Bulkhead

Bulkhead is a macOS-native UI for managing Docker containers. Built with SwiftUI, it offers a clean, responsive interface for inspecting, starting, stopping, and exploring containers — no terminal required.

Features

• Visual Browsing: Separate views for Docker Containers and Images using a consistent master-detail layout.
• Inspection: View detailed metadata, mounts, ports, environment variables, image layers, and raw JSON inspection results.
• Historical Log Viewer: Display past container logs (with ANSI color support) in a separate window. Real-time streaming is planned.
• Filesystem Browser: Navigate the filesystem of running containers (read-only).
• Keyboard Navigation: Robust focus management and keyboard shortcuts (arrows, escape, enter) for navigating lists and interacting with search, mimicking native macOS behavior.
• Search: Filter containers (by name, image, status) and images (by tag, ID).

Technical Highlights

• Native macOS: Built entirely with SwiftUI for a responsive, platform-integrated feel.
• Direct Docker API Access: Communicates directly with the Docker daemon via its Unix socket (no CLI dependency). Automatically detects and supports:
  • Docker Desktop (/var/run/docker.sock)
  • Colima (~/.colima/docker.sock)
  • Rancher Desktop (~/.rd/docker.sock)
• Structured Error Handling: Comprehensive DockerError system with localized descriptions and recovery suggestions.
• Clean Architecture: Separation of concerns with distinct DockerExecutor (low-level API), DockerManager (app state/coordination), and UI layers.

Current Limitations

• Management Actions Pending: Creating, deleting, restarting, or renaming containers, and pulling or deleting images are not yet implemented.
• Read-Only Filesystem: The filesystem browser currently only allows viewing; file uploads/downloads are planned.
• Historical Logs Only: The log viewer shows past logs but does not yet stream logs in real-time.

Planned Features

See TODO.org and SPEC.md for a detailed breakdown of planned features and the current specification, including:

• Full container and image lifecycle management
• Real-time log streaming with search/filtering
• Filesystem modification capabilities
• Advanced search options
• Docker Compose integration