Tailscale Exit Node Toggle

A simple cross-platform GUI application to quickly toggle your Tailscale exit node on and off.

Features

• 🔒 One-click toggle for Tailscale exit node
• 🎨 Modern dark UI (Windows/Linux) / Native menu bar (macOS)
• 📊 Real-time connection status
• 🖥️ System tray support
  • Windows/Linux: Left-click to toggle, Right-click for menu
  • macOS: Native menu bar integration
• 🚀 Start with system option
• ⚡ Lightweight - minimal dependencies

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Linux (Arch/KDE/GNOME)

Prerequisites

• Tailscale installed (sudo pacman -S tailscale)
• Python 3.10 or higher
• PyQt5 (Recommended for KDE/System Tray support)
  • Arch: sudo pacman -S python-pyqt5
  • Ubuntu/Debian: sudo apt install python3-pyqt5

Quick Start

Option 1: Run from Source

1. Clone and Setup

   git clone https://github.com/yourusername/ExitNodeToggle.git
   cd ExitNodeToggle
   python3 -m venv .venv
   source .venv/bin/activate
   pip install -r requirements.txt

2. Configure Create config.json (or copy config.linux.json) and set your specific exit node IP. For tailscale_exe, use "tailscale" if it's in your system's PATH, or its full path like "/usr/bin/tailscale".

   {
       "tailscale_exe": "/usr/bin/tailscale", 
       "exit_node_ip": "100.64.10.100"
   }

3. Run

   python main_linux.py

Option 2: Build Standalone Binary

1. Run Build Script

   ./build_linux.sh

2. Install The executable will be in dist/ExitNodeToggle. You can move this anywhere, but ensure config.json is in the same directory (or ~/.config/exitnodetoggle/config.json).

Linux Usage

• Main Window: Control panel with status indicator.
• System Tray:
  • Left Click: Immediately toggles Exit Node ON/OFF.
  • Right Click: Opens menu (Show Window, Toggle, Quit).

Dynamic Tray Icons

The system tray icons (On/Off) are dynamically generated at runtime using the Pillow library to ensure consistent styling and avoid external asset dependencies. These generated icons are stored temporarily in the application's log directory (~/.local/state/exitnodetoggle/).

Tray Icon Colors

Color	Status
⚫ Grey	Exit node OFF (direct connection)
🔴 Red	Exit node ON (routing via exit node)

---

Windows

Prerequisites

• Tailscale installed on Windows
• Python 3.10 or higher (for running from source)
• An exit node configured in your Tailscale network

Quick Start

Option 1: Run from Source

1. Install dependencies

   pip install pystray pillow

2. Configure your exit node

   Edit config.json:

   {
       "tailscale_exe": "C:\\Program Files\\Tailscale\\tailscale.exe",
       "exit_node_ip": "100.64.10.100"
   }

3. Run the application

   python main.py

Option 2: Build Standalone EXE

1. Install dependencies

   pip install pystray pillow pyinstaller

2. Build the EXE

   build.bat

   Or manually:

   pyinstaller --onefile --windowed --name "ExitNodeToggle" main.py

3. Copy config.json to the same folder as ExitNodeToggle.exe

4. Run ExitNodeToggle.exe

Windows Usage

Main Window

• Click the button to toggle exit node ON/OFF
• Check "Start with Windows" to auto-launch on boot
• Click X to minimize to system tray

System Tray

Action	Result
Left-click	Toggle exit node ON/OFF
Right-click	Show menu

Tray Icon Colors

Color	Status
⚫ Grey	Exit node OFF (direct connection)
🔴 Red	Exit node ON (routing via exit node)

---

macOS

Prerequisites

• Tailscale installed on macOS
• Python 3.10 or higher (for running from source)
• An exit node configured in your Tailscale network

Quick Start

Option 1: Run from Source

1. Install dependencies

   pip install rumps

2. Configure your exit node

   Copy and edit config.macos.json to config.json (the CLI path tailscale usually works best on macOS):

   {
       "tailscale_exe": "tailscale",
       "exit_node_ip": "100.64.10.100"
   }

3. Run the application

   python main_macos.py

Option 2: Build Standalone App & DMG

1. Run the build script

   chmod +x build_macos.sh
   ./build_macos.sh

   This will:

   • Create a virtual environment
   • Install dependencies (rumps, py2app)
   • Build Exit Node Toggle.app
   • Optionally create a DMG installer
   • Bake in the working Tailscale CLI path (prefers tailscale on PATH) and default exit node IP

2. The app will be in dist/Exit Node Toggle.app

3. Configuration inside the app bundle

   • Tailscale binary: auto-detected during build (CLI preferred).
   • Exit node IP: defaults to 100.64.10.100 (override by setting EXIT_NODE_IP before running the build script).
   • File: dist/Exit Node Toggle.app/Contents/Resources/config.json

macOS Usage

The app sits in your menu bar (top right of screen).

Menu Bar Icon

Icon	Status
🔓	Exit node OFF (direct connection)
🔒	Exit node ON (routing via exit node)

Menu Options

• Status - Shows current connection state
• Toggle Exit Node - Switch on/off
• Node: xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx - Shows configured exit node
• Start at Login - Enable/disable auto-start
• Quit - Exit the application

DMG Installation

1. Open the DMG file
2. Drag Exit Node Toggle.app to Applications
3. Open from Applications
4. Configure your exit node:
   • Right-click the app → Show Package Contents
   • Navigate to Contents/Resources/config.json
   • Edit with your exit node IP

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Finding Your Exit Node IP

tailscale status

Look for the device you want to use as exit node and copy its IP (starts with 100.).

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Troubleshooting

For any issues, please check the application logs located at ~/.local/state/exitnodetoggle/app.log (on Linux/macOS) or %LOCALAPPDATA%\exitnodetoggle\app.log (on Windows). These logs provide detailed information that can help diagnose problems.

Linux (Arch/KDE)

"Tray icon not responding"

• Ensure you have PyQt5 installed. The app uses native Qt system tray integration for best results on KDE.
• If using GNOME, ensure you have AppIndicator support enabled (though Qt fallback usually works).

"Tray icon not showing after packaging (makepkg)"

• Problem: The packaged application might not display the system tray icon, even though main_linux.py works when run directly. This was due to a mismatch in the tray capability check (main_linux.py was checking for gi (AppIndicator/GTK) while the tray implementation uses PyQt5) and PyInstaller not always correctly detecting and bundling PyQt5 when dynamically imported.
• Solution: Ensure your PKGBUILD and build_linux.sh explicitly include PyQt5 using --hidden-import PyQt5 in the PyInstaller command. The application logic has been updated to check for PyQt5 directly.

"Cannot enable exit node after packaging (makepkg)"

• Problem: After building with makepkg, the application could disable the exit node but failed to enable it. This happened because the exit_node_ip was missing from the configuration. The PKGBUILD was not bundling config.json into the executable, leading the app to start with an invalid configuration.
• Solution: Ensure your PKGBUILD explicitly bundles config.json using --add-data "config.json:." in the PyInstaller command. The application will now find the exit_node_ip from the bundled config.json.
• Note: For persistent configuration, it is recommended to create a config.json file in ~/.config/exitnodetoggle/ with your desired exit_node_ip. This user-specific file will take precedence over the bundled configuration.

"Permission Denied"

• Ensure your user can run tailscale commands (add user to tailscale group if applicable, or use sudo via tailscale_exe wrapper if strictly required, though typically tailscale set works for users in the operator group).

Windows

"Tailscale not found"

• Verify Tailscale is installed
• Check the path in config.json matches your installation

"Operation failed"

• Ensure Tailscale is running and logged in
• Check that your exit node is online

EXE doesn't start

• Make sure config.json is in the same folder as the EXE

macOS

"Tailscale not found"

• Verify Tailscale is installed in Applications
• Try setting tailscale_exe to just "tailscale" if you have the CLI version

App doesn't appear in menu bar

• Check for notification requesting permissions
• Go to System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility and allow the app

DMG build fails

• Ensure you have Xcode Command Line Tools: xcode-select --install

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Project Structure

ExitNodeToggle/
├── main.py              # Windows version (tkinter + pystray)
├── main_macos.py        # macOS version (rumps menu bar)
├── main_linux.py        # Linux version (tkinter + PyQt5 Tray)
├── config.json          # Your configuration
├── config.macos.json    # macOS config template
├── config.linux.json    # Linux config template
├── requirements.txt     # Python dependencies
├── build.bat            # Windows build script
├── build_macos.sh       # macOS build script
├── build_linux.sh       # Linux build script
├── setup_macos.py       # py2app configuration
└── README.md            # This file

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License

MIT License - feel free to modify and distribute.