---
title: Introduction
description: The self-hosted Docker Compose control plane for modern homelabs and fleet infrastructure.
---

Sencho gives operators one browser workspace for the Docker Compose projects running on a single host or across a fleet. Use it to deploy stacks, edit configuration, watch health, clean up resources, and coordinate remote operations without dropping into SSH for every change.

A Sencho install can manage its local Docker host directly. It can also manage remote Sencho nodes through direct proxy connections or through the Pilot Agent for environments behind CG-NAT, firewalls, or networks where inbound ports are not available. Remote management does not require SSH access or an exposed Docker TCP socket.

<Frame>
  <img src="/images/introduction/home-overview.png" alt="Sencho Home view with the health masthead, resource gauges, stack health table, Configuration Status, Fleet Heartbeat, and Recent Alerts" />
</Frame>

## Core concepts

These are the main terms you will see across the app and docs:

- **Stack**: A Docker Compose project discovered under `COMPOSE_DIR`. A stack usually has a `compose.yaml` file, optional `.env` files, and any supporting files stored beside it.
- **Node**: A Sencho instance managing one Docker host. The instance you are signed into is the local node; added hosts appear as remote nodes.
- **Fleet**: The set of nodes managed from one Sencho control instance. Fleet views summarize health, updates, snapshots, actions, secrets, and placement state across nodes.
- **Resource**: A Docker image, volume, network, or unmanaged container. Sencho classifies resources as managed, external, system, unused, or protected so cleanup decisions are visible.
- **Blueprint**: A fleet deployment model for keeping a compose template assigned to matching nodes.
- **Pilot Agent**: An outbound connector for remote nodes that cannot accept inbound traffic.
- **Mesh**: Cross-node container networking for fleets that need stable service-to-service hostnames.

## What you see after sign-in

The **Home** view is the default landing page. It is designed for a fast operational read before you touch a stack.

- The status masthead reports **Healthy**, **Degraded**, or **Critical**, names the active node, shows the node count, and lists the signals that need attention.
- The resource gauge strip tracks **CPU**, **Memory**, **Disk**, and **Network** with sparklines and threshold coloring.
- **Stack health** lists the active node's stacks by state and load, with uptime, CPU, memory, and a 10-minute CPU sparkline per stack.
- **Configuration Status** summarizes notifications, automation, security, backups, thresholds, and crash detection. Rows link to the Settings section that controls each item.
- The activity panel shows **Fleet Heartbeat** when remote nodes exist, or **Stack Restarts (7d)** on a local-only install.
- **Recent Alerts** shows the latest notification feed and includes **Clear All Notifications** when there is anything to clear.

The top navigation includes **Home**, **Fleet**, **Resources**, **App Store**, and **Logs** on the standard dashboard surface. Depending on license, role, and node context, it can also include **Auto-Update**, **Schedules**, **Console**, and **Audit**.

## Stack workspace

The left sidebar is the main stack list. Use **Search stacks...** to filter by name, then combine it with the **All**, **Up**, **Down**, and **Updates** chips. The action row contains **Create Stack**, a bulk-mode toggle, and **Scan stacks folder** for importing Compose projects added outside Sencho.

Stacks can be pinned and grouped by label. Each row carries a compact status marker, update indicators, Git source state, and a context menu for common lifecycle and organization actions.

<Frame>
  <img src="/images/introduction/stack-workspace.png" alt="Sencho stack workspace with the stack identity header, action buttons, container health rows, logs, and Anatomy panel" />
</Frame>

Opening a stack gives you the day-to-day workspace:

- The identity header shows the node, stack name, runtime state, primary image, digest, and main action buttons.
- Running stacks expose **Restart**, **Stop**, and **Update**; stopped stacks expose **Start** and **Update**. The overflow menu holds less frequent actions such as rollback, config scan, and delete.
- Container rows show health, uptime, published ports, live CPU and memory, network activity, logs, and service actions.
- The logs panel can run in **Structured** mode or **Raw terminal** mode.
- The right panel switches between **Anatomy** and **Activity**, with **Files** and **Edit** controls for browsing stack files and editing compose or env content.

## Fleet operations

The **Fleet** view is the multi-node command center. The masthead summarizes online nodes, critical nodes, aggregate CPU and memory, container counts, and sync freshness.

<Frame>
  <img src="/images/introduction/fleet-overview.png" alt="Sencho Fleet view with the masthead, tabs, toolbar, grid and topology controls, and node cards" />
</Frame>

The Fleet toolbar includes **Check Updates**, **Refresh**, and **Add node** for admins. The **Overview** tab supports search, sort, status filters, label filters, and a Grid or Topology view. Node cards show online state, resource use, container counts, version state, update actions, and direct drill-down into stacks on that node.

Fleet also provides dedicated tabs for snapshots, node status, blueprint deployments, traffic management, federation, fleet actions, and secrets. Some fleet features require Skipper or Admiral. See [Licensing](/features/licensing) for the full tier breakdown.

## Resources, templates, and logs

The **Resources** view shows what Docker is using on the active node. It starts with reclaimable storage, a Docker Disk Footprint treemap, and **Quick Clean** actions. The tabs below split resources into **images**, **volumes**, **networks**, and **Unmanaged** containers. Filters separate **All**, **Managed**, and **External** resources, and protected Sencho resources are marked so they are not removed accidentally.

<Frame>
  <img src="/images/introduction/resources-overview.png" alt="Sencho Resources view with reclaimable storage, Docker Disk Footprint, Quick Clean, and resource tabs" />
</Frame>

The **App Store** lets you search templates, filter by category, open a deploy sheet, adjust essentials, customize advanced ports, volumes, and environment variables, and deploy a stack with live progress feedback.

The **Logs** view aggregates logs across stacks on the active node. It includes a live masthead, event counters, search, stack filters, stream filters, level filters, pause and resume controls, and download support for the filtered buffer.

## Settings and security

Settings are grouped by **Identity**, **System**, **Alerts**, and **Advanced**. Some sections are global to the control instance, while others are scoped to the active node.

Use Settings to manage account security, licensing, users, SSO, API tokens, host thresholds, node registration, alert delivery, security scanning, template registry settings, diagnostics, and build metadata. The [Configuration](/getting-started/configuration) guide covers the host and environment settings that matter before first deploy.

## Typical workflow

1. Deploy Sencho with access to your compose directory and Docker host.
2. Complete first boot and sign in as the first admin.
3. Confirm the Home view sees your active node, resource gauges, and stack list.
4. Create a stack from the sidebar, from Git, from a Docker Run command, or from the App Store.
5. Open the stack workspace to inspect containers, logs, anatomy, files, and compose content.
6. Add remote nodes from **Fleet** or **Settings · System · Nodes** when you are ready to manage more hosts.
7. Use the rest of the top navigation as your operational needs grow.

## Next steps

<CardGroup cols={3}>
  <Card title="Quickstart" icon="rocket" href="/getting-started/quickstart">
    Deploy Sencho, complete first boot, and open the dashboard.
  </Card>
  <Card title="Configuration" icon="sliders" href="/getting-started/configuration">
    Configure environment variables, storage paths, and host settings.
  </Card>
  <Card title="Stack Management" icon="layer-group" href="/features/stack-management">
    Create, deploy, edit, inspect, update, and remove Compose stacks.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>
