peardock

Decentralized Docker management on the modern Holepunch stack.

Share a public key. Manage containers, stacks, Swarm, logs, terminals, and tunnels over encrypted peer-to-peer connections. No central control plane, no VPN required, and no need to open inbound ports for Docker or the control UI.

Layer	Technology
Transport	HyperDHT (Noise-encrypted P2P)
RPC	protomux-rpc + compact-encoding JSON
Server	Bare standalone binary or Node.js (dockerode)
Client	Electron desktop (preferred) or Pear dev shell
Port tunnels	Holesail (hs://, separate data plane)
License	AGPL-3.0 (same family as Holesail)

Site and docs: peardock.boats · Source: git.ssh.surf/snxraven/peardock · Rolling binaries: releases

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Quick start

One-line installer (recommended)

Interactive installer detects OS/arch, installs a Linux systemd server and/or a desktop client, and pulls artifacts from the rolling release:

curl -fsSL https://install.peardock.boats | bash

Non-interactive:

# Server (Linux → /opt/peardock + peardock.service + docker group)
curl -fsSL https://install.peardock.boats | bash -s -- --server --yes

# Desktop client (Linux or macOS)
curl -fsSL https://install.peardock.boats | bash -s -- --client --yes

# Both
curl -fsSL https://install.peardock.boats | bash -s -- --both --yes

After the server starts, copy the public key from the journal:

sudo journalctl -u peardock -n 80 --no-pager | grep -i 'public key'
# or: sudo systemctl status peardock

Open the desktop client → Add peer:

Paste	Access
Public key only (64 hex)	Viewer (read-only)
Public key + SERVER_SEED	Admin (HMAC proof; seed never stored on disk)
AutoPass invite (from Access → Create invite)	Role granted by the invite — no seed sharing

Clients use a stable DHT identity and auto-reconnect if the link drops.

More detail: docs/OPERATOR.md · peardock.boats/download · peardock.boats/docs/quickstart

Install from source

git clone https://git.ssh.surf/snxraven/peardock.git
cd peardock
npm install          # Node.js ≥ 20
npm run server       # control plane (needs Docker socket)
npm run start:client # Electron GUI (builds electron/app.bundle.cjs then launches)

You should see:

  peardock server ready
  Public key (viewer / read-only by default):
  <64 hex characters>
  Admin: paste public key + SERVER_SEED in the client.
  Operators: create an AutoPass invite from Access (never share SERVER_SEED).

Identity is stored in .env (or /opt/peardock/.env for package installs):

Variable	Meaning
SERVER_SEED	Secret 32-byte seed (admin only — never share with operators)
SERVER_PUBLIC_KEY	Derived public key (safe to share; alone = read-only)
SERVER_KEY	Legacy alias for the seed (still accepted)
PEARDOCK_INSECURE_OPEN_ADMIN	Set 1 only for single-operator dev (everyone is admin)

Pear development shell (optional)

# macOS: ensure pear is on PATH
export PATH="$HOME/Library/Application Support/pear/bin:$PATH"

npm run dev
# or: pear run -d .

Pear may print DEPRECATED: pear run is deprecated (platform-wide). For day-to-day operators, prefer the Electron client from the rolling release or npm run start:client.

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What you get

• Full Engine surface over P2P: containers, images, volumes, networks, compose stacks, logs, stats, terminals, prune, schedules, registry vault
• Docker Swarm UI and RPC (services, nodes, tasks, secrets, configs, scale). On by default; set ENABLE_SWARM=0 to disable
• Holesail tunnels for published ports without firewall holes. On by default; set ENABLE_HOLESAIL=0 to disable. See docs/HOLESAIL.md
• Roles: viewer / operator / admin (default viewer; admin via seed proof or AutoPass invite)
• Multi-peer fleet in one desktop client with reconnect and job tray
• Standalone binaries for six 64-bit hosts (server Bare + client Electron)

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Architecture

shared/              Protocol constants + encodings (client + server)
server/
  server.js          Entry: HyperDHT listen
  core/              Keys, peer registry, audit
  rpc/               PeerSession (protomux-rpc), handler registration
  handlers/          Domain methods (containers, swarm, tunnels, vault, …)
  services/          Docker client, stats, metrics, event stream
  utils/             Validation, rate limit, logging, compose
client/
  connection.js      Single HyperDHT + protomux-rpc link
  manager.js         Multi-server connections + persistence
  api.js             Typed RPC helpers
  holesailLocal.js   Local Holesail client (data plane)
electron/            Electron main / packaged desktop shell
ui/ + app.js + libs/ Desktop UI
assets/              Logos + favicons
peardock-branding/   Master brand package
deploy/              systemd unit
scripts/             install.sh, make, rolling release, healthcheck

Two planes (do not conflate)

Plane	Technology	Purpose
Control	HyperDHT + protomux-rpc	Docker ops, ACL, logs, deploy, stats
Data / tunnels	Holesail	L4 proxy of host:port via hs://

RPC model

Client → server (examples): handshake, ping, listContainers, deployContainer, deployStack, startTerminal, scaleService, createTunnel, …

Server → client pushes: push:containers, push:allStats, push:logs, push:pullProgress, push:buildProgress, push:dockerEvent, push:terminalOutput, …

Defined in shared/protocol.js (PROTOCOL_VERSION negotiated on connect).

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Deployment

1. Host with Docker socket access for the service user (peardock in group docker).
2. Process: installer Bare binary + systemd, or node server/server.js under systemd/pm2.
3. Network: HyperDHT hole punching (UDP when possible). No need to expose Docker TCP or a public control port.
4. Secrets: back up SERVER_SEED. Rotating it changes the public key; clients must reconnect.
5. Client: rolling Electron package, or npm run start:client from source.
6. Security: Noise E2E, rate limits, roles, optional audit and peer allowlist. See docs/THREAT_MODEL.md.
7. Feature flags (defaults): Swarm and Holesail on; plugins off. Opt out with ENABLE_SWARM=0 / ENABLE_HOLESAIL=0.

Canonical systemd unit: deploy/peardock.service (matches what install.sh writes).

[Unit]
Description=peardock HyperDHT Docker control plane
After=network-online.target
Wants=network-online.target
Wants=docker.service

[Service]
Type=simple
WorkingDirectory=/opt/peardock
ExecStart=/opt/peardock/peardock-server
Restart=on-failure
User=peardock
Group=docker
SupplementaryGroups=docker
Environment=NODE_ENV=production
EnvironmentFile=-/opt/peardock/.env
ReadWritePaths=/opt/peardock

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Source-install alternative: ExecStart=/usr/bin/node /opt/peardock/server/server.js.

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Standalone binaries

64-bit only: linux-x64, linux-arm64, darwin-x64, darwin-arm64, win32-x64, win32-arm64.

npm run make                    # all server + client hosts (same as CI)
npm run make:server:linux-x64
npm run make:client:darwin-arm64
# → out/peardock-server-<host>/  and  out/peardock-<platform>-<arch>/

Gitea CI publishes tag rolling on every main build (secret RELEASE_TOKEN). See docs/RELEASE.md.

Asset patterns:

• peardock-server-VERSION-HOST.tar.gz (+ .sha256)
• peardock-client-VERSION-HOST.tar.gz (+ .sha256; macOS includes a .app)

macOS clients from Linux CI are ad-hoc signed. If Gatekeeper blocks: right-click → Open, or xattr -cr ~/Applications/peardock.app. Re-sign: npm run sign:macos -- out/peardock-darwin-arm64/peardock.app.

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Scripts

Command	Description
npm run server	HyperDHT Docker control plane (Node)
npm run start:client	Build client bundle + Electron GUI
npm run dev	Pear desktop shell (dev)
npm test	Unit + integration tests (brittle)
npm run healthcheck	Docker socket health probe
npm run soak / soak:24h	Certification soak against Docker
npm run make	Cross-build all server + client hosts
npm run make:server / make:client	Server-only or client-only builds
npm run sign:macos	Ad-hoc / identity re-sign for .app
npm run release:checksums	Tarball + SHA-256 (+ optional GPG)
npm run release:rolling	Local dry-run helper for rolling publish

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Documentation

Full technical docs live under docs/ (architecture diagrams, protocol, codebase map, server/client deep dives).

Doc	Contents
docs/README.md	Documentation hub + system overview
docs/ARCHITECTURE.md	Design, two planes, session lifecycle, mermaid charts
docs/CODEBASE-MAP.md	Directory and module map
docs/PROTOCOL.md	RPC methods, roles, pushes
docs/SERVER.md	Server internals
docs/CLIENT-UI.md	Client stack and desktop UI
docs/FEATURES.md	Feature catalog
docs/OPERATOR.md	Install, systemd, roles, vault, flags, logging, backup
docs/HOLESAIL.md	Control vs data plane, tunnel RPC, security
docs/THREAT_MODEL.md	Assets, trust boundaries, hardening checklist
docs/RELEASE.md	Host matrix, bare/Electron builds, rolling CI
docs/SBOM.md	SBOM generation, license notes
ROADMAP.md	Feature tracks and status
peardock.boats/docs	Public operator docs mirror

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Configuration (common env)

Variable	Default / notes
SERVER_SEED	Generated on first start if missing
PEARDOCK_DEFAULT_ROLE	viewer (secure default; elevate via seed/AutoPass)
PEARDOCK_ADMIN_KEYS	Comma-separated client public keys treated as admin
PEARDOCK_INSECURE_OPEN_ADMIN	1 only for single-operator dev (everyone admin)
PEARDOCK_PEER_ALLOWLIST	1 to require registered peers
PEARDOCK_AUDIT	1 to append privileged actions to audit log
PEARDOCK_BROWSE_ROOTS	Allowed host paths for file browse
ENABLE_SWARM	On (1); set 0 to disable Swarm RPC
ENABLE_HOLESAIL	On (1); set 0 to disable tunnels
ENABLE_PLUGINS	Off unless 1
PEARDOCK_MAX_TUNNELS	20
LOG_LEVEL / LOG_FORMAT	info / json recommended under journald

Full tables: docs/OPERATOR.md.

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Breaking changes from v1

v1 (legacy)	v2 (current)
Hyperswarm topic = SERVER_KEY	HyperDHT listen on keypair from seed
Share topic hex with clients	Share public key with clients
Raw JSON on duplex streams	protomux-rpc methods + push channels
Monolithic server.js switch	Modular handlers under server/handlers/

Clients and servers are not wire-compatible across major versions.

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License

GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 (AGPL-3.0).

PearDock matches Holesail (also AGPL-3.0). If you modify PearDock and let others interact with it over a network, review AGPL source-offer obligations (AGPL §13). See docs/SBOM.md and peardock.boats/legal/license.

Owned and engineered by HoneyPeer, LLC (DeKalb County, Georgia, USA). Legal: [email protected].