ConsoleMonster 2.1.3

ConsoleMonster

Everyday output in one line. The monster when you need it.

ConsoleMonster makes the output of the commands you already run readable, and draws tables, trees, charts, live runs, dashboards, menus and forms when you need more. It is one engine for Windows PowerShell 5.1, PowerShell 7 and .NET, with no package dependencies. A setting has one name everywhere (-Title in PowerShell, Title = and .Title() in C#), and when the output goes to a file, a log or CI, it writes plain lines instead of escape codes.

Website · Documentation · Demos · Widgets · .NET API · PowerShell commands

Start in PowerShell

Install-Module ConsoleMonster -Scope CurrentUser
Import-Module ConsoleMonster
Get-Process | Sort-Object CPU -Descending | Select-Object -First 8 | Show-ConsoleTable

Show-ConsoleDemo lists the gallery's demos, grouped by what they are for, and runs the one you pick. Get-Command -Module ConsoleMonster lists every command, and Get-Help <command> -Examples shows how to use it.

Start in C#

dotnet new console -n FirstTable
cd FirstTable
dotnet add package ConsoleMonster

Replace Program.cs, then dotnet run:

using ConsoleMonster;
using ConsoleMonster.Widgets;

var files = new DirectoryInfo(".").GetFiles().Select(f => new { f.Name, f.Length });
Table.For(files).Title("Files").Show();

Install · Three ways to write it in C# · The dotnet new template, which starts a project from any gallery demo

Nicer default output in one line

Files, processes, services, hashtables and more read as tables and records; the objects, pipelines, files and transcripts stay PowerShell's.

Enable-ConsoleFormatting

To keep it in every session, add the lines -ProfileSnippet prints to your profile:

if (-not (Test-Path -Path $PROFILE)) {
    $null = New-Item -ItemType File -Path $PROFILE -Force
}
Enable-ConsoleFormatting -ProfileSnippet | Add-Content -Path $PROFILE

Everyday PowerShell output

Tables, lists and trees

Show-ConsoleTable, Show-Console -View List and Show-Console -View Tree take pipeline input and fit the window. Enable-ConsoleFormatting styles direct console output from Format-Table, Format-List and Format-Wide by default, while keeping PowerShell's column choices. Use -Exclude FormatCommands to leave their output native.

Import-Module ConsoleMonster

# Invented package artifacts with fixed sizes and UTC timestamps.
$recordedAt = [datetimeoffset] '2026-10-21T12:00:00Z'
$files = @(
    [pscustomobject] @{
        Name = 'ConsoleMonster.dll'; Length = 1048576
        LastWriteTime = $recordedAt; Extension = '.dll'
    }
    [pscustomobject] @{
        Name = 'ConsoleMonster.deps.json'; Length = 4096
        LastWriteTime = $recordedAt; Extension = '.json'
    }
    [pscustomobject] @{
        Name = 'start.ps1'; Length = 512
        LastWriteTime = $recordedAt; Extension = '.ps1'
    }
)
$files | Show-ConsoleTable -Property Name, Length, LastWriteTime `
    -GroupBy Extension -Presentation @{ TimeZone = [TimeZoneInfo]::Utc }

Coming from Format-Table · Tables at six widths

Widgets

Every widget is a New-Console* command: panels, trees, charts, logs, lanes and more. Containers take a script block of children, and items share -Status, -Detail and -Role.

Import-Module ConsoleMonster

New-ConsoleChart -Role Fail -InputObject ([ordered] @{
    'Domain controllers' = 14
    'Group Policy'       = 9
    'Kerberos'           = 6
    'DNS'                = 4
    'PKI'                = 2
}) -Type Bar | Show-Console

The widget gallery: every widget at every colour and glyph tier, in PowerShell and C#.

Diagrams

Describe networks, application flows and team hierarchies with the core Diagram model: nodes, links, groups and use cases. Object initializers, Ui.Diagram("Title") and New-ConsoleDiagram configure the same model. The dependency-free core draws a grouped tree with connection labels and status text:

using ConsoleMonster;
using ConsoleMonster.Widgets;

var diagram = Ui.Diagram("Home network")
    .Node("Laptop", n => n.Kind(DiagramNodeKind.Workstation))
    .Node("Router", n => n.Kind(DiagramNodeKind.Gateway)
        .Subtitle("192.168.1.1").Value("1 ms"))
    .Link("Laptop", "Router", l => l.Label("Wi-Fi"));
Terminal.Write(diagram);

For boxes, routed connections, keyboard navigation and use case playback, add the optional ConsoleMonster.Graphics package and call DiagramRendererProvider.Register() once at startup, before creating diagrams. Registration is required on every target framework, including net472 and netstandard2.0 consumers; a package reference alone does not load the assembly or register the renderer. Then diagram.Run() opens the keyboard view, and Diagram.Load(path, diagramId) imports files through the registered provider. For a ChartForgeX TopologyChart, use chart.ToDiagram() with using ConsoleMonster.Graphics;. The typed extension belongs to Graphics; core does not reference ChartForgeX.

The PowerShell module bundles Graphics and registers it for diagram commands:

Import-Module ConsoleMonster

New-ConsoleDiagram -Title 'Home network' {
    New-ConsoleDiagramNode 'Laptop' -Kind Workstation
    New-ConsoleDiagramNode 'Router' -Kind Gateway -Subtitle '192.168.1.1' -Value '1 ms'
    New-ConsoleDiagramLink 'Laptop' 'Router' -Label 'Wi-Fi'
} | Show-ConsoleDiagram -StaticSnapshot

Subtitles and live values occupy separate lines. Needs attention lists every non-Pass node and link by default; hide it with ShowSummary = false, fluent .Summary(false) or PowerShell -NoSummary. Configure the model before sharing it with a session, then use diagram.Handle(session) for thread-safe live updates.

Eight examples in initializer, fluent and PowerShell forms · Graphics registration, file loading and playback

Live progress for long-running work

Import-Module ConsoleMonster

# Forty servers, eight at a time: three fail and one hangs past the four-second limit.
$servers = 1..40 | ForEach-Object { 'web{0:d2}' -f $_ }
$run = @{ Parallel = $true; ThrottleLimit = 8; TimeoutSeconds = 4; Title = 'Patching' }
$results = $servers | Invoke-ConsoleRun @run -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue {
    Start-Sleep -Milliseconds (500 + ([int] $_.Substring(3) * 137) % 900)
    if ($_ -in 'web13', 'web26', 'web39') { throw "$_ did not come back" }
    if ($_ -eq 'web22') { Start-Sleep -Seconds 10 }
    "$_ patched"
}

Live runs · Live dashboards

C# and the fluent API

The same engine as a .NET library. Every widget takes an object initializer or fluent calls named after its properties (.Title("Build")), and Ui.Panel(), Ui.Table() and the other Ui factories start a fluent chain. All three draw the same cells.

using ConsoleMonster;
using ConsoleMonster.Styling;
using ConsoleMonster.Widgets;

Terminal.Write(new StatusList()
    .Add("Restore NuGet packages", StatusKind.Pass, "1.6 s")
    .Add("Compile ConsoleMonster", StatusKind.Pass, "4.7 s")
    .Add("Run Pester on PowerShell 7", StatusKind.Warn, "1 skipped")
    .Add("Sign module files", StatusKind.Skip, "skipped")
    .Add("Pack ConsoleMonster.2.0.0.nupkg", StatusKind.Running)
    .Add("Publish to PowerShell Gallery", StatusKind.Pending));

Three ways to write it in C# · Logging · Hosting dashboard · dotnet new template

Save, replay and test

Views export to Markdown, HTML, SVG and text, live runs record and replay, and Assert-ConsoleOutput checks output in tests.

Import-Module ConsoleMonster

# Invented package artifacts, exported as a Markdown table for a report.
$recordedAt = [datetimeoffset] '2026-10-21T12:00:00Z'
$files = @(
    [pscustomobject] @{
        Name = 'ConsoleMonster.dll'; Length = 1048576; LastWriteTime = $recordedAt
    }
    [pscustomobject] @{
        Name = 'ConsoleMonster.deps.json'; Length = 4096; LastWriteTime = $recordedAt
    }
    [pscustomobject] @{
        Name = 'start.ps1'; Length = 512; LastWriteTime = $recordedAt
    }
)
$files | New-ConsoleTable -Property Name, Length, LastWriteTime `
    -Presentation @{ TimeZone = [TimeZoneInfo]::Utc }  |
    Export-ConsoleFrame -Format Markdown

Recording and replay · Testing your output

Thread safety

Any thread can update the screen and one thread draws it, so parallel work never tears the view.

Import-Module ConsoleMonster

$dashboard = New-ConsoleDashboard -Title 'Workers' -Content {
    New-ConsolePanel -Title 'Log' -Fill -Content { New-ConsoleLogRegion }
}
1..8 | Invoke-ConsoleDashboard $dashboard -Parallel -ThrottleLimit 8 {
    param($Number)
    Start-Sleep -Milliseconds (Get-Random -Maximum 800)
    Write-Host "worker $Number finished"
}

Threads and concurrency: what is safe from which thread, and the stress test.

Compatibility

• PowerShell 5.1 and 7, with net472 and net8.0 payloads. On 5.1 one ConsoleMonster version loads per session; restart it after an upgrade.
• .NET netstandard2.0, net472, net8.0 and net10.0, no package dependencies, AOT compatible on net8.0 and net10.0 (trimming notes).
• Consoles are detected (colour, glyphs, size, CI, redirection); NO_COLOR and CONSOLEMONSTER_* override it (hosts and CI).

Benchmarks · Changelog · Contributing · MIT license · Maintained by Evotec.