inFaux

The Modern, Native Hardware Monitor & Open Telemetry Server for Windows
Real telemetry. Faux drivers. Colloquially known as "info".
Crafted with care by FoxDen Software

"Microsoft basically went 'we can't agree what temp is correct, so you can have none without kernel drivers' unless you do this complicated-ass math."

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💡 Why inFaux?

For the last 15 years, the PC hardware monitoring world has been split into two frustrating extremes:

1. The 1998 C++ Grognards (HWiNFO, CPU-Z, Core Temp):
   • The Problem: Dense, intimidating walls of 600 raw register lines with Windows XP-era interfaces. They rely on ancient, vulnerable kernel drivers (WinRing0.sys) that trip Windows 11's Vulnerable Driver Blocklist, and their only advice is "go disable Windows Defender Core Isolation."
2. The 800 MB Corporate Bloatware (Armoury Crate, NZXT CAM, Corsair iCUE):
   • The Problem: Disguised web apps built on Electron or Chromium Embedded Framework. You download an app just to check your CPU temp and end up with 15 zombie background processes, 600+ MB of RAM consumed, mandatory account logins, telemetry trackers, and an RGB store.

The inFaux Golden Middle

inFaux ("info") bridges the void:

• Single-Process Executable (inFaux.exe): Zero installers required, zero zombie background helpers, zero telemetry phoning home. Runs strictly as a standard non-elevated user (asInvoker) with zero UAC prompts. (It even displays a gentle notice if you accidentally launch it elevated!)
• 100% Driverless Architecture: Zero third-party hardware monitor libraries, zero kernel drivers, and zero vulnerability warnings. Fully compatible with Windows 11 Core Isolation, Memory Integrity (HVCI), and Defender.
• Human-First Curated Dashboard: Clean, responsive, dark-mode dashboard with instant component drilldowns, a live all-sensors table, and deep thermal calibration controls.
• Embedded Open API: A local REST and WebSocket server out-of-the-box on http://127.0.0.1:8765 for Stream Deck, Rainmeter, Home Assistant, or custom status displays.

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🚀 Key Features

1. Curated Multi-View Dashboard & Component Drilldowns

• Primary Dashboard: Glanceable metric cards with live 60-second sparklines for:
  • Processor (CPU): Package temperature, total load %, dynamic wattage, and boost clock speed.
  • Graphics (GPU): Multi-GPU selector pills, core clock, temperature, hotspot, VRAM usage, power, and fan speed.
  • System Memory (RAM): Memory load %, used/total GB, available GB, and memory speed (MT/s).
  • Storage Volumes: Live aggregate read/write throughput (MB/s), total capacity, and volume utilization.
  • Network & Power: Real-time download/upload throughput (Mbps), active adapter interface, and battery state (automatically adapts column layout on battery-equipped systems).
• Deep Component Drilldowns: Click any card on the dashboard to access dedicated telemetry views:
  • CPU View: Per-core breakdown across all physical cores and threads with live per-core frequencies (MHz), load percentages, and dynamic thermal flux modeling.
  • GPU View: Multi-adapter switcher, vendor-native hardware telemetry (NVML / ADL / DXGI), core/memory clocks, VRAM allocation, dynamic power wattage, and fan RPM.
  • Storage View: Volume capacities, real-time read/write throughput rates (MB/s via PDH), physical drive geometry, and volume utilization (bus type NVMe/SATA and media type SSD/HDD).
  • Network & Power View: Real-time throughput rates (Mbps), adapter switcher (Auto highest traffic or specific adapter), link speed, battery charge/discharge wattage, AC line state, and estimated runtime minutes.
• All Sensors View: Complete live DataGrid table of all raw hardware sensors and channels with min/max tracking, category, type, and current values (rendered via non-destructive in-place sync to eliminate visual flickering).
• Settings & Tuning View: Interactive configuration for polling intervals, tray icon sensor targets, network adapter binding, chassis form factor profiles, thermal dissipation profiles (AIO, Tower Air, SFF Compact), live thermal calibration offset slider (-15°C to +15°C), CPU TDP override targets, and 1-click API testing.

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2. The Thermodynamic Observer & Safe Physics Modeling

• Why this exists: Microsoft Windows does not allow regular user-mode applications to read raw CPU thermal diodes without installing Ring-0 kernel drivers (.sys). Legacy tools rely on vulnerable drivers (like WinRing0.sys) that trip Windows Defender and trigger Memory Integrity (HVCI) warnings.
• The inFaux Solution: Instead of risking your system stability with kernel drivers, inFaux uses real Newtonian physics:
  • Real Hardware Baselines: Continuously reads safe, user-mode diode temperatures from your GPU and NVMe SSD controllers to establish the true thermal floor of your PC chassis.
  • Copper Heat Spreader Simulation: Treats your CPU's integrated heat spreader (IHS) and cooler cold plate like a real thermal mass. Solid copper heats up quickly when a core spikes under heavy load, and dissipates heat gradually into the cooler fins.
  • Per-Core Temperature Gradients: Models localized heat blooms across individual cores and clusters based on live clock frequencies and workloads from native Windows performance counters.
  • Zero Elevation, Zero Lag: Runs 100% in user space (asInvoker) with zero UAC prompts, zero background services, and smooth thermal modeling free of raw sensor spike jitter.
  • Honest Telemetry: Real physical diode readings (GPU, NVMe, and Bluetooth beacons) are clearly marked with [📡 Measured], while thermodynamic CPU numbers are transparently tagged [Estimated].

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3. Wireless Bluetooth Environmental Telemetry (BTHome v2)

• Passive Windows BLE Listener: inFaux passively listens for Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) environmental beacons without needing pairing, dongles, USB bridges, or third-party background software (yes, Windows can do this).
• Plug & Play Hardware Support: Supports all open BTHome v2 format thermometers, including:
  • Shelly BLU H&T (native, official out-of-the-box BTHome v2)
  • ThermoBeacon / Qingping beacons
  • Custom ESP32 / ESPHome / Arduino temperature beacons
  • Xiaomi / Tuya thermometers (flashed with open BTHome v2 firmware)
• Multi-Zone Monitoring:
  • Room Ambient: Monitor your actual office or room temperature and humidity.
  • In-Case Air: Place a thermometer inside your case to measure real internal ambient air.
  • Radiator Exhaust: Measure liquid cooler exhaust air to compute radiator delta-T ($\Delta T$) efficiency.
• Upgrades Estimations to Measured Data: When a sensor is detected, inFaux automatically upgrades its estimated room/case calculations to 100% real measured physical readings ([📡 Measured]).

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4. Intelligent Multi-GPU & APU Support

• Multi-GPU Architecture: Automatically enumerates and tracks all graphics adapters simultaneously (discrete GPUs and integrated APUs).
• Vendor-Native User-Mode Probes:
  • NVIDIA NVML (nvml.dll): Direct interop with official NVIDIA Management Library in System32 for core/memory clocks, power wattage, fan speed %, VRAM, and diode / hotspot temps.
  • AMD ADL (atiadlxx.dll): Direct interop with AMD Display Library in System32 for Overdrive temperatures and power.
  • DirectX DXGI COM Interop (IDXGIFactory1, IDXGIAdapter3): Zero-driver adapter enumeration, dedicated video memory, and shared system memory tracking.
• Discrete Prioritization: Automatically selects high-performance discrete GPUs when present for primary telemetry and tray badge.
• APU & iGPU Intelligence: Dynamically attributes SoC shared die temperatures and allocates load-weighted power slices (e.g., AMD Radeon 780M / 680M / Intel Iris Xe) without false sensor warnings or phantom fan RPMs.

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5. Embedded Read-Only Open API (Port 8765)

Built-in local HTTP + WebSocket server powered by ASP.NET Core Kestrel on http://127.0.0.1:8765:

• GET /: Root overview with API manifest and version.
• GET /api/v1/summary: Clean JSON snapshot of curated system telemetry.
• GET /api/v1/sensors: Complete flat list of all hardware probes with min/max tracking.
• GET /api/v1/sensors/{category}: Category-filtered sensors (cpu, gpu, memory, storage, network).
• GET /api/v1/history/{metricId}: 60-second rolling ring buffer for sparklines (cpu_temp, gpu_temp, ram_load, etc.).
• GET /api/v1/health: Service health check and uptime status.
• WS /api/v1/stream: Low-latency WebSocket push stream for live dashboards, Stream Decks, and Discord bots.

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6. Stream Deck Companion Suite (In-App Management)

• Real-Time Physical Hardware Gauges: Dynamic canvas-rendered gauges for CPU, GPU, RAM, Network, and BT Sensor with live wattage, thermal color grading, usage percentages, and progress bars.
• Universal Key Renaming: Rename the top header on ANY key directly from the Property Inspector (e.g. GAMING, 3080TI, OFFICE, ROOM) without random text stomping in the middle of your button.
• Interactive Quick Tap:
  • GPU / Net: Tap the key to instantly cycle through multiple GPUs or network adapters.
  • BT Sensor: Tap the key to toggle between live Temperature and Humidity on the fly!
• Coat Color Modes: Choose between clean pure Monochrome (white on dark), Theme Accent (syncs with your Fox Coat theme), or Reactive (dynamic green/amber/red thermal alerts).
• 1-Click In-App Management:
  • Built straight into the inFaux Settings tab.
  • 1-Click Install: Drops the plugin directly into %APPDATA%\Elgato\StreamDeck\Plugins\ with zero web searches, zero manual file copying, and zero marketplace accounts.
  • In-App Updates & Clean Removal: Easily update to the newest version or remove the plugin right from the app.
• Also distributed as a standalone, double-click installable package: com.foxden.infaux.streamDeckPlugin.

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7. Dynamic Numeric System Tray Icon

• Real-Time Numeric Temperature Badge: Renders high-legibility live temperature numbers directly onto your Windows taskbar tray icon using dynamic GDI+ pixel buffers.
• Theme-Reactive Styling: Dynamically matches your active Fox Coat Theme styling (Red Fox Ember, Arctic Fox Glacial Cyan, Fennec Fox Amber, Silver Fox Platinum, Silver Fox OLED True Black, and Arctic Fox Snow White).
• Automatic Safety Escalation: Seamlessly shifts to safety amber (65°C to 79°C) and hot alert red (≥ 80°C) during heavy thermal stress.
• Customizable Sensor Target: Right-click the tray icon to switch between CPU Package Temp, Primary GPU Core Temp, or Highest (CPU or GPU) auto-tracking.
• Hover Telemetry Tooltip: Hover over the tray icon for an instant breakdown of live CPU %, GPU %, and RAM utilization.

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8. The Fox Coat Theme Engine

Customize the appearance of inFaux and your Stream Deck to match your setup:

• Silver Fox (Stealth Platinum): Sleek modern slate dark mode.
• Silver Fox OLED (Midnight): True deep-black #000000 background optimized for OLED displays.
• Red Fox (Classic Ember): Vibrant fox-orange accents inspired by classic hardware tuning suites.
• Arctic Fox (Glacial Cyan - Dark): Cool ice-blue cyber aesthetic.
• Arctic Fox Snow (High-Contrast Light): Clean, crisp light mode for high-ambient lighting conditions.
• Fennec Fox (Desert Sand & Amber): Warm golden-sand aesthetic.

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9. Zero-UAC Lifecycle & Companion Scripts

• Standard User Autostart: Registers with Windows Task Scheduler using standard user permissions: starts on boot with 0 UAC prompts.
• Zero-Elevation Installer (install.ps1): Installs cleanly into %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\inFaux, sets up shortcuts, registers in Windows Installed Apps (Add or Remove Programs), and validates SHA-256 hashes.
• Cryptographic Auditor (verify.ps1): Automatically downloads and verifies your local inFaux.exe against official GitHub Release SHA-256 checksums.
• Clean Uninstaller (uninstall.ps1): Complete 1-click system removal of scheduled tasks, shortcuts, registry entries, and program files.

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🔌 API Quick Reference

Curated Snapshot (GET /api/v1/summary)

{
  "timestamp": "2026-09-26T20:20:00Z",
  "cpu": {
    "name": "AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 7840U w/ Radeon 780M Graphics",
    "tempC": 39.5,
    "loadPercent": 14.8,
    "powerWatts": 18.2,
    "clockGhz": 3.30,
    "coreCount": 8,
    "cores": [
      { "name": "Core 0", "tempC": 39.2, "clockMhz": 3294, "loadPercent": 12.0 },
      { "name": "Core 1", "tempC": 40.1, "clockMhz": 3410, "loadPercent": 18.5 }
    ]
  },
  "gpu": {
    "name": "AMD Radeon 780M Graphics",
    "isDiscrete": false,
    "vendor": "AMD",
    "tempC": 39.5,
    "hotspotTempC": null,
    "loadPercent": 0.0,
    "powerWatts": 1.8,
    "vramUsedGb": 0.35,
    "vramTotalGb": 3.91,
    "fanRpm": null
  },
  "memory": {
    "usedGb": 14.3,
    "totalGb": 28.0,
    "percent": 51.0,
    "availableGb": 13.7,
    "speedMts": 6400
  },
  "storage": [
    {
      "name": "Micron 2400 MTFDKBA1T0QFM",
      "driveLetter": "C:",
      "tempC": 36.0,
      "healthPercent": 100.0,
      "healthStatus": "Healthy (OK)",
      "busType": "NVMe",
      "mediaType": "Solid State Drive (SSD)",
      "usedGb": 412.5,
      "totalGb": 953.8,
      "readSpeedMBps": 1.2,
      "writeSpeedMBps": 0.4
    }
  ],
  "network": {
    "adapterName": "Wi-Fi",
    "adapterDescription": "Intel(R) Wi-Fi 6E AX210 160MHz",
    "downloadMbps": 4.82,
    "uploadMbps": 0.65
  },
  "chassis": {
    "chassisAirTempC": 36.8,
    "chassisAirTempF": 98.2,
    "estimatedAmbientTempC": 22.4,
    "estimatedAmbientTempF": 72.3,
    "thermalResistanceCPerW": 0.35,
    "confidencePercent": 85
  }
}

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⚡ Quick Install

Run in a standard (non-elevated) PowerShell window:

irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/TalviFox/inFaux/main/install.ps1 | iex

Note

No Administrator Privileges Required: inFaux is 100% zero-driver and designed to run safely with standard user permissions (asInvoker). Do not run the installer as Administrator!

Or grab inFaux.exe directly from the Releases page for zero-install portable use.

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🛠️ Building & Releasing

Prerequisites

• Windows 10 (Build 19041+) or Windows 11
• .NET 10.0 SDK

Build from Source

# Debug build
dotnet build -c Debug

# Release single-file build
dotnet publish InFox.csproj -c Release -r win-x64 --self-contained true -p:PublishSingleFile=true -o publish

Automated Release Builder

Run the automated FoxDen release builder:

.\release.ps1 -Version "1.0.0" -SkipGit

The script will:

1. Compile a self-contained, single-file executable for win-x64.
2. Generate publish\inFaux.exe.
3. Compute the cryptographic SHA-256 checksum and output publish\SHA256SUMS.txt and publish\inFaux.exe.sha256.
4. Generate release notes ready for GitHub Releases.

Verify Cryptographic Integrity

Run the built-in auditor to verify your installed binary against official GitHub release hashes:

.\verify.ps1

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⚙️ Configuration Reference

Settings are stored in %LOCALAPPDATA%\inFaux\config.json:

Setting	Type	Default	Description
apiPort	int	8765	Port for the embedded Kestrel REST and WebSocket API
enableApi	bool	true	Enables or disables the embedded HTTP/WebSocket server
apiBindLocalhostOnly	bool	true	When true, binds only to 127.0.0.1 (safe user-mode loopback)
pollingIntervalMs	int	1000	Telemetry harvest interval in milliseconds (250ms-2000ms)
traySensorTarget	string	"cpu_temp"	Tray badge metric: "cpu_temp", "gpu_temp", or "auto_max_temp"
preferredNetworkAdapter	string	"Auto"	Interface to monitor: "Auto" (highest traffic) or specific adapter
chassisProfile	string	"Auto"	Enclosure profile for air cavity modeling: "Auto", "Laptop", "Desktop"
coolerProfile	string	"Auto"	Dissipation scaling: "Auto", "AIO", "TowerAir", "Compact"
cpuThermalOffset	double	0.0	Live calibration offset in °C (-15.0 to +15.0)
cpuTdpOverrideWatts	int	0	Package TDP target for Joule heating (0 = auto-detect)
trayDisplayBadge	bool	true	Toggle drawing the live numeric temperature badge on the tray icon
startWithWindows	bool	true	Start on user logon via Windows Task Scheduler (0 UAC prompts)
checkForUpdates	bool	true	Automatic GitHub release auditor check

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🤖 Transparency & AI Disclosure

inFaux is developed with the assistance of AI coding tools. In the spirit of open development and personal accountability: I don't post what I don't run.

Every feature, script, and build is actively dogfooded, tested, and run on my own daily-driver machines before it is published here.

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🦊 FoxDen Software Suite

• WireFox: Intelligent WireGuard Roaming Companion for Windows
• inFaux: Modern Native Hardware Monitor & Telemetry Server

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Copyright © FoxDen Software. Distributed under the PolyForm Noncommercial License 1.0.0.
Elgato and Stream Deck are registered trademarks of Corsair Memory, Inc. inFaux is an independent open-source project and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Corsair or Elgato.