Docker TUI

A single-binary Docker terminal UI built with Go + Bubble Tea.

Screenshot

Features

• View all Docker containers
• View Docker volumes
• Fuzzy search containers, volumes, and snippets
• Vim-style navigation: j/k, g, G
• Filter running containers only
• Multi-select containers with visible [x] markers
• Start selected containers or all containers
• Stop selected containers or all running containers
• Delete selected/current containers with confirmation
• Show container port mappings and live memory usage for running containers
• Show volume mountpoints, attached containers, and a contents preview of where data is stored
• Save selected containers as named snippets

Docker does not let you change published ports on an existing container in-place. The TUI now shows port mappings clearly and reminds you that port changes require recreating the container with new -p / -P settings. - Snippets store container names and can run: - docker start <name1> <name2> ... - docker stop <name1> <name2> ... - Snippet browser supports: - fuzzy search - multi-select - start selected/current snippet containers - stop selected/current snippet containers - delete selected/current snippets - delete all snippets - In-TUI container shell - Container logs viewer with latest-first open, keyboard/mouse scrolling, search, match navigation, horizontal scrolling, fullscreen mode, and colored log levels - Docker command palette with autocomplete - Detects and reports when Docker is not running - Single binary output

Requirements

You need:

• Go 1.26+
• Docker CLI installed and available in PATH
• Docker daemon/service running
• make (optional, only if you want to use the Makefile targets)

Go dependencies are fetched automatically from go.mod:

• github.com/charmbracelet/bubbletea
• github.com/charmbracelet/bubbles
• github.com/charmbracelet/lipgloss
• github.com/creack/pty

Build from source

Manual build

go mod tidy
go build -o docker-tui .

This produces a single local binary:

./docker-tui

Build with Makefile

Build the local binary:

make build

This creates:

./docker-tui

Run it directly:

./docker-tui

Or build and run with Makefile:

make run

Useful Make targets:

make build               # build local binary at ./docker-tui
make run                 # build and run
make tidy                # tidy go modules
make test                # run tests
make clean               # remove local and release binaries
make release             # build all release binaries in dist/
make release-linux-amd64 # rebuild dist/docker-tui_linux_amd64
make release-linux-arm64 # rebuild dist/docker-tui_linux_arm64

make build only refreshes ./docker-tui. It does not update dist/. If you are testing on Linux or WSL, rebuild the release binary with make release-linux-amd64 (or make release) before running dist/docker-tui_linux_amd64.

Release binaries

Create release binaries with:

make release

This generates binaries in dist/:

• docker-tui_darwin_arm64
• docker-tui_darwin_amd64
• docker-tui_linux_amd64
• docker-tui_linux_arm64

Platform note

• macOS binaries do not run on Linux or WSL
• for Linux use a linux_* binary
• for WSL use the Linux binary, typically:
• dist/docker-tui_linux_amd64

So no separate WSL-only binary is needed.

Run

./docker-tui

Main keys

• j/k or arrow keys: move
• g / G: jump to top / bottom
• /: focus fuzzy search
• v: switch between containers and volumes
• tab: toggle all/running filter for containers
• space: select/unselect current container
• a: select/unselect all visible containers
• x: start selected containers, or all containers if none selected
• s: stop selected containers, or all running containers if none selected
• d: delete selected containers, or current container if none selected, with confirmation
• S: save selected containers as a snippet
• p: open snippet browser
• P: show a reminder that Docker port mappings on existing containers must be changed by recreating the container
• Enter: open interactive PTY shell for selected running container inside the TUI, or refresh the selected volume preview in volumes view
• l: show logs for selected container
• f: toggle log follow mode
• :: open Docker command palette with autocomplete
• ?: show/hide keyboard help
• r: refresh containers and volumes
• q: quit

Snippet workflow

Save a snippet

1. Select multiple containers with space
2. Press S
3. Enter a snippet name
4. Press Enter

The snippet stores the selected container names.

Open snippet browser

Press:

p

Snippet browser keys

• /: search snippets with fuzzy search
• esc: leave search, then close browser
• j/k: move
• space: mark/unmark current snippet
• a: mark/unmark all visible snippets
• e: edit the current snippet in a popup, including renaming it and updating its container list
• x: run docker start for selected snippets, or current snippet if none selected
• s: run docker stop for selected snippets, or current snippet if none selected
• d: delete selected snippets, or current snippet if none selected, with confirmation
• D: delete all snippets, with confirmation
• inside the edit popup: tab switches between the name field and container list, space toggles the highlighted container, a toggles all, enter saves, esc cancels
• after d or D: tab or ←/→ switches Yes/No, enter confirms selected option, esc cancels

Logs

To view logs:

1. Select a container
2. Press l

When logs open:

• it opens focused on the logs pane
• it shows the latest logs first
• the logs pane is highlighted as the active pane
• you can toggle a fullscreen logs view with z

Inside logs view:

• j/k or arrow keys: scroll logs vertically
• h/l or left/right keys: scroll logs horizontally
• mouse wheel: scroll logs vertically
• drag with mouse in logs pane: select log text
• y: copy selected log text to clipboard
• c: clear selected log text
• ctrl+u / ctrl+d: page up / page down
• g / G: jump to top / bottom
• /: search logs
• n / N: next / previous search result position
• z: toggle fullscreen logs pane
• enter in search: keep search and return to logs navigation
• esc: leave search, or leave logs if search is not active
• f: toggle follow mode for latest logs
• log levels like ERROR, WARN, INFO, DEBUG, TRACE are colorized
• selected log text can be copied on macOS, Linux, and WSL
• enter or esc: return from logs view

In-TUI shell

To open a shell inside the TUI:

1. Select a running container
2. Press Enter

Inside shell view:

• it uses a real PTY-backed interactive shell via docker exec -u 0 -it ...
• shell state is preserved properly (cd /, history, tab completion inside the container shell, etc.)
• the shell pane includes an embedded cursor/terminal viewport inside the TUI
• commands run as root inside the container
• ctrl+q: close the shell and return to the TUI
• space: works normally inside the shell
• esc: is passed through to the shell
• ctrl+l: clears inside the shell

Snippet storage

Snippets are stored at:

~/.config/docker-tui/snippets.json