# Dockge Dockge is a small web UI to manage [[Docker Compose]] stacks. It's made by Louis Lam, the author of Uptime Kuma, and it's [[Open Source]] (MIT license), built with [[TypeScript]] on [[Node.js]]. Its big idea is simple: your compose files stay YOUR files. Each stack is a folder with a `compose.yaml` (and a `.env`) in a stacks directory (`/opt/stacks` by default). Dockge reads them, lets you edit them, and runs `docker compose` on them. No database of stacks, no proprietary format. Stop Dockge, and everything keeps running. You can still `cd` into the folder and use the CLI as usual. ## What it does - Create, edit, start, stop, restart and delete compose stacks - Pull new images and update a stack in one click - Interactive YAML editor, plus a web terminal - Live progress output while pulling and starting containers - Converts `docker run` commands into a `compose.yaml` (really handy with READMEs that only give a `docker run` command) - Manages stacks on other Docker hosts through other Dockge instances (multi-agent support, since 1.4) The UI listens on port 5001 by default. The stacks directory is configurable with the `DOCKGE_STACKS_DIR` environment variable. ## Limitations Dockge is focused. It manages stacks, and that's about it. There's no real image, volume or network management, no users and roles, and no Kubernetes. Development has also slowed down: the last release (1.5.0) dates back to early 2025. It works, but don't expect new features. ## My take For a single [[Virtual Private Server (VPS)]] where everything is already a compose project, Dockge is the closest thing to [[Portainer]] that doesn't change how you work. You can point it at an existing layout (e.g., one folder per service) and get a UI on top, without migrating anything. If you want more (images, volumes, auto-updates, SSO), look at [[Arcane]]. Same warning as for every tool of this kind: Dockge mounts the Docker socket, so access to its UI is root access to the host. Keep it on localhost and reach it through [[Tailscale]] or an SSH tunnel ([[Secure Shell (SSH)]]). ## References - https://github.com/louislam/dockge - https://dockge.kuma.pet/ ## Related - [[Portainer]] - [[Arcane]] - [[Coolify]] - [[LazyDocker]] - [[Docker]] - [[Docker Compose]] - [[Self-hosting]] - [[Virtual Private Server (VPS)]]