Tux-Dock

A lightweight C++ Docker TUI

Tux-Dock is a modern C++17 Docker terminal frontend built with FTXUI. It gives you a guided, keyboard-first TUI for common Docker operations without memorizing long CLI flags.

Features

Interactive Docker workflows through a single-screen TUI with modal steps.
Picker-based selection (arrow keys + Enter) for containers/images instead of numeric menus.
Busy-operation modals with a spinner and input blocking while Docker work completes.
Rich container display with state and forwarded ports.
Interactive shell handoff with clean terminal clear before/after shell transitions.
Image operations: pull/list/delete with curated quick picks and custom image support.
Docker Engine API access through /var/run/docker.sock for structured list and lifecycle operations.
Direct fork/exec process execution for CLI-backed streaming and interactive commands.
Persistent container listings that retain exited containers.
Robust stop handling with state polling, timeout retry, and idempotent stop responses.
About screen in-app with project/version/repository info.

Build Requirements

C++17 or newer compiler (e.g. g++, clang++)
CMake 3.16+
Docker Engine installed and running

Build & Run

# Clone the repo
git clone https://mentalnet.xyz/forgejo/markmental/tuxdock.git
cd tuxdock

# Configure, build, and test (FTXUI and nlohmann/json are fetched automatically)
./compile.sh

# Run it (requires Docker permissions)
sudo ./build/tux-dock

# Build without running tests
./compile.sh --no-test

# Run tests and serve an HTML 3.2 report on port 8095
./compile.sh --web-test-view

# Override the report server port
./compile.sh --web-test-view 9000

The web report is generated under /tmp and includes exact CTest output, test summaries, Docker integration output, and a text rendition of the TUI flow. It requires nc, netcat, or Nmap's ncat; press Ctrl-C to stop the server. The default port is 8095; pass a port after --web-test-view to override it. --web-test-view --no-test is invalid. Normal test runs include a Docker integration test using debian:forky, so Docker must be available. On systems with 1 GB or less of available memory, the script automatically uses a smaller build configuration and a single build job.

Current TUI actions:

Pull Docker Image
Create Container
List All Containers
List All Images
Start Detached Container Session
Delete Docker Image
Stop Container
Remove Container
Attach Shell to Running Container
Run Detached Command in Container
About Tux-Dock
Exit

Design Overview

Tux-Dock is organized around the TUI, Docker manager, Engine API client, and direct process runner:

Responsibilities

DockerEngineClient
- Talks directly to Docker over the Unix socket.
- Parses HTTP responses, including chunked and bodyless responses.
ProcessRunner
- Executes direct argument vectors using fork and exec.
- Supports captured output and inherited terminal I/O.
DockerManager
- Maps Engine API JSON into application data.
- Performs lifecycle operations and robust stop-state confirmation.
- Preserves cached state when refreshes fail.
TuxDockApp
- Renders the FTXUI interface.
- Manages modal flows (input/select/confirm/message).
- Handles modal flows, busy operations, blocked input, and interactive shell transitions.
- Coordinates end-to-end user flows by calling DockerManager methods.

This split keeps Docker behavior isolated while making UI behavior easier to extend.

Testing

cmake -S . -B build -DBUILD_TESTING=ON
cmake --build build
ctest --test-dir build --output-on-failure

compile.sh runs these tests by default. Pass --no-test to skip them.

About / Version

Version: 0.1.2-beta
Created by: markmental
GitHub: https://github.com/MARKMENTAL/tuxdock
Forgejo: https://mentalnet.xyz/forgejo-v2/markmental/tuxdock

License

MIT License — free to use, modify, and share.

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