# Spark Control Plane

> Free, MIT-licensed DGX Spark monitoring dashboard and recipe-based vLLM model runner.

Canonical website: https://spark-control-plane.garykww.dev/

## What is Spark Control Plane?

Spark Control Plane is a free, open-source web dashboard for NVIDIA DGX Spark and other Linux hosts with NVIDIA GPUs. It combines hardware monitoring, inference metrics, container management, and a recipe-based vLLM model runner.

## Can I try it without a DGX Spark?

Yes. Install the dashboard and run DEMO_MODE=1 spark-control-plane. Demo mode provides synthetic metrics for three example nodes, so you can explore the interface without a GPU or an SSH connection.

## What do I need to connect my own nodes?

The dashboard needs Node.js 20 or newer, or Docker. The installer can download its own Node.js copy. Monitored nodes need SSH access and nvidia-smi. Monitoring does not require an agent on the nodes; model runs need the container runtime and tools required by the recipe.

## Which inference servers does it support?

Spark Control Plane auto-detects vLLM, llama.cpp, SGLang, TGI, and Ollama. Available metrics depend on what each server exposes. A missing counter appears as not reported, rather than zero. Recipe-based model launching uses vLLM.

## Does the memory planner guarantee a model will run?

No. The planner estimates memory for model weights, runtime overhead, and KV cache using the recipe, context length, concurrency, and available node memory. It flags fit and port conflicts before launch, but runtime conditions can still cause a run to fail.

## Does it change anything on my nodes?

Monitoring uses read-only SSH commands and installs no monitoring agent. Actions you choose, including launching models, downloading or deleting cached models, controlling containers, rebooting, and shutting down, make changes on the nodes.

## Can I expose the dashboard to the internet?

The dashboard API has no built-in authentication and assumes a trusted network. Keep it behind Tailscale, a VPN, or an authenticating reverse proxy. Docker control grants powerful access to the node.

## Is Spark Control Plane free and open source?

Yes. Spark Control Plane is released under the MIT license. You can inspect, modify, and self-host the source code. The project is maintained by Gary Wong and is not an official NVIDIA product.

## Links

- [Website](https://spark-control-plane.garykww.dev/)
- [Source and documentation](https://github.com/garykww/spark-control-plane)
- [License](https://github.com/garykww/spark-control-plane/blob/main/LICENSE)