watchtower-podman 1.18.0

Podman update and multi-node website deployment automation

WatchTower

Turn a computer you already own into your personal cloud.
Point WatchTower at your GitHub repo and your website is live — database, backups, and a private URL included — on hardware you control, for $0/month.
When something breaks, it fixes itself — or tells you exactly what's missing and how to fix it.
Rootless Podman · private over Tailscale · built for people, not DevOps teams.

Website · How it works · Pricing · Download

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Why WatchTower is different

Coolify, Dokploy, Umbrel, and CasaOS all let you self-host apps. None of them fix a broken deploy for you. WatchTower does.

• 🩹 Self-healing deploys — when a deployment fails (port conflict, registry flake, OOM, compile error…), WatchTower classifies the cause, applies a fix, and retries — automatically. What it can't safely auto-fix, it queues for you with an AI root-cause analysis. Autonomy is a global switch (default off) with a thrash guardrail, so it never fixes recklessly.
• 🖥️ Your PC, not a rented VPS — designed to run on the machine you already have. No monthly server bill.
• 🔒 Rootless & private by default — Podman-first (no root Docker daemon), reachable over your own Tailscale tailnet — nothing exposed to the public internet.
• 🗄️ Batteries included — one-click managed databases (Postgres/MySQL/MariaDB/Mongo/Redis) with auto-wired connection strings and scheduled backups, plus GitHub-push deploys and an app catalog.
• 🔓 Open-core — Apache 2.0 + ELv2. Self-host it forever; no lock-in.

Different from containrrr/watchtower (a Docker image auto-updater). This WatchTower is a full self-hosted deploy + database + self-heal control plane for Podman.

Quick start

Desktop app (easiest)

Grab the installer for your platform from Releases:

Platform	Install
macOS (12+)	Download the .dmg (arm64 for Apple Silicon, x64 for Intel), drag into Applications
Linux	Download the .AppImage, then chmod +x WatchTower-*.AppImage && ./WatchTower-*.AppImage — or use the .deb
Windows	Download and run the .exe installer

The app is self-contained — it bundles Python and the web UI, stores data in ~/.watchtower/, and auto-updates from GitHub Releases.

macOS first launch: builds aren't yet signed with an Apple Developer ID, so right-click the app → Open → Open (one time only). If it still won't start, use browser mode below — same UI, no Electron wrapper.

From source (30 seconds)

git clone https://github.com/sinhaankur/WatchTower.git
cd WatchTower
./run.sh

run.sh sets up everything on first run (venv, npm install, frontend build) and opens the app — Electron if a display is available, otherwise the browser at http://127.0.0.1:8000. Also: ./run.sh browser | desktop | stop | logs | update.

Requirements: Python 3.8+, Node 18+. Podman is optional and WatchTower offers to install it for you when needed.

No clone (pipx)

pipx install watchtower-podman
watchtower-deploy serve --host 127.0.0.1 --port 8000

Docker

export WATCHTOWER_API_TOKEN="change-this-token"
docker compose -f docker-compose.app.yml up -d --build

Open http://127.0.0.1:8000 and sign in with the token. HA setup: deploy/docker-compose.ha.yml.

What's inside

Deploy from GitHub	Push-to-deploy via webhooks, PR previews, rollbacks, build logs, deploy to this PC or remote nodes over SSH
Managed databases	Postgres, MySQL, MariaDB, Mongo, Redis as rootless Podman pods — auto-wired DATABASE_URL, scheduled backups, adopt-existing
Self-healing	Failure classifier + auto-fix-and-retry + human approval queue with AI root-cause analysis (bring your own LLM — Ollama, LM Studio, any OpenAI-compatible endpoint)
Private remote access	Built-in Tailscale integration — reach your server from anywhere, expose nothing; go public via Cloudflare when ready
Container manager	Full rootless Podman container/pod management UI, plus the classic health-aware image auto-updater (watchtower start)
Team & governance	GitHub sign-in, org roles, append-only audit log, encrypted secrets

How WatchTower compares

	WatchTower	Coolify	Dokploy	Umbrel / CasaOS
Deploy from GitHub	✅	✅	✅	partial (app store)
One-click managed databases	✅	✅	✅	✅
Self-heals a failed deploy	✅	❌	❌	❌
Runs on your own PC (not a VPS)	✅	VPS-first	VPS-first	✅
Rootless (no root Docker daemon)	✅ (Podman)	❌ (root Docker)	❌	❌ (Docker)
Private by default (Tailscale)	✅ built-in	add-on	add-on	add-on
Desktop app	✅	❌	❌	❌

The differentiator is the third row. Everyone lets you self-host apps; only WatchTower diagnoses and fixes a broken deploy on its own. It's built to run unattended on the machine you already own, rootless, without exposing anything to the internet.

(Comparison reflects public feature sets as of mid-2026. WatchTower is younger than Coolify — it wins on the self-heal + rootless-PC angle, not on breadth or years of hardening.)

Docs & guides

Topic	Where
What's new	CHANGELOG · Releases
Quick reference	docs/QUICK_REFERENCE.md
Container auto-update service (config + troubleshooting)	docs/CONTAINER_UPDATE_SERVICE.md
Tiny local LLMs for self-heal analysis	docs/TINY_LLM_GUIDE.md
High availability	docs/HA_PODMAN_WATCHTOWER.md
WatchTower vs Vercel	docs/VERCEL_ALTERNATIVE.md
Security hardening	docs/SECURITY_HARDENING.md
Examples	docs/EXAMPLES.md
Releasing (maintainers)	docs/RELEASING.md · RELEASE_QUALITY.md

Development

pytest tests/                     # backend test suite
npm --prefix web run lint         # frontend lint (0 warnings allowed)
npm --prefix web run build        # typecheck + production build
npm --prefix web test             # frontend smoke tests

Architecture notes live in CLAUDE.md; contributions are welcome — see CONTRIBUTING.md.

Roadmap

• Broader Docker parity and runtime features
• Windows and macOS container-service depth
• Richer notification integrations
• Enhanced monitoring/metrics integrations
• Stronger rollback and scheduling controls

License

WatchTower is dual-licensed — pick the option that matches how you'll use it:

• Free (default): Apache 2.0 outside pro/ + Elastic License 2.0 inside pro/. Use it for self-hosting, internal commercial use, forks, audits, and contributions. Free forever.
• Commercial License (template): paid option for resellers / SaaS hosts / OEM embedders / regulated environments that need a written agreement, defined SLA, or removable attribution. Email [e-mail] with subject "Commercial License Inquiry". Pricing tiers at https://sinhaankur.github.io/WatchTower/pricing/.

See LICENSING.md for the full breakdown.

Use of a running installation is governed by the Terms of Use, Acceptable Use Policy, and Privacy Policy — accepted in-app at first login. WatchTower is self-hosted: your data stays on your machine and there is no vendor telemetry.

Feedback & support

Trying WatchTower? Tell us where it fights you. Every report — confusing screen, unexplained error, missing feature — directly shapes what gets built next.

• 💬 Start a discussion — questions, ideas, show-and-tell
• 🐛 Report an issue
• 🌐 Website & docs
• ♥ Sponsor the project

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WatchTower performs automated update/deployment operations. Validate in non-production environments first and keep reliable backups before production rollouts.