Anso
f599110386
The separate saelix/sencho-mesh sidecar container is gone. The
forwarder logic that previously lived in mesh-sidecar/src/forwarder.ts
moves into the Sencho process as backend/src/services/MeshForwarder.ts,
a thin per-port net.Server lifecycle wrapper. MeshService implements
the host interface and owns resolve plus splice; MeshForwarder owns
listener boilerplate. One container per node, no separate image to
publish, no control WebSocket.
Operator-facing change: the Sencho container now runs in
network_mode: host so the forwarder can bind alias ports on the host
network where meshed containers' extra_hosts host-gateway entries
point. Without host network mode the listeners would land in the
container's namespace and inbound traffic from peers would never
reach them. The 1852:1852 port publish becomes a no-op under host
mode and is commented out in the operator template.
Same-node forward path now dials the target container's bridge IP
via Dockerode (preferring the compose default network for
deterministic selection across daemon versions) instead of 127.0.0.1.
The legacy 127.0.0.1 path only worked when the target service
published its port to the host; the IP path works regardless.
Cross-node mesh routing in this phase is central -> pilot direction
only via PilotTunnelManager.openTcpStream. Pilot -> central and
pilot <-> pilot via central relay land in Phase B with the
tcp_open_reverse frame.
Deletions:
- mesh-sidecar/ package entirely (Dockerfile, package, sources, tests)
- backend/src/websocket/meshControl.ts
- MeshService sidecar lifecycle: spawnSidecar, stopSidecar,
isSidecarRunning, mintSidecarToken, verifySidecarToken,
attachSidecarSocket, handleSidecarResolve, sendSidecar
- POST /api/mesh/nodes/:id/sidecar/restart route
- /api/mesh/control WS dispatch in upgradeHandler
Type cleanup: 'sidecar' literal removed from MeshActivitySource and
MeshProbeResult.where (also the frontend mirror). MeshNodeStatus
sidecarRunning becomes localForwarderListening (boolean | null) so
non-local nodes get a null instead of an unconditional false; the
honest semantic is "this view only knows the local forwarder state;
remote forwarder status lands in Phase B." MeshNodeDiagnostic
sidecar object becomes forwarder { listening, listenerCount }.
Frontend MeshDiagnosticsSheet drops the restart-sidecar action and
sidecar liveness card; surfaces forwarder state plus a "runs
in-process; no separate container" caption.
Resolves audit findings C-1 (data plane non-functional), C-2 (sidecar
control WS not loopback-enforced), C-4 (sidecar lifecycle Dockerode-
on-remote, PR #999 closed), and C-5 (saelix/sencho-mesh:latest
unreachable). C-3 (PR #992) is unchanged. M-12 (PR #994) is
unchanged.
Self-hosted Docker Compose management for one machine or a fleet.
Docs · Website · Discussions · Sponsor
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
- Auto-heal policies for failed containers
- Auto-update policies for image rollouts
- Scheduled operations on cron
- Blueprints: declarative fleet templates with drift detection
- Webhooks on stack lifecycle events
- Encrypted Fleet Secrets pushed to labeled nodes
Security
- SSO: custom OIDC, presets for Google, GitHub, and Okta, plus LDAP and Active Directory
- Two-factor authentication with TOTP and backup codes
- RBAC with admin, editor, and viewer roles
- Vulnerability scanning via Trivy with VEX-based suppression and SARIF export
- Private registries and deploy enforcement for non-compliant images
- API tokens for automation
Operations
- Host console in the browser
- Sencho Cloud Backup for off-site stack archives
- Notification routing to Slack, Discord, email, and webhooks
- Global search across stacks, containers, and services
- Resources view for images, volumes, and networks with scoped prune actions
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
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Documentation, community, and license
- Documentation: docs.sencho.io
- Community: GitHub Discussions
- Contributing: CONTRIBUTING.md
- Security: SECURITY.md. Do not open public issues for security vulnerabilities.
- License: Business Source License 1.1. Free for production use; the only restriction is offering Sencho as a competing hosted or managed service. Converts to Apache 2.0 on 2030-03-25.