Easy Docker Manager

Easy Docker Manager (EDM) is a keyboard-driven terminal application for inspecting Docker containers running on your computer. It uses Urwid for the terminal interface and the Docker Python SDK to read container data.

EDM provides:

• a list of running containers
• recent logs with automatic updates
• container environment variables
• a readable summary of Docker inspection data
• the process list returned by Docker top
• a separate search query for each container tab
• a local JSON configuration file

Demo

Requirements

• Python 3.9 or newer
• Docker installed and running
• permission to access the local Docker daemon

EDM currently supports local Docker only. It accepts the platform's default local connection, Unix sockets, and Windows named pipes. A DOCKER_HOST value using a remote transport such as TCP or SSH is rejected.

[!WARNING] EDM needs access to the local Docker daemon. This is highly privileged access. On Linux, membership in the docker group grants root-level privileges. Give Docker access only to trusted users, and never make the Docker socket world-writable. See Docker's Linux post-installation guidance for supported access options.

Installation

For normal use, install EDM with pipx:

pipx install easy-docker-manager

pipx keeps EDM in its own environment and makes the edm command available from your terminal.

You can also install EDM with pip. Using a virtual environment keeps it separate from other Python packages:

python -m venv .venv

Activate the environment on Linux or macOS:

source .venv/bin/activate

Activate it in Windows PowerShell:

.venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1

Or activate it in Windows Command Prompt:

.venv\Scripts\activate.bat

Then install the package from PyPI:

python -m pip install easy-docker-manager

For work on the source code, follow the development setup.

Running EDM

Run the installed command:

edm

You can also run the Python module directly:

python -m easy_docker_manager.main

Keyboard Controls

While entering a search, press Enter to keep the query and return to detail navigation. Press Esc to keep the query and return to the container list.

Detail Tabs

Each container and tab keeps its own search query:

• Logs treats the query as a case-insensitive regular expression and hides lines that do not match.
• Env, Config, and Top use case-insensitive plain-text search. Matches are highlighted, but no lines are removed.
• An invalid Logs regular expression leaves the log text visible.
• Log regular expressions are limited to 200 characters.

Configuration

EDM uses platformdirs to place config.json in the correct user config directory for the operating system. The file is stored in an EDM folder. Typical locations are:

EDM creates the file on first use. On every later startup, it reads valid settings and rewrites the file using the settings supported by the installed version. Missing settings receive their defaults, and unrecognized or invalid settings are removed.

Application Logs

EDM writes its own application messages to edm.log beside config.json. This file contains EDM errors and diagnostic messages, not container logs. It rotates at 5 MB and keeps three backup files.

These environment variables can change the logging setup:

EDM_LOG_STDOUT is disabled for 0, false, no, or off. Other values enable it. If EDM cannot create the log file, it prints a warning to the terminal and continues to start.

Development Checks

Run the normal formatting, linting, type, and source-security checks:

make check

Useful individual commands are:

make black
make black-check
make ruff
make ruff-fix
make mypy
make bandit
make test
make integration-test
make smoke-test
make pre-commit
make audit
make security
make package-check

make audit checks installed dependencies for known vulnerabilities. It needs Python 3.10 or newer and network access, so it is not part of make check.

make test prints statement and branch coverage after the unit tests finish. make integration-test starts a temporary Alpine container and checks container listing, logs, environment variables, inspection data, and process information. It requires access to a running local Docker daemon. make smoke-test checks package imports, platform paths, notifier selection, and basic startup on the current operating system.

GitHub Actions runs Black, Ruff, mypy, and Bandit once on Python 3.12. It runs the unit tests on Python 3.9 through 3.14, runs the Docker integration tests on Python 3.12, runs wheel smoke tests on Windows and macOS, and verifies the minimum supported runtime dependency versions on Python 3.9. It also checks dependencies and committed secrets, builds the source distribution and wheel, and installs the wheel on every supported Python version. Dependabot checks Python packages and GitHub Actions each week.

Workflow actions are pinned to full commit SHAs so CI always runs the exact reviewed action code instead of a movable version tag. The comment beside each SHA shows its release version, and Dependabot proposes SHA updates when newer releases are available.

See DEVELOPMENT_GUIDE.md for the code structure, runtime flow, and instructions for extending EDM.

Contributing

Bug reports, feature ideas, and code contributions are welcome. Read CONTRIBUTING.md before opening a pull request.

Please report security problems privately by following SECURITY.md. Do not include sensitive vulnerability details in a public issue.

License

Easy Docker Manager is available under the MIT License.