ProjectSencho

DisciplineDeveloper tools · Control plane

Statusv0.4 · in development

Years2024 to present

Docker control,
without the chaos.

Deploy, automate, and secure your Docker infrastructure. All self-hosted and no limits.

Visit sencho.io ↗ Read the case study

01One control plane. Any network.

Automation-first ops
for Docker.

Sencho Dashboard · Deploying stack: web-cluster

[14:32:01] System: Initiating deployment for web-cluster

[14:32:02] ▸ Resolving targets: node-alpha, node-beta, edge-01

[14:32:04] ▸ node-alpha: ✓ Pulled images (saelix/api:v2, saelix/worker:v2)

[14:32:07] ▸ node-alpha: ✓ Recreated containers (api-1, worker-1)

[14:32:08] ▸ node-beta: ! Auto-heal triggered. Restarting failed container (worker-1)

[14:32:15] ▸ node-beta: ✓ Healthy in 6.2s

[14:32:18] ▸ edge-01: ✓ Deployment atomic rollout completed.

✓ Success: 3 nodes updated, 6 containers running. Total time: 17.4s

02Why we built it

Kubernetes felt like
too much, too soon.*

*For most teams shipping to a handful of machines, the orchestration tax is heavier than the orchestration. Sencho is for that gap.

The problem

Compose stops at one host. Everything past that wants a platform.

Docker Compose is the calmest deployment surface that exists. One YAML file, one command, and your services run. The moment you need a second machine, the path forks: bash glue, an Ansible playbook, or the full Kubernetes ecosystem with its operators and helm charts.

Most teams do not need a complex platform. They need Compose, multiplied. They need auto-healing, built-in security scans, and safe atomic deployments, without becoming infrastructure engineers first.

The approach

A flat control plane for your entire fleet.

Sencho is a self-hosted control plane that manages your Docker stacks. You deploy it on your servers, and it orchestrates the rest. Our built-in Pilot Agent connects nodes across any network, requiring no VPN.

It brings atomic rollouts, auto-updates, and scheduled tasks to your infrastructure. You get Kubernetes-level safety without Kubernetes.

03How it works

A self-hosted control plane.

Sencho coordinates deployments, auto-updates, and scans centrally, while Pilot Agents on your hosts handle local tasks.

Declared state · git-versioned YAML Observed state · queried per deploy Reconcile · rolling, host-by-host

04What we shipped

Pillars of
control.

Each capability is something we needed and could not find packaged together. Each one keeps your day-to-day operations hands-off.

Network agnostic

Manage servers anywhere. Sencho's built-in Pilot Agent connects nodes across any network, requiring no VPN to operate your fleet.

target: node-alpha
connection: pilot-agent (NAT)

Self-healing infrastructure

Set your stacks to auto-pilot. Auto-heal policies restart failed containers and auto-update policies handle image upgrades automatically.

policy: auto-heal
status: restarted 2 containers

Safe deployments

Deploy with confidence. Atomic rollouts with instant rollback protect your production environments from bad updates.

deploy: atomic
fallback: rollback on failure

Identity & security

Bring your own SSO, LDAP, and 2FA. Enterprise identity control with scoped RBAC keeps your Docker fleets secure.

auth: okta (OIDC)
rbac: deployer-role

Integrated scanning

Built-in Trivy vulnerability scans, SBOM generation, and CVE filtering stop security surprises before you deploy.

scan: trivy
result: 0 critical CVEs

Fleet backups

Snapshot and restore entire multi-node applications. Fleet-level backups give you peace of mind for critical systems.

schedule: daily
action: snapshot stacks

05Stack

What's under it.

A short list. Boring choices, mostly, the kind that age well. Each picked because it lets us ship a robust product with no surprises.

TypeScript & Node Full-stack type safety from the Express API down to the React frontend. Allows us to share schemas and models across the entire codebase. Core Language

React & Vite Lightning fast UI development. We use React for the complex dashboard views, state management, and real-time WebSocket updates. Frontend

Dockerode Direct integration with the Docker Engine API. We don't shell out to the CLI, ensuring structured JSON responses and reliable container control. Engine

Monaco Editor The same editor that powers VS Code. Gives us syntax highlighting, validation, and multi-file support right in the browser for editing Compose stacks. Editor

Pilot Agent Built-in NAT traversal that eliminates the need for VPNs. Connects remote nodes securely to the control plane. Transport

SQLite (per host) A zero-config database using better-sqlite3. Stores local state, cache, and configuration directly on each node without a dedicated DB server. Database

Origin

Studio Saelix · 2026
The first commit on Sencho.

We were running fourteen services on three machines and writing the same Ansible task for the eighth time. The next deploy, we built a flat control plane instead.

06Where it stands

Numbers as of today.

Sencho runs Saelix's own infrastructure plus a handful of friendly teams. We'll open it broader as the surface settles.

100%

TypeScript Codebase

31s

Average deploy · 12 services

Required VPNs

199+

App Store templates

Continue

The other
practice.

Daicho · bookkeeping for makers ↗ ← Back to studio

Docker control,without the chaos.

Automation-first opsfor Docker.

Kubernetes felt liketoo much, too soon.*