Tribe Launcher

A cross-platform desktop application (Linux · macOS · Windows) that manages your entire Tribe Framework Docker stack from a single window.

What it does

• Checks for Docker on startup — links to the installer if missing
• Starts / stops / restarts all docker-compose services with one click
• Embedded browser — opens Tribe (port 12000) and lets you navigate to any service without leaving the app
• Live log streaming — watch docker compose up output in real time
• Per-service logs — tail logs for any individual container
• Health polling — status indicators update every 5 seconds
• System tray — keeps running in the background
• Reads your .env — respects custom port variables automatically

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Prerequisites

Requirement	Notes
Docker Desktop (macOS / Windows)	Or Docker Engine + Compose plugin on Linux
Your docker-compose.yml project folder	The Tribe Framework project

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Running from source (development)

# 1. Clone / download this launcher into your Tribe project root
#    (same directory as docker-compose.yml)

# 2. Install dependencies
npm install

# 3. Start
npm start

The app expects docker-compose.yml to live in the same directory as the executable (or the project root when running from source).

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Building distributable installers

# macOS (DMG + ZIP for x64 and Apple Silicon)
npm run build:mac

# Windows (NSIS installer + portable EXE)
npm run build:win

# Linux (AppImage + .deb + .rpm)
npm run build:linux

# All platforms at once (requires macOS host for full build)
npm run build:all

Outputs land in the dist/ folder.

Cross-platform note: Building the Windows installer on Linux/macOS requires Wine. Building the macOS DMG on Linux is not supported by electron-builder. The recommended approach is to build on the target OS, or use a CI system like GitHub Actions.

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Project layout

launcher/
├── src/
│   ├── main.js        ← Electron main process (Docker orchestration)
│   ├── preload.js     ← Secure IPC bridge
│   └── renderer/
│       ├── index.html ← App UI
│       └── renderer.js← UI logic
├── assets/
│   ├── icon.png       ← 512×512 app icon
│   ├── icon.icns      ← macOS icon (generated from icon.png)
│   └── icon.ico       ← Windows icon (generated from icon.png)
├── package.json
└── README.md

Place this entire folder inside your Tribe project root (next to docker-compose.yml), or set the TRIBE_PROJECT_DIR environment variable to point to your project.

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Environment variables

Variable	Default	Description
TRIBE_PROJECT_DIR	Executable directory	Override the docker-compose project path

All port variables (TRIBE_PORT, PHPMYADMIN_PORT, etc.) are read from your project's .env file automatically.

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Generating icons

# macOS: use iconutil or a tool like icon-gen
npx icon-gen -i assets/icon.png -o assets/ --icns --ico

# Or use https://www.icoconverter.com for a quick .ico

A placeholder icon.png is included. Replace it with your own 512×512 PNG.

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License

MIT