tinyserve - Local Host Manager for Mac

Why tinyserve?

⚡

Zero Port Forwarding

Uses Cloudflare Tunnel for secure remote access. No need to open ports on your router.

🚀

Staging-First Deploys

Non-destructive deployments with automatic health checks and rollback on failure.

📦

Docker Native

Manages Docker Compose services with Traefik as a reverse proxy. Simple and familiar.

🍏

macOS-First

Built specifically for Mac mini as a home server. Integrates with launchd for startup.

🛠

REST API + CLI

Full REST API with embedded web dashboard. CLI for quick terminal access.

🔒

Self-Contained

All state stored locally in ~/Library/Application Support/tinyserve. You own your data.

So you bought a new Mac?

Get your home server running in minutes.

Install dependencies

Install Homebrew, Xcode Command Line Tools, and a Docker runtime.

# Install Xcode Command Line Tools
xcode-select --install

# Install Homebrew (if not already installed)
/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

# Install Colima (lightweight Docker runtime for macOS)
brew install colima docker docker-compose
colima start
        

Install tinyserve

Install tinyserve via Homebrew tap.

brew install tinyserve/tap/tinyserve

Initialize with your domain

Run the init command with your domain and Cloudflare API token. This creates your tunnel automatically.

# Start the daemon
tinyserved &

# Initialize with your domain
tinyserve init --domain yourdomain.com \
  --cloudflare-api-token $CF_API_TOKEN \
  --tunnel-name home-server
        

Add your first service

Add a service and deploy it. tinyserve handles the routing, SSL, and tunnel configuration.

# Add a simple whoami service
tinyserve service add --name whoami \
  --image traefik/whoami:v1.10 \
  --hostname whoami.yourdomain.com \
  --port 80

# Deploy all services
tinyserve deploy

# Check status
tinyserve status
        

Set up auto-start (optional)

Configure the daemon to start automatically when your Mac boots.

# Enable tinyserved as a launch agent
brew services start tinyserve
        

Quick Reference

tinyserve status Show daemon health, proxy status, and service count

tinyserve service list List all services with their status and metadata

tinyserve service add --name NAME --image IMG --hostname HOST --port PORT Add a new service with Docker image and hostname

tinyserve deploy Deploy all services with health checks and auto-rollback

tinyserve logs --service NAME View logs for a specific service

tinyserve rollback Restore last known-good configuration