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Agent guidance

ScaleTail is a collection of Docker Compose stacks. Each directory in services/ is one stack, which usually runs a self-hosted application behind a Tailscale sidecar container.

Where the rules live

Before you edit

  • Read the service's compose.yaml, .env, and README, including "Deviations from the standard setup".
  • Confirm ports, commands, volumes, variables, and health checks in the image's upstream docs.
  • Preserve documented exceptions. Some stacks use other Compose service keys or container names, and other containers or .env values refer to those names.
  • Keep changes focused on the requested service or documentation.
  • Apply the rules to new stacks and to the parts of an existing stack that you change. Existing stacks are brought in line over time, so do not fix the rest of a stack unless that is the task.

Files that change together

  • Add, rename, or remove a service: the services/<name>/ directory and its row in the root README.md. Insert a new row in alphabetical order by the bold name, and leave the other rows alone.
  • Make existing users act, such as with a new required secret, a moved volume, or a changed SERVICE: add an "Upgrading" section to the service README. SERVICE also names the Tailnet device, the containers, and most data folders.
  • Change the template: also update documentation/standard-setup.md and CONTRIBUTING.md where they describe the same setting. Validate it from templates/service-template/ with SERVICE=dummy IMAGE_URL=dummy docker compose config --quiet, because the template leaves both values empty.

Secrets and local data

  • Every .env file is tracked and published. Never commit an auth key, password, token, or other credential.
  • Leave each secret empty in .env. When the stack cannot start without it, read it in compose.yaml as ${VAR:?Set VAR in .env}, and add a # Required: comment above it in .env that says what to set, such as how to generate it. Keep TS_AUTHKEY optional, because only the first start needs it.
  • Start test stacks from a copy outside the repository, such as cp -R services/<name> /tmp/<name>, and put real values only in the copy. A running stack writes ./config, ./ts/state (with the device key), and its data folders next to compose.yaml.
  • Before you commit, run git status and stage only the files you meant to change.

Verification

From each changed service directory, validate Compose. The command gives each required variable a dummy value, as CI does, so you do not edit .env:

env $(grep -ohE '\$\{[A-Za-z0-9_]+:\?' compose.yaml .env | sed -E 's/^\$\{//; s/:\?$/=dummy/' | sort -u) docker compose config --quiet

It must exit with status 0. CI fails on "variable is not set" warnings.

From the repository root, lint all Markdown with the rumdl version that .github/workflows/linting.yml pins in its version: input, and check your changes for whitespace errors:

version=$(sed -nE 's/.*version: "([0-9.]+)".*/\1/p' .github/workflows/linting.yml)
uvx "rumdl@$version" check --config .markdownlint.yml .
git diff --check origin/main

Without uv, download that version from the rumdl releases and run rumdl check --config .markdownlint.yml ..

Lint the whole tree, because renaming a service breaks a link in the root README.md. git diff --check origin/main also covers staged and committed changes, but not untracked files, so stage new files first. In a fork, compare with the main branch of this repository instead, for example upstream/main.

When you have an auth key, start the copied stack and test its main function through the Tailnet. Run each health check command in its container with docker exec.

Report the checks you ran. State any checks that credentials, hardware, permissions, or unavailable tools prevented.

Pull requests

  • Title the pull request Service: what changes, such as Umami: new service. For several services, list them or use All services:. For other areas, use CI:, Docs:, or Template:.
  • Fill in the pull request template. Maintainers apply the labels.