Show HN: I am building hostprint an agentles system information probe via SSH

hostprint (alpha) is an SSH-based system probe for quickly mapping out information on a server. Currently in very early development expect rough edges, missing features, and experimental outputs.

The goal: Make it simple to snapshot the state of a server, packages, users, services, and configs, to provide context for AI assistants and generate documentation.

Feel free to open a issue with feature requests.

Tell me what this machine is right now distro, architecture, virtualization/container state.

Tell me what’s running & reachable services, open ports, reverse proxies, VPNs.

Tell me what’s installed & how package managers, packages, custom-built binaries.

Tell me what’s wrong or suspicious insecure permissions, exposed keys, weird processes, honeypot signs.

Provide actionable context for support/AI prioritized summary, raw data, and diffable JSON for future comparisons.

• If I am given a server that has no documentation, I want to know the following:

• Which operating system does it use

• Which packages are installed and their versions

• Check if there are potentially unnecessary packages installed on the server (e.g., video player, Minecraft, or VS Code)

• Flag any important software

• Check vulnerable versions against a CVE list

• Figure out which package managers are installed

• For each package manager found, check installed binaries and their versions

• Find out if there are binaries installed by other means (e.g., local builds or custom scripts)

• Gather any README files that may be present in common directories
• Record their locations and modification dates

• Identify which firewall is active
• List all firewall rules

• Determine the architecture of the server
• Check if it is bare metal, virtual machine, or a honeypot

• Identify running services
• Flag important or sensitive services
  • Docker
  • Virsh
  • Anything malicious or suspicious

• Collect hardware information, including:
  • Storage
  • RAM
  • GPU
  • CPU
  • Peripherals
  • Motherboard
  • Disk

• Identify network configurations:
  • Which ports are exposed
  • Firewall rules
  • Type of networking (bridged, NAT, etc.)
  • Whether it is behind a reverse proxy or proxy
  • Current network settings
  • Installed VPNs
    • WireGuard

• Review system and application logs (if not too large)

• Audit for bad files or files of interest
  • World-writable or misconfigured permissions (e.g., 777)
  • password.txt or similar sensitive files
  • Private keys or credentials