highlights "DOMAIN-SUFFIX,twitter.com,Proxy", it means this domain will be accessed through the Proxy policy group. If it matches the FINAL rule, it means no other rules matched successfully.
Rule Performance Analysis
Some Dashboard versions provide rule performance statistics:
Real-Time Rule Matching Log
Combined with the Logs page, you can see the rule matching process for each request:
Log Example
[INFO] TCP 127.0.0.1:54321 โ google.com:443 match DOMAIN-SUFFIX(google.com) using Proxy
[INFO] TCP 127.0.0.1:54322 โ baidu.com:443 match GEOIP(CN) using DIRECT
[WARN] TCP 127.0.0.1:54323 โ ad.doubleclick.net:443 match DOMAIN-KEYWORD(ad) using REJECT
Rule order matters! Placing the most frequently used rules at the top can reduce matching time. Using DOMAIN-SUFFIX is more efficient than DOMAIN-KEYWORD. Too many rules will affect performance; keep it under 5000 rules.
Dashboard Settings and Customization
Appearance Customization
Dashboard provides rich personalization options:
- Theme Mode: Light, dark, auto-switch (follow system)
- Language Settings: Multiple language support including Chinese, English, Japanese
- Font Size: Small, medium, large three sizes
- Color Scheme: Multiple theme colors available
Function Configuration
Adjust Dashboard function options according to your needs:
| Option | Description | Recommended Setting |
|---|---|---|
| Auto Refresh Connections | Real-time update connection list | Enable (1-2 sec interval) |
| Auto Close Connections | Automatically clean up completed connections | Disable (manual management) |
| Log Level | Control log verbosity | INFO / DEBUG |
| Traffic Chart | Whether to display historical chart | Enable |
| Auto Latency Test | Periodically test node latency | Every 10 minutes |
External Access Configuration
If you need to access Dashboard from other devices, you need to modify the config file:
External Controller Configuration
# Add inside config.yaml
external-controller: 0.0.0.0:9090
secret: "your-secret-key-here"
# Then you can access from other LAN devices
# http://your-mac-ip:9090/ui
When enabling external access, be sure to set a strong secret password! Otherwise anyone who can access this port can control your proxy settings. Do not expose Dashboard on public networks.
Keyboard Shortcuts
Dashboard supports various shortcuts to improve operation efficiency:
โข G โ Switch to Global mode
โข R โ Switch to Rule mode
โข D โ Switch to Direct mode
โข T โ Test all node latency
โข C โ Clear all connections
โข / โ Quick search
Data Export Features
Dashboard supports exporting various data for analysis:
- Connection Records: Export as CSV format with all connection details
- Traffic Statistics: Export historical traffic data for reports
- Log Files: Save complete logs for problem diagnosis
- Rule Snapshot: Backup current rule configuration
Best Practices
Regularly backup Dashboard config and data. Backing up the entire ~/.config/clash directory preserves all settings. Use version control (like Git) to manage config files for easy change tracking and rollback.
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