# Administration dashboard and preferences

The authenticated panel is the primary way to manage RustProxy. Pages cover **Overview**, **Vhosts**, **Web Server**, **Certificates**, **Docker vhosts**, **Streams**, **Traffic**, **Cache**, **Logs**, **Settings** and **Documentation**. Availability of individual cards depends on enabled features and the account's display preferences.

## Overview cards and layouts

The Overview contains live counters, charts and optional backend, cache, PHP, Docker and Stream cards. Under **Settings → Appearance → Dashboard layout** or the Overview editor, configure visibility, order, card width, density and the number of history samples. A hidden card stops consuming its optional browser-side visualization work but does not turn off its underlying proxy feature.

In 0.34.1, the unlocked Overview layout exposes a single **Save and lock** action (plus Cancel), removing the redundant lock-and-save button.

**Dashboard Presets** supports up to **16 named layouts per administrator**. Save, load, rename, overwrite and delete presets; a factory layout can be restored. Presets preserve the dashboard arrangement, not the live traffic values. Interface theme, scale and other display settings are also account-scoped and do not alter proxy routing or rewrite shared configuration.

## Editing configuration safely

1. Open the relevant workspace and inspect existing state before editing.
2. Change a logically related group of settings and review the editor's effective-preview/status where available.
3. Save against the expected current configuration revision. A stale edit should be reloaded instead of silently overwriting a newer change.
4. Confirm whether the saved setting is active immediately or requires a process restart (notably listener binds and administration HTTPS).
5. Check the live page and request logs after sending test traffic.

Unfinished editors may be minimized into a draft dock; this is a UI convenience and **not** a durable change or backup until saved.

## History and restore

**Configuration history** stores retained validated snapshots. Restoring a snapshot creates a new configuration revision. It does not restore every filesystem file, external certificate, Secret Store key or accumulated cache/log history. For disaster recovery, use a full encrypted backup; see [Backup](BACKUP.md).

## Interpreting charts

- The **Cache hit ratio** donut shows cumulative `HIT / (HIT + MISS)`: BYPASS and requests outside cache are deliberately excluded from its denominator.
- The **Cache outcomes (recent)** compact horizontal 100% bar is **hidden by default**; enable it in **Settings → Appearance → Dashboard layout** or the Overview layout editor. It compares HIT, MISS, BYPASS and OTHER against all HTTP request counter increments in one contiguous sampling interval. BYPASS includes requests for which the cache path was considered but disabled/skipped (including globally disabled cache). OTHER means requests that generated no cache decision, e.g. early rejected or redirect paths. These are request counts, not response bytes. It shows no value until a second valid sample, after background-tab pauses, after counter resets, or when independently observed cache outcomes briefly exceed the requests delta. Revisit the next interval rather than trusting a forced 100% value.


- Live views are process/sampling-based and can show no-data when an integration has not reported yet.
- Per-backend protocol badges can distinguish configured HTTP mode from the protocol actually observed in connection traffic.
- Response-header timing excludes the full streamed body duration. HTTP server/client percentages refer to the specified layer.
- A data sampling gap, a reset after restart and a true zero are not always equivalent.

See [Monitoring](MONITORING.md) for metric details and [Configuration](CONFIGURATION.md) for persistent service settings.