Questions and answers.

What ZenVizor is, what it is not, and the honest limits.

About

What is ZenVizor?
A lightweight, passive network monitor for Windows. It tracks how much each program on your PC sends and receives, shows it in a near-live dashboard, keeps the history locally, and lets you open a report for any day.
What are the system requirements?
Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit), administrator access to install, and about 150 MB of free space. ZenVizor settles to roughly 55 MB; the history grows slowly within the limits you set.
Where is the source code?
On GitHub, under the GPL-3.0-or-later license. The repository includes the full spec, the phased build plan with its acceptance checks, the security limits document, the design system, and the installer scripts.

Install and security

Why does it need administrator access to install?
Because reading network activity from Windows and writing to the protected history database both require it. The installer sets up a background service for that work; the dashboard you actually use runs as your normal account, with no elevation.
Is the installer safe? Why does Windows warn about it?
SmartScreen warns about installers that are not signed with a certificate it already trusts. ZenVizor's installer is not signed yet and the publisher is new, so the warning is expected rather than a sign of trouble. Click More info, then Run anyway. If you would rather verify first, the download page shows how to check the file's fingerprint against the published value.
How do I check the installer I downloaded?
Compare the installer's fingerprint to the value in SHA256SUMS.txt on the release page. In PowerShell: Get-FileHash .\ZenVizorSetup.exe -Algorithm SHA256. The two should match.
How do I uninstall ZenVizor?
Open Settings, go to Apps, find ZenVizor, and click Uninstall. That removes the service, the app, the dashboard, and its shortcut. Your history is kept by default, so a later reinstall picks up where you left off. To erase the history during uninstall, run the installer from an elevated PowerShell with a flag: .\ZenVizorSetup.exe /uninstall REMOVE_DATA=1 /quiet. The shared .NET runtime stays behind either way; remove it through Windows Settings if nothing else needs it.

Privacy and AI

Does ZenVizor send my data anywhere?
No. It is a local app with no account, no sync, and no tracking of any kind. It sends nothing of its own over the network. That is a firm rule in the code, and every release it is checked by pointing ZenVizor at itself and confirming it reports zero traffic from its own parts.
What is the background service for?
It is the only part that reads the network feed and the only part that owns the history database. The dashboard never touches the database directly; it asks the service over a private local channel, not a network connection. Nothing slips past the service to reach your data.
Does ZenVizor use AI?
Not in the app you install. There is no model, nothing running AI inside it, and nothing that calls out to a service. AI did help build it: the code was written with Claude Code, directed and checked at every step by a person. It is a tool that helped make the product, not a part of the product. Because the source is open, you can confirm that yourself.

Coverage and limits