A modern touch interface for Klipper/Moonraker 3D printers
Your printer can do way more than your current touchscreen lets you. Bed mesh visualization, input shaper graphs, multi-material management, print history — it's all trapped in a browser tab. HelixScreen puts it at your fingertips.
Fast, beautiful, and built for every Klipper printer — from a Creality K1 to a tricked-out Voron or RatRig.
Release Candidate — v0.98
Approaching 1.0 with a customizable grid dashboard, full widget system, and comprehensive printer support. Looking for testers across different printer setups.
Tested on: Voron 2.4 (Raspberry Pi 5), Voron 0.2, Doron Velta, RatRig V-Core, Flashforge AD5M Pro (Forge-X firmware), QIDI Q1 Pro, Sovol SV06, Sovol SV08
Raspberry Pi: Both 64-bit and 32-bit Raspberry Pi OS are supported (Pi 4, Pi 5, CM4, Zero 2 W).
QIDI: Supported with auto-detection heuristics and print start profile.
Flashforge: AD5M/Pro (Forge-X firmware), AD5X (ZMOD firmware).
Creality: Sonic Pad, K1/K1C/K1 Max binaries are included. K2 Plus build target exists (ARM, static musl) but is untested — if you have one, we'd love your help!
Snapmaker U1: Cross-compile target with 480x320 display support.
Ready to help? See Installation. Found a bug? Open an issue. Have an idea? Request a feature. Want to chat? Join our Discord.
Quick Links: Website · Features · Screenshots · Installation · User Guide · FAQ · Contributing · Changelog · Discord
- Customizable dashboard — Drag, resize, and arrange widgets on a grid that persists across restarts
- Every feature at your fingertips — 30+ panels, 18 overlays, 13 modals, 233 XML layouts
- Runs on anything — ~10MB RAM, from a Creality K1 to a Raspberry Pi 5
- 68 printers in the database — Auto-detects your hardware and configures itself
- Multi-material ready — AFC, Happy Hare, ValgACE, ViViD, tool changers, Spoolman
- Looks great — Light/dark themes with 14 presets, responsive layouts, GPU-accelerated blur
- First-run wizard — 13-step guided setup discovers your printer's capabilities
Technical comparison
| Feature | HelixScreen | GuppyScreen | KlipperScreen |
|---|---|---|---|
| UI Framework | LVGL 9 XML | LVGL 8 C | GTK 3 (Python) |
| Declarative UI | Full XML with reactive bindings | C only | Python only |
| RAM Usage | ~10MB | ~15-20MB | ~50MB |
| Disk Size | ~70-80MB | ~60-80MB | ~50MB |
| Multi-Material | 5 backends | Limited | Basic |
| Printer Database | 68 models | — | Manual config |
| Display Layouts | Auto-detecting (tiny to ultrawide) | Fixed | Configurable |
| Status | Release Candidate (active) | Inactive | Mature (maintenance) |
| Language | C++17 | C | Python 3 |
More screenshots
See docs/devel/GALLERY.md for the full gallery.
Dashboard — Customizable grid layout with drag-to-reposition, edge resize, widget catalog, per-breakpoint persistence. Includes clock, job queue, shutdown/reboot, temperature, fan, network, power, and more.
Printer Control — Print management with G-code preview, motion controls, temperature presets with per-material overrides, multi-fan control, Z-offset, speed/flow tuning, live filament consumption tracking, power device management
Multi-Material — 5 filament system backends: AFC (Box Turtle), Happy Hare (ERCF, 3MS, Tradrack), ValgACE, ViViD, and tool changers. Multi-unit and multi-backend support. Full Spoolman integration with spool creation wizard.
Visualization — 3D G-code layer preview with memory-aware geometry budgets, 3D bed mesh with async rendering, print thumbnails, frequency response charts, unified temperature graph
Calibration — Input shaper with frequency response charts, PID tuning with live graph, MPC calibration (Kalico), bed mesh, screws tilt adjust, Z-offset, firmware retraction, probe management
Integrations — HelixPrint plugin, power devices with quick-toggle, print history with dashboard, timelapse (Moonraker plugin), exclude objects with per-object thumbnails, LED control (5 backends), sound alerts (SDL/PWM/M300)
Display — Auto-detecting layout system (480x320, 800x480, 1024x600, 1920x480 ultrawide), display rotation (0/90/180/270) with auto-detection, light/dark themes with 14 presets and live theme editor, GPU-accelerated backdrop blur, screensavers
System — 13-step first-run wizard, 68 printer models with auto-detection, opt-in crash reporting with debug bundles, KIAUH installer, versioned config migration, i18n translation system
| Platform | Architecture | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Raspberry Pi 4/5 (64-bit) | aarch64 | Tested |
| Raspberry Pi (32-bit) | armhf | Tested |
| BTT Pad / CB1 / Manta | aarch64 | Supported |
| Flashforge AD5M/Pro | armv7-a | Tested |
| Flashforge AD5X | MIPS32 | Supported |
| QIDI (Q1 Pro, Plus 4, etc.) | aarch64 | Supported |
| Creality Sonic Pad | armhf | Tested |
| Creality K1/K1C/K1 Max | MIPS32 | Builds available |
| Creality K2 Plus | ARM (musl) | Untested |
| Sovol SV06/SV08 | Pi build | Active testing |
| Elegoo Centauri Carbon | Dedicated build | Active testing |
| Snapmaker U1 | armv7-a | Cross-compile target |
| macOS | x86_64/ARM64 | Development |
| Linux | x86_64 | Development / CI |
Run these commands on your printer's host computer, not your local machine.
SSH into your Raspberry Pi, BTT CB1/Manta, or similar host. For all-in-one printers (Creality K1, K2 series, Flashforge AD5M/Pro), SSH directly into the printer itself.
One-line install (Raspberry Pi, Creality, QIDI, Sovol, and more):
curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/prestonbrown/helixscreen/main/scripts/install.sh | shThe installer auto-detects your platform, downloads the correct binary, sets up the service, and launches the first-run wizard. Updates are just --update:
curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/prestonbrown/helixscreen/main/scripts/install.sh | sh -s -- --updateFlashforge AD5M/Pro: We provide a ready-made firmware image (Forge-X fork with HelixScreen pre-configured) — just flash from a USB drive. Or install manually on an existing Forge-X/Klipper Mod setup.
See Installation Guide for detailed instructions, display configuration, and troubleshooting.
# Check/install dependencies
make check-deps && make install-deps
# Build
make -j
# Run with mock printer (no hardware needed)
./build/bin/helix-screen --test -vv
# Run with real printer
./build/bin/helix-screen
# XML hot reload (edit XML, switch panels to see changes live)
HELIX_HOT_RELOAD=1 ./build/bin/helix-screen --test -vv
# Run tests
make test-runControls: Click navigation icons, press 'S' for screenshot, use -v (INFO), -vv (DEBUG), or -vvv (TRACE) for logging.
Test suite: 317 test files with comprehensive coverage of printer state, UI components, XML parsing, and more.
See docs/devel/DEVELOPMENT.md for detailed setup, cross-compilation, and contributing guidelines.
Is HelixScreen production-ready? Release candidate status, approaching 1.0. Core features are stable with 317 test files and opt-in crash reporting. Suitable for daily use on any Klipper printer.
How is this different from GuppyScreen/KlipperScreen? More features, way less resource usage (~10MB RAM vs ~50MB for KlipperScreen), and actively developed. See the comparison table.
Which printers are supported? Any Klipper + Moonraker printer. 68 models in the auto-detection database spanning Voron, Creality, QIDI, Anycubic, Flashforge, Sovol, RatRig, FLSUN, Elegoo, Prusa, and more. The wizard auto-discovers your printer's capabilities even if it's not in the database.
What screen sizes are supported? 800x480, 1024x600, and 1920x480 (ultrawide) are fully supported with auto-detecting layouts. Display rotation (0/90/180/270) is supported with auto-detection. Smaller displays like 480x320 (Snapmaker U1) are a work-in-progress.
What multi-material systems work? AFC (Box Turtle), Happy Hare (ERCF, 3MS, Tradrack, Night Owl), ValgACE, ViViD, and tool changers (viesturz/klipper-toolchanger). Full Spoolman integration for spool management.
See docs/user/FAQ.md for the full FAQ.
| Issue | Solution |
|---|---|
| SDL2 or build tools missing | make install-deps |
| Submodule empty | git submodule update --init --recursive |
| Can't connect to Moonraker | Check IP/port in helixconfig.json |
| Wizard not showing | Delete helixconfig.json to trigger it |
| Display upside down | Set rotation in settings or check panel_orientation in /proc/cmdline |
See docs/user/TROUBLESHOOTING.md for more solutions, or open a GitHub issue.
| Guide | Description |
|---|---|
| Installation | Setup for Pi, Sonic Pad, K1, K2, AD5M, AD5X, QIDI, Snapmaker U1 |
| User Guide | Using HelixScreen — panels, overlays, settings |
| Configuration | All settings with examples |
| Upgrading | Version upgrade instructions |
| FAQ | Common questions |
| Troubleshooting | Problem solutions |
| Telemetry & Privacy | What data is collected (opt-in) |
| Guide | Description |
|---|---|
| Development | Build system, workflow, contributing |
| Architecture | System design, patterns |
| LVGL9 XML Guide | XML syntax reference |
| UI Contributor Guide | Breakpoints, tokens, colors, widgets |
| Changelog | Release history |
| Roadmap | Feature timeline |
Join the HelixScreen Discord — Get help, share your setup, request features, and follow development.
Also discussed in:
- FuriousForging Discord — #mods-and-projects (jump to HelixScreen topic)
- VORONDesign Discord — #voc_works (jump to HelixScreen topic)
Bug Reports & Feature Requests: GitHub Issues — please include your printer model and logs (helix-screen -vv) when reporting bugs.
GPL v3 — See individual source files for copyright headers.
Inspired by: GuppyScreen (general architecture, LVGL-based approach), KlipperScreen (feature inspiration)
Stack: LVGL 9.5, Klipper, Moonraker, libhv, spdlog, SDL2
AI-Assisted Development: HelixScreen was developed with the assistance of Claude Code and Anthropic's Claude AI models