docker-tui

README

⬡ docker-tui

Your Docker host, on one screen.

A fast, keyboard-first terminal UI for Docker. Monitor, inspect, log, and control containers, images, volumes, and networks — without juggling long docker commands.

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⚡ Install in one line

Prebuilt static binaries — no Go, no dependencies. Just a running Docker daemon.

🐧 Linux · 🍎 macOS

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Akib558/docker-tui/main/scripts/install.sh | sh

🪟 Windows (PowerShell)

irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Akib558/docker-tui/main/scripts/install.ps1 | iex

🐹 With Go

go install github.com/Akib558/docker-tui@latest

Then just run:

docker-tui

_{The one-line installers pull the latest release from GitHub. See Installation for manual downloads and building from source.}

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Why docker-tui

Docker's CLI is powerful, but day-to-day container work means repeating the same status checks, log tails, restarts, and inspects. docker-tui folds all of that into one responsive, keyboard-driven screen that feels right at home over SSH.

Instead of…	With docker-tui
docker ps + docker stats in two panes	One live dashboard with CPU/MEM bars and sparklines
A docker logs -f window per service	One merged, color-tagged, filterable log stream
Scrolling walls of docker inspect JSON	Seven labelled, navigable detail tabs
A shell loop to restart a group	Multi-select and one keypress
Remembering prune flags per resource	Guided prune with a confirmation step

Reach for it when you want to:

• See container status, ports, CPU, memory, and Docker host health at a glance.
• Jump from a container list into details, logs, environment, resource history, or a shell.
• Follow logs from one or many containers with stable color labels and filtering.
• Start, stop, restart, kill, pause, and remove containers without leaving the keyboard.
• Manage images, volumes, and networks alongside containers in the same interface.
• Keep a single lightweight binary that works great in terminal-first and SSH workflows.

Features

🖥️ Live container dashboard

• Container list ordered running-first, then by name — active workloads stay on top.
• Live status strip: running / paused / stopped / created counts, plus last-refresh age.
• Inline CPU % and MEM % bars per container, color-graded green → amber → red.
• Host memory and load overview (Linux).
• Persistent CPU/MEM sparklines cached to disk, so short restarts don't erase context.
• Container uptime, restart-count, and health-check status.
• Responsive columns — NAME/STATUS on narrow terminals; IMAGE, CPU, MEM, PORTS, ID, and I/O added as the window widens.
• Adjustable refresh interval, manual refresh, and sort cycling (name → state → CPU → memory → image).

📜 Logs built for real work

• Per-container Logs tab in the detail view.
• Centralized logs across selected containers, or all running containers when nothing is selected.
• Stable per-container color tags so interleaved streams stay readable.
• Severity coloring out of the box (ERROR / WARN / INFO / DEBUG) plus configurable highlight patterns.
• Timestamp-aware ordering, text/regex filtering, and follow mode that pauses when you scroll up.
• Copy a line (y) or export the whole buffer to a file (E).

🔍 Deep container inspection

Seven tabs per container — no more piping docker inspect through jq:

• Info — identity, runtime, resource limits, ports, mounts, networks, and compose labels.
• Resources — CPU/memory history graphs.
• Environment — environment variables.
• Logs — the focused per-container log view.
• Terminal — an embedded shell session, in-app.
• Diff — filesystem changes on the container's writable layer.
• Processes — running processes inside the container (docker top).

⚡ Operational controls

• Start, stop, restart, kill, and pause/unpause — one container or a multi-selected group.
• Remove containers, or run docker system prune with a confirmation step.
• Open an external docker exec -it session, or use the embedded terminal tab.
• Command palette (:) for fuzzy access to any action by name.

📦 Full Docker inventory

• Images — list, pull, remove, and prune dangling images.
• Volumes — list, remove, prune orphaned volumes, filter, and multi-select.
• Networks — list, remove, filter, and multi-select.

🔔 Notifications & 🎨 ergonomics

• Persistent notification center (N) for every action result and connection event.
• CPU/memory threshold alerts.
• Ten built-in themes, switchable at runtime (t).
• Keyboard-first navigation with mouse support; responsive layout for any terminal size.
• JSON config for refresh interval, alert thresholds, theme, and stable log colors.

Screenshots

Centralized logs — merge, color-tag, filter, and follow many containers at once

Detail view — seven tabs of everything docker inspect knows

Installation

One-line installers (recommended)

See Install in one line above. The scripts detect your OS and architecture, download the matching release archive, and drop the binary onto your PATH (~/.local/bin on Linux/macOS, %LOCALAPPDATA%\docker-tui\bin on Windows).

Pre-built binaries

Download an archive for your platform from GitHub Releases (Linux, macOS, and Windows for amd64 and arm64), extract it, and place the docker-tui binary somewhere on your PATH.

Go install

go install github.com/Akib558/docker-tui@latest

Build from source

git clone https://github.com/Akib558/docker-tui.git
cd docker-tui
make build
./docker-tui

Install the locally built binary into your Go bin directory:

make install

Requirements

• Docker daemon running and reachable through the local socket or DOCKER_HOST.
• Terminal with 256-color support.
• Go 1.25 or newer when building from source.

Host memory and load metrics are Linux-specific. Core Docker workflows work on all supported platforms whenever Docker is reachable.

Quick start

docker-tui

1. Move through containers with j / k or arrow keys.
2. Press enter to inspect the selected container.
3. Use tab to move through detail tabs.
4. Press L from the list to open centralized logs.
5. Press / to filter containers or logs.
6. Press s, R, or d to start/stop, restart, or remove containers.
7. Press : to open the command palette, or ? for the full keyboard reference.
8. Press q to quit.

Key bindings

Common

Key	Action
ctrl+c	Quit immediately
q	Quit from list or detail; return from other views
esc	Back, cancel, or exit the current mode
?	Show full keyboard reference
:	Open command palette

Container list

Key	Action
j / k, arrows	Move selection
g / home	Jump to first container
G / end	Jump to last container
enter / l	Open container details
space	Toggle container selection
a	Select or deselect all visible containers
/	Filter by name, image, or state
C	Clear filter
c	Toggle compose grouping
S	Cycle sort mode (name → state → CPU → memory → image)
s	Start or stop selected container(s)
R	Restart selected container(s)
P	Pause or unpause selected container(s)
K	Kill selected container(s)
X	Run docker system prune after confirmation
d	Remove selected container(s) after confirmation
e	Open external docker exec -it shell
L	Open centralized logs
i	Open images view
v	Open volumes view
n	Open networks view
N	Open notification center
+ / -	Increase or decrease refresh interval
r	Force refresh
t	Open theme picker

Detail view

Key	Action
tab / right	Next tab
shift+tab / left	Previous tab
1–7	Jump to Info / Resources / Environment / Logs / Terminal / Diff / Processes
f	Fetch filesystem changes (Diff tab)
p	Fetch process list (Processes tab)
j / k, arrows	Scroll content
pgup / pgdn	Page through content
home / end	Jump to top or bottom; end resumes follow mode
l	Toggle live log streaming (Logs tab)
E	Export log buffer to file (Logs tab)
x	Reconnect embedded shell (Terminal tab)
ctrl+\	Detach embedded shell
s / R / P / K	Start-stop / restart / pause / kill container
d	Remove container after confirmation
e	Open external docker exec -it shell
esc	Return to the container list

Centralized logs

Key	Action
j / k, arrows	Scroll log window
pgup / pgdn	Page through logs
home / end	Jump to oldest or newest; end resumes follow mode
y	Copy selected log line to clipboard
E	Export full log buffer to file
/	Filter by container name or log message
r	Toggle regex mode (while filtering)
ctrl+u	Clear active log filter
esc	Exit filter mode or return to the list

Images

Key	Action
j / k, arrows	Move selection
p	Pull image by reference
P	Prune dangling images after confirmation
d	Remove selected image
r	Refresh image list
esc / q	Return to the container list

Volumes

Key	Action
j / k, arrows	Move selection
space	Toggle volume selection
a	Select or deselect all volumes
d	Remove selected volume(s) after confirmation
p	Prune all orphaned volumes after confirmation
/	Filter by name or driver
ctrl+u	Clear filter
r	Refresh volume list
esc / q	Return to the container list

Networks

Key	Action
j / k, arrows	Move selection
space	Toggle network selection
a	Select or deselect all networks
d	Remove selected network(s) after confirmation
/	Filter by name
ctrl+u	Clear filter
r	Refresh network list
esc / q	Return to the container list

Notification center

Key	Action
j / k, arrows	Navigate notifications
g / G	Jump to oldest / newest
c	Clear all notifications
esc / q	Return to the container list

Configuration

Config file: ~/.config/docker-tui/config.json

{
  "theme": "dark-green",
  "refresh_seconds": 3,
  "alert_cpu": 80.0,
  "alert_mem": 80.0,
  "container_colors": {
    "api": "#00E676",
    "worker": "#7AA2F7"
  }
}

Field	Default	Description
theme	"dark-green"	Active color theme
refresh_seconds	3	List refresh interval, clamped between 1 and 30 seconds
alert_cpu	80.0	CPU alert threshold as a percentage
alert_mem	80.0	Memory alert threshold as a percentage
container_colors	{}	Stable color overrides by exact container ID, exact name, or ID prefix

Runtime history cache: ~/.cache/docker-tui/history.json

Themes

dark-green, dracula, nord, gruvbox, tokyo-night,
catppuccin-mocha, catppuccin-latte, rose-pine, ayu-dark, monokai

Switch themes inside the app with t, select with j / k, then press enter.

Development

make build        # build ./docker-tui
make run          # run from source
make test         # run unit tests
make lint         # run golangci-lint
make coverage     # write coverage.out and coverage.html

Project layout:

config/    Theme definitions and JSON config persistence
docker/    Docker SDK wrapper: containers, images, volumes, networks, events, logs, stats, host metrics
ui/        Bubble Tea model, commands, views, rendering core, themes, dialogs, and helpers
scripts/   Cross-platform install scripts

The CI pipeline runs go vet, race-enabled tests, cross-platform builds, and golangci-lint.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome. Keep pull requests focused, include tests for new behavior, and run the local checks before submitting. See CONTRIBUTING.md.

Security

Please do not open public issues for vulnerabilities. Follow SECURITY.md for responsible disclosure.

License

Licensed under the MIT License. Built with Bubble Tea and Lip Gloss.

_{Not affiliated with Docker, Inc.}