A beautiful network device discovery tool for mac.

• Quick scan using ARP table
• Full network scan with ping sweep
• Vendor/manufacturer detection via MAC address lookup
• Bonjour/mDNS device name discovery
• SSDP/UPnP device discovery
• Filters by status and vendor
• Sortable columns (IP, MAC, Vendor, Hostname)
• Click-to-copy IP and MAC addresses
• Auto-refresh at configurable intervals (10s, 30s, 1m, 5m)
• Clean monochrome UI with yellow accents
• Real-time device discovery
• Security-hardened backend

1. Install Node.js dependencies:

npm install

npm start

Then open your browser to: http://localhost:3001

Double-click the Network Scanner.app in the dist folder to launch the standalone application.

• Click "Quick Scan" to instantly see devices already in your ARP cache
• This is fast and shows devices you've recently communicated with

• Click "Full Scan" to ping all IPs in your subnet (192.168.x.0/24)
• This takes longer but discovers all active devices
• The scan will ping up to 254 addresses and update the ARP table

• Use the STATUS dropdown to filter by online/offline/unknown
• Use the VENDOR dropdown to filter by manufacturer
• Use the SORT BY dropdown to sort by IP Address, MAC Address, Vendor, or Hostname

• Toggle "Auto-Refresh" to automatically run quick scans at regular intervals
• Select your preferred interval: 10s, 30s, 1m, or 5m
• Useful for monitoring network changes in real-time

• Click any IP address or MAC address to copy it to your clipboard
• A "Copied!" tooltip confirms the action

To package this as a standalone macOS application:

npm run package

This creates Network Scanner.app in the dist folder using Electron.

1. Backend (Node.js/Express)

   • Scans the local network using system commands
   • Reads the ARP table for MAC addresses
   • Performs ping sweeps for full network discovery
   • Resolves hostnames and Bonjour names
   • Discovers UPnP devices via SSDP
   • Provides REST API endpoints
   • Security-hardened with input validation and resource limits

2. Frontend (React 18)

Version 1.1.0 includes some security hardening:

• Input Validation: All IP addresses validated before use in shell commands to prevent command injection
• Batch Processing: Network scans limited to 20 concurrent operations to prevent resource exhaustion
• Memory Management: Device caches with TTL (5 minute expiration) and periodic cleanup
• Race Condition Prevention: Proper async/await handling and single-operation guards

• This app requires network access permissions
• On macOS, you may need to grant Terminal or the app network privileges
• The app only scans your local subnet (192.168.x.x or similar)
• No data is sent outside your local network

Port already in use:

• Change the PORT in server.js (default: 3001)

Permission errors:

• Some network scanning features may require elevated privileges
• Run with sudo if needed (not recommended for production)

Can't find devices:

• Make sure you're on the same network
• Try the Full Scan option
• Check your firewall settings

• Backend: Node.js, Express
• Frontend: React 18, Vanilla CSS
• Network Tools: ARP, Ping, Bonjour/mDNS, SSDP
• Packaging: Electron 27

• v1.1.0 (2025-10-31): Security hardening - command injection prevention, batch processing, memory leak fixes, race condition fixes
• v1.0.0 (2025-10-31): Initial release with nice design, vendor detection, filters, click-to-copy, auto-refresh

MIT