Docking Station

Docking Station is a web application for discovering, monitoring and updating Docker containers and Docker Compose stacks. It provides a browser UI to view managed stacks, check image versions, and perform updates using the underlying docker compose files.

Key Features

• Automatic discovery of stacks by inspecting service labels and compose config_files to locate docker-compose files.
• Update orchestration using docker compose up --pull always for discovered stack files (attempts to discover accompanying .env files).
• Caching of Docker Hub API queries to mitigate rate limits and a manual refresh option to force cache reloads.
• Built as a two-part app: frontend written with Next.js and a backend API using FastAPI; exposes Swagger UI at /docs for the API.
• Optional auto-updater (disabled by default) with configurable interval and concurrency limits.

Use Cases

• Centralized web UI to monitor multiple local Docker Compose stacks and see which images have updates available.
• Orchestrating controlled updates of stacks by pulling new images and re-deploying via docker compose for home lab or small infra.
• Embedding basic runtime stats (via /api/stats) into personal dashboards or startpages to show number of stacks/services/updates.

Limitations and Considerations

• The auto-updater feature is marked as not tested; users should enable it cautiously and understand the risks of automated container updates.
• Update logic relies on discovering compose files and labels; environments with non-standard labeling or distributed hosts may require manual configuration.
• Docker Hub API rate limits can affect image metadata queries; the project uses caching to reduce queries but may still be impacted on heavy use.
• Requires access to the Docker socket and mounted compose file directories, which has security and deployment implications.

Docking Station is suited for users who want a straightforward web interface to track and update Docker Compose stacks with configurable discovery and caching behavior. It focuses on local or single-host Compose workflows and exposes developer-friendly API docs for integration or automation.