Anso 3d1cf0f8f1 fix(pilot): generate auth_jwt_secret on pilot-agent boot (#997)
Pilot-agent hosts never run the first-run setup wizard, so the wizard
path that normally generates auth_jwt_secret (routes/auth.ts) never
fires. Without that secret, the agent-side loopback auth helper added
in PR #990 (pilot/agent.ts::getLoopbackAuthHeader) returned null at
mint time, no Authorization header was attached on the forwarded
loopback request, and the local Sencho's authMiddleware rejected every
proxied call with 401 "Authentication required". This was reproducible
end-to-end on v0.74.1, .2, and .3.

Add ensurePilotJwtSecret() to bootstrap/startup, called early in
startServer (before LicenseService.initialize, which only reads
system_state and does not touch global_settings, so the order is safe).
When SENCHO_MODE=pilot and global_settings.auth_jwt_secret is empty,
generate 64 random bytes (hex-encoded, matching the wizard's pattern
in routes/auth.ts) and persist. Subsequent boots see the persisted
value and no-op. Outside pilot mode the function is a no-op since the
wizard owns the lifecycle.

The helper is exported so the regression test can exercise the real
function rather than maintaining a hand-mirrored copy. Three vitest
cases cover: first-boot generation, no-op on persisted secret, no-op
in non-pilot mode.

Together with PR #989 (proxy-side bridge dispatch), PR #990 (agent-side
loopback auth injection), PR #992 (cross-node control plane via HTTP
proxy), and PR #994 (local-node mesh-reachable diagnostic), this
completes the central, bridge, agent, local-Sencho HTTP path for
pilot-agent-mode nodes.
2026-05-08 11:59:02 -04:00
2026-05-07 23:44:13 -04:00
2026-05-07 23:44:13 -04:00
2026-03-25 00:40:06 -04:00

Sencho

Self-hosted Docker Compose management for one machine or a fleet.

Docs · Website · Discussions · Sponsor

Latest release Docker Pulls CI License Discussions


Sencho dashboard

What Sencho is

Sencho is for homelab operators, small DevOps teams, and platform engineers who run services on Docker Compose, want a graphical interface without giving up file-on-disk workflows, and need to manage more than one machine without SSH gymnastics or a VPN.

It runs as a single container on your hardware and gives you a UI for the work you currently do over SSH on compose stacks: deploying, editing files, watching logs, restarting containers, browsing volumes, and recovering from failures. Your compose files stay on the host filesystem and remain the source of truth.

A Sencho instance is autonomous. To manage another machine, you install a second Sencho on it and connect them with a long-lived API token; the primary dashboard then acts as a transparent HTTPS proxy across your fleet. There is no SSH and no exposed Docker socket. For nodes behind NAT or strict firewalls, the Pilot Agent establishes a single outbound WebSocket tunnel to the primary, so the remote host opens no inbound port at all.

Most capabilities are free in the Community tier. A few advanced automation and fleet-control features ship in paid tiers; pricing lives at sencho.io/pricing.


Capabilities

Stacks

  • Full Compose lifecycle: create, deploy, restart, stop, pull
  • Monaco editor with diff preview before save and one-click rollback
  • Git-sourced stacks pulled and synced from any repository
  • File explorer for compose, env, and supporting files
  • Stack labels for grouping and bulk operations
  • App Store with LinuxServer.io templates

Observability

  • Aggregated log search and stream across every container in the fleet
  • Live container stats, health checks, and image-update notifications
  • Threshold alerts for CPU, memory, and network
  • Read-only audit log of every action
  • Network topology view of containers, networks, and nodes

Fleet

  • Multi-node management via authenticated HTTP and WebSocket proxy
  • Fleet view with grid and topology layouts
  • Fleet snapshots of compose and env across the fleet
  • Pilot Agent for nodes behind NAT or strict firewalls
  • Node compatibility checks before deploying

Automation

Security

Operations


Quick start

Sencho runs in a single container.

services:
  sencho:
    image: saelix/sencho:latest
    container_name: sencho
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "1852:1852"
    volumes:
      - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock
      - ./data:/app/data
      # 1:1 Compose Path Rule: the host path MUST match the container path
      - /opt/docker:/opt/docker
    environment:
      - COMPOSE_DIR=/opt/docker
      - DATA_DIR=/app/data
docker compose up -d

Open http://your-server:1852 and create your admin account.

Always front Sencho with a TLS-terminating reverse proxy in production. See the self-hosting guide for hardening, environment variables, and reverse-proxy examples.

Run with docker run instead
docker run -d --name sencho \
  -p 1852:1852 \
  -v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock \
  -v sencho_data:/app/data \
  -e COMPOSE_DIR=/opt/docker \
  saelix/sencho:latest

For the full walkthrough, see the quickstart guide.


Adding remote nodes

To manage a second machine, install Sencho on it the same way, then add it from the primary dashboard with its URL and a long-lived API token. The primary proxies authenticated HTTPS and WebSocket requests to the remote instance. No SSH, no exposed Docker socket, no agent process on the remote. Nodes behind NAT or strict firewalls can opt into the Pilot Agent for outbound-only connectivity.

See the multi-node guide for the full token-bearer flow.


Screenshots

Stacks Editor
Fleet Logs

Documentation, community, and license


Contributors

S
Description
Self-hosted Docker Compose management platform. Great for homelabs, small DevOps teams, and platform engineers.
Readme AGPL-3.0 177 MiB
Languages
TypeScript 99.2%
JavaScript 0.4%
CSS 0.3%
Dockerfile 0.1%