Turning Ad-Blocking into a Productivity Engine
Upgrade Your Pi-hole into a Network-Wide Productivity Engine The self-discipline companion that installs in minutes alongside your existing Pi-hole setup.
🎯 The Problem: Distraction vs. Control
Pi-hole is incredible at blocking ads, but using it to manage your focus by blocking distracting websites (like Reddit, YouTube, or Discord) is clumsy. If you turn off your blocklists to take a quick break, you either forget to turn them back on and lose your focus, or you have to constantly wrestle with administrative panels.
For remote workers, developers, and productivity enthusiasts, you need a system that acts as a strict but flexible focus timer—without relying on expensive cloud subscriptions.
🚀 The Solution: Pi-hole Companion Dashboard (ph-dash)
Just like our GhostFlow platform, ph-dash is built on the philosophy of owning your infrastructure without the "SaaS Tax". It is a premium, lightweight companion dashboard installed alongside your existing Pi-hole that transforms your network DNS blocker into a high-fidelity self-discipline tool.
💎 Features Designed for Focus
1. Smart Auto-Re-Enable (Stackable Timers) Take a quick break without derailing your day. When you toggle a blocklist off, a real-time countdown timer begins. When the timer expires, the list is instantly enabled back on your Pi-hole. To deter you from constantly procrastinating, consecutive disables stack the timer duration (e.g., your first break is 5 minutes, the next is 10, then 15).
2. The Focus Cooldown Lock (Your Self-Discipline Budget) Outsmart your cravings with an active defense mechanism. The system tracks how many times you disable a blocklist within a sliding time window. If you exceed your budget, the dashboard triggers a Cooldown Lock—forcing the blocklist ON and disabling the toggle switch completely for a set duration.
3. Quiet Hours & Exclusion Windows Work hard, play hard. You can set custom time windows (such as weekdays after 9:00 PM or weekends) when the automatic re-enable feature is suppressed, letting your filters rest when you do.
4. Zero-Distraction Telemetry & Noise Filtering Standard Pi-hole query logs are flooded with Apple/Google telemetry and noisy IoT devices. The ph-dash provides an interactive, streaming dashboard that cleans up your data. See a noisy smart bulb IP? Add it to your "Ignored" list with a single click so you only see the human-initiated web traffic that matters.
🛠️ Built for Performance & Ownership
True to the "Local-First" engineering principles seen in GhostFlow and QuackerTools:
- Seamless Database Integration: ph-dash operates directly on Pi-hole's internal SQLite database (
gravity.db) using single-transaction syntax. This reloads your DNS server instantly without dropping a single active network connection. - Low Resource Footprint: Delivered as a lightweight monorepo (NodeJS backend + React frontend) that runs comfortably on low-spec hardware, right down to a Raspberry Pi Zero.
- You Own the Machine: It runs entirely on your own infrastructure as a persistent background service. No vendor lock-in, no monthly fees, and your network data never leaves your firewall.