Quick Start Guide

Get up and running with s9s in just a few minutes! This guide covers the basics to help you start managing your SLURM cluster more efficiently.

🚀 First Launch

With SLURM Cluster

If you have access to a SLURM cluster:


# Launch s9s
s9s

# Or connect to a specific cluster
s9s --cluster production

Without SLURM (Mock Mode)

Try s9s without a SLURM cluster:


# Launch in mock mode with simulated data
s9s --mock

Overview Demo

Mock mode is perfect for:

Learning s9s navigation
Testing workflows
Demo purposes
Development and testing

🎯 Basic Navigation

View Switching

s9s organizes information into focused views. Switch between them using:

Tab - Cycle forward through views
Shift+Tab - Cycle backward through views
J - Jump to Jobs view
N - Jump to Nodes view
P - Jump to Partitions view

Common views:

Dashboard - Cluster overview with metrics
Jobs - Monitor and manage jobs
Nodes - View and manage compute nodes
Partitions - Monitor partitions and queues
Users - View user accounts
Accounts - Account hierarchy
QoS - Quality of Service policies
Reservations - Resource reservations
Health - Cluster health monitoring

Essential Keyboard Shortcuts

Key	Action	Description
`?`	Help	Show context-sensitive keyboard shortcuts
`q`	Quit	Exit s9s
`/`	Filter	Filter current view
`F3`	Advanced filter	Expression-based filtering
`Ctrl+F`	Global search	Search across all resources
`Tab`	Next view	Cycle through views
`Enter`	Details	View detailed information
`ESC`	Cancel	Exit dialog/filter/modal
`R`	Refresh	Manual data refresh

See Keyboard Shortcuts for complete reference.

📊 Dashboard View

The Dashboard is your cluster command center:

Dashboard Demo

What You See

Cluster Overview - Health status, CPU/Memory usage
Jobs Summary - Job states and queue depth
Nodes Summary - Node availability and utilization
Partition Status - Top partitions
Alerts & Issues - System health warnings
Performance Trends - Historical metrics

Quick Actions

Key	Action
`J`	Jump to Jobs view
`N`	Jump to Nodes view
`P`	Jump to Partitions view
`A`	Advanced analytics
`H`	Health check details

📊 Jobs View

The Jobs view is where you'll manage your workload:

Jobs Demo

View Jobs


# Launch s9s directly to jobs view
s9s --view jobs

Common Operations

Key	Action	Use Case
`Enter`	View details	See full job information
`s/S`	Submit job	Launch job submission wizard
`c/C`	Cancel job	Cancel a running/pending job
`H`	Hold job	Prevent job from starting
`r`	Release job	Release a held job
`o/O`	View output	View job logs in real-time
`d/D`	Dependencies	Show job dependency graph
`b/B`	Batch operations	Manage multiple jobs

Filtering Jobs

Use

to filter jobs:


# Examples:
/RUNNING        # Show only running jobs
/gpu            # Find jobs with "gpu" in any field
/p:gpu          # Filter by partition "gpu"
/user:alice     # Jobs by user alice

Press

ESC

to clear filters.

For complex filtering, press

F3


state:RUNNING partition:gpu
user:alice priority:>500
nodes:>=8

💻 Nodes View

Monitor and manage compute nodes:

Nodes Demo

Common Operations

Key	Action	Description
`Enter`	Details	Node information and metrics
`d/D`	Drain	Mark node for maintenance
`r`	Resume	Return drained node to service
`s/S`	SSH	Connect to node via SSH
`g/G`	Group by	Group nodes (partition/state/features)

Node States

IDLE (Green) - Available for jobs
ALLOCATED (Cyan) - Running jobs
MIXED (Yellow) - Partially allocated
DRAIN (Orange) - Scheduled for maintenance
DOWN (Red) - Offline/unavailable

Resource Usage

Nodes display dual-bar visualization:


CPU: ████████░░░░░░░░ 8/16 (Load: 7.5)
     ^^^^^^^^          Actual usage (solid)
             ░░░░░░    Allocated but unused (hollow)

🎯 Practical Examples

Example 1: Submit a New Job

Press
```
s/S
```
in Jobs view
Fill in job submission wizard:
- Job name
- Partition
- Number of nodes/CPUs
- Time limit
- Script or command
Review and submit

Example 2: Cancel Failed Jobs

In Jobs view, press
```
/
```
and type
```
FAILED
```
Navigate to a job with arrow keys
Press
```
c
```
to cancel
Confirm with
```
y
```
(or use batch operations for multiple)

Example 3: SSH to a Node

Switch to Nodes view (press
```
N
```
)
Find your node (use
```
/nodename
```
to filter)
Press
```
s
```
to open SSH menu
Select "Quick Connect"
Interactive SSH session opens

Example 4: Monitor GPU Jobs

In Jobs view, press
```
/
```
Type
```
p:gpu
```
to filter GPU partition
Press
```
Enter
```
to apply
Press
```
Enter
```
on any job for GPU details

Example 5: Batch Cancel Pending Jobs

In Jobs view, press
```
v/V
```
for multi-select mode
Navigate with arrow keys
Press
```
Space
```
to select specific jobs
Or press
```
b/B
```
and choose "Cancel all PENDING"

🔍 Advanced Features

Global Search

Press

Ctrl+F

for cluster-wide search:


# Search finds jobs, nodes, partitions, etc.
Ctrl+F → type "gpu001"
# Shows: gpu001 node, jobs on gpu001, etc.

Advanced Filtering

Press

F3

for expression-based filtering:


# Jobs view
state:RUNNING partition:gpu nodes:>4

# Nodes view
state:IDLE partition:compute cpus:>64

# Partitions view
efficiency:>80 qos:high

Batch Operations

Select multiple items:

Press
```
v/V
```
to enter multi-select mode
Press
```
Space
```
on items to select
Press
```
Ctrl+A
```
to select all
Press
```
b/B
```
for batch menu
Choose operation (cancel, hold, release, etc.)

⚡ Command Mode

Press

to enter command mode (vim-style) with intelligent autocomplete:

Basic Commands


:help              # Show help
:quit              # Exit s9s
:view nodes        # Switch to nodes view
:refresh           # Force refresh

Commands with Autocomplete


# Tab completion for commands
:req<Tab>          # Completes to :requeue
:dr<Tab>           # Completes to :drain

# Tab completion for arguments
:cancel <Tab>      # Shows available job IDs
:drain <Tab>       # Shows available node names
:requeue <Tab>     # Shows available job IDs

# Full examples
:cancel 12345      # Cancel job 12345
:drain node01      # Drain node01
:requeue 67890     # Requeue failed job

Pro Tip: Autocomplete uses cached data from your views, so you'll see real job IDs and node names from your cluster without extra API calls.

See Commands Reference for complete command documentation.

🎨 Quick Customization

Auto-Refresh

In Jobs view:


Press m/M to toggle auto-refresh on/off

Grouping (Nodes)


Press g/G in Nodes view
Choose: partition, state, features, or none
Press Space to expand/collapse groups

📝 Next Steps

Now that you know the basics, explore:

Views Overview - Detailed view documentation
Keyboard Shortcuts - Complete shortcuts
Job Management - Advanced job operations
Configuration - Customize s9s
Filtering Guide - Master advanced filters

💡 Pro Tips

Practice with mock mode -
```
s9s --mock
```
is risk-free
Use keyboard shortcuts - Faster than mouse for everything
Multi-select is powerful - Batch operations save time
Pin important filters - Save frequently used filters
Context help - Press
```
?
```
in any view for specific shortcuts
Group nodes - Makes large clusters manageable
SSH from UI - No need to remember node names
Watch job output - Press
```
o/O
```
for real-time log streaming

🆘 Getting Help

In-app help: Press
```
?
```
anywhere for context-sensitive help
View documentation: Press
```
F1
```
for action menu
Full docs: https://s9s.dev/docs
Troubleshooting: Troubleshooting Guide
GitHub Issues: Report bugs

Common Questions

Q: How do I exit s9s? A: Press

to quit.

Q: Can I use s9s without SLURM? A: Yes! Use

s9s --mock

for a fully functional demo mode.

Q: How do I cancel multiple jobs? A: Use multi-select (

v/V

), select jobs with

Space

, then press

b/B

for batch operations.

Q: Can I SSH to nodes from s9s? A: Yes! Press

s/S

in Nodes view for SSH options.

Q: How do I filter by partition? A: Use

and type

p:partitionname

partition:name

Q: Is there a way to save my filters? A: Yes, see Configuration Guide for saved filters.

Q: Can I customize colors/theme? A: Yes, see Configuration Guide for theme options.