Minimal-Vantage

A minimal Terminal User Interface (TUI) to control hardware settings on Lenovo ThinkPads

Compatibility

Based on Linux kernel ACPI drivers and expected to work on Lenovo hardware from 2021 onwards, including:

• ThinkPad X1 Carbon (Gen 9 through Gen 13+)
• ThinkPad T-Series (T14/T14s Gen 2+)
• ThinkPad P-Series (P14s, P1, etc.)
• ThinkPad X1 Yoga (Gen 6+)
• Other modern Lenovo models utilizing the thinkpad_acpi driver.

Feature	Kernel Requirement
Battery thresholds	5.17+ (Intel & AMD)
Thermal profiles — Intel	5.12+
Thermal profiles — AMD	5.18+
All other features	No specific kernel requirement

An ideal, simple, keyboard driven solution for wlroots users: remains compatible with GNOME and KDE Plasma without enforcing wlr-randr in Desktop Environment (DE) setups.

Certain features require root access; in-menu root authentication —including fingerprints if pre-configured (e.g., PAM/fprintd on Fedora)— is supported; thereby, visual flow stays consistent.

Features

• Battery Conservation: Set start/stop charging thresholds to prolong battery life with path detection.
• Telemetry: Readouts of Battery Health %, Cycle Counts, and Power Draw (Watts) snapshot.
• Thermal/Fan Modes: Switch between available ACPI platform profiles (e.g. low-power, balanced, performance) as exposed by the hardware.
• Display Control (wlroots only): Adjust resolution and refresh rate per monitor via wlr-randr (inc. external displays).

• Microphone Privacy: Per-source mute toggle via PipeWire; automatically enumerates all audio inputs including external USB mics; filters out non-audio capture nodes.
• Radios: Quick toggles for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth using native kernel rfkill without reliance on NetworkManager or BlueZ.
• Camera Privacy: Per-device enable/disable by binding or unbinding the kernel driver; supports multiple cameras (e.g. built-in + monitor webcam); compatible with Secure Boot.
• Persistence: Save settings across reboots, with a light installer that supports both systemd and non-systemd environments.

Note

Camera toggle requires uvcvideo, present only on models with a standard USB webcam. Models with Intel IPU6/IPU7 MIPI cameras — such as certain X1 Carbon Gen 10–12 and T14/T14s Gen 3–4 variants — do not load uvcvideo; the toggle will have no effect. The physical lens cover found on many ThinkPads is a mechanical-only accessory with no system connection; it operates independently of this software toggle.

Requirements

• Linux kernel 5.17+ recommended (see compatibility table above for per-feature minimums)
• gum (The terminal UI engine)
• A Nerd Font (e.g., jetbrains-mono-nerd-fonts)
• pipewire / wireplumber (Provides wpctl for microphone toggling)
• rfkill (ships with util-linux; present by default on all major distros)
• wlr-randr required ONLY for display control on wlroots compositors; likely already installed by WM users. Incompatible with most DEs.

Fedora

wget https://github.com/ryanoasis/nerd-fonts/releases/latest/download/JetBrainsMono.zip
unzip JetBrainsMono.zip -d ~/.local/share/fonts
fc-cache -fv
rm JetBrainsMono.zip

sudo dnf install gum pipewire wireplumber

Arch

sudo pacman -S gum pipewire wireplumber ttf-jetbrains-mono-nerd

Ubuntu/Debian

sudo mkdir -p /etc/apt/keyrings
curl -fsSL https://repo.charm.sh/apt/gpg.key | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/charm.gpg
echo "deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/charm.gpg] https://repo.charm.sh/apt/ * *" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/charm.list
sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y gum pipewire wireplumber

wget https://github.com/ryanoasis/nerd-fonts/releases/latest/download/JetBrainsMono.zip
unzip JetBrainsMono.zip -d ~/.local/share/fonts
fc-cache -fv
rm JetBrainsMono.zip

Installation

Clone the repository and install it globally via make:

git clone https://github.com/AdmiralBarbarossa/Minimal-vantage.git
cd Minimal-vantage
sudo make install

Upon installation, run vantage in terminal. Native sudo authentication (including fingerprint) is supported inline.

Tip

Non-Systemd Environments (Void, Artix, Alpine): The Makefile automatically detects the init system and bypass systemd service installation; the following persistence methods could help:

• Append /usr/local/bin/vantage-core --restore to /etc/rc.local (Void/runit), an /etc/local.d/*.start script (OpenRC), or a root crontab (@reboot).
• By configuring /etc/sudoers for NOPASSWD execution of the core binary, the command exec sudo /usr/local/bin/vantage-core --restore (or exec-once for Hyprland) can be invoked from the compositor configuration; However, it ties hardware state to the graphical session rather than the boot sequence!

Uninstallation

sudo make uninstall

Usage & Navigation

The pre-compiled nature of the Charmbracelet’s gum prevents custom remapping of keys; the default engine supports Vim-style vertical movement.

• j / k (or Arrows): Navigate up and down.
• Enter: Confirm selection or enter a submenu.
• Esc: Cancel the current prompt, return to the main menu, or quit the application.

Inspiration & Alternatives

Inspired by the niizam/vantage repository, Minimal-Vantage adapts the concept for ThinkPads and modern workflows. While the original project targets Lenovo IdeaPads/Legions on legacy X11, this alternative swaps GTK popups (zenity) and X11 protocols for terminal-native styling (gum) and Wayland support (wlr-randr).

Unlike background suites like TLP or auto-cpufreq, this is an one-shot boot service alternative with no persistent background process; already achieves ~5W draw @ 30°C (0 RPM) on 268V Fedora + River with tuned and thermald without the reliance on such tools.

Contributing & Feedback

Lenovo's hardware architecture and ACPI implementation can vary between generations and specific models. In the event of errors, bugs, or suggestions to make the script faster or more robust, as well as hardware compatibility confirmations, Issues or Pull Requests are much appreciated.