Interface coverage

NetsCLI has one Rust core library and several interfaces. Shared network behavior belongs in the core; each interface exposes the parts that fit its job.

Coverage matrix

Capability	Desktop app	TUI	CLI	MCP
Discover hosts	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Scan TCP ports	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Inspect host	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Sweep subnet	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Ping	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Trace route	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
DNS lookup	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Reverse DNS	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
mDNS discovery	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Interfaces	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
ARP neighbor cache	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Packet capture	Packet-capture build	Packet-capture build	Packet-capture build	Packet-capture build
JSON/YAML output	Export-oriented	Session export	Yes	JSON-RPC
Result bundles	Yes	No	No	No
Setup and doctor	No	No	Yes	No
MCP service management	No	No	Yes	No

Desktop app

The desktop app focuses on interactive network work: tabs, filtering, row selection, details, history, exports, and local status indicators.

It exposes shared operations where a table or details pane improves the workflow. Shell maintenance workflows such as setup, doctor, completions, manpages, and MCP service management stay in the CLI.

CLI

The CLI exposes shared network operations plus command-line maintenance workflows:

• Structured output through --json and --yaml.
• Setup and dependency checks.
• MCP server launch and service management where supported.
• Shell completions and manpage generation.

TUI

The terminal UI is for keyboard-driven interactive work inside a terminal. It stays close to the CLI operation model while favoring readable summaries and terminal-native navigation. It can export the current session as Markdown or JSON with /export.

MCP server

The MCP server exposes shared network operations to AI-agent clients. It does not define desktop UI behavior, and desktop app actions do not depend on MCP service-management code.

Build and runtime availability

Most NetsCLI operations work in the standard published builds. A few capabilities depend on how the app was packaged or what is installed on the machine:

• Packet Capture appears only in builds that include packet-capture support. Capturing packets also needs Npcap on Windows or libpcap on Linux/macOS.
• mDNS discovery is included in the published CLI, desktop app, and MCP server. Library consumers can still build netscli-core without the mdns feature if they need a leaner dependency set.
• The desktop app hides tools that are not available in the current build.
• If a runtime dependency is missing, NetsCLI keeps the rest of the app usable and explains what to install for that feature.