Catalyst

An experimental game server management platform in early testing. Expect breaking changes and instability while core workflows are being validated.

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What is Catalyst?

Catalyst is a complete platform built for enterprise game server hosts, game communities, and billing panel integrations. Manage servers across multiple nodes with container isolation, live console access, automated backups, and fine-grained permissions.

🎯 Perfect for: Enterprise hosts, game communities, Minecraft/Rust/ARK/Hytale servers, billing panel automation

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⚡ 5-Minute Quick Start

Docker Compose (Docker or Podman) is the only supported deployment method. Everything runs in containers — no Node.js, Bun, or Rust install needed on the host.

1. Download & configure

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/catalystctl/catalyst/main/install.sh | bash
cd catalyst-docker
nano .env          # Set PUBLIC_URL at minimum
docker compose up -d

2. Access the panel

Open your PUBLIC_URL in a browser. The first user to register becomes the administrator automatically.

That's it. No build steps, no dependency installation, no manual secret generation (the install script does that for you).

👉 Want more detail? See the Quick Start Guide for the full walkthrough with screenshots, or the Detailed Installation Guide for every option, every edge case, and production hardening.

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Installation Options

Catalyst deploys in three ways. Pick the one that fits you:

Method	Time	Best For
One-Line Install	5 minutes	First-time users, production
Docker/Podman Compose	10 minutes	Users who want full control over TLS, ports, volumes
Build from Source	30+ minutes	Developers contributing to Catalyst

🐳 Docker & Podman

Both Docker Compose and Podman Compose are fully supported. The workflow is identical — just replace docker with podman in every command.

# Docker
docker compose up -d

# Podman (drop-in replacement)
podman compose up -d

🔧 Configuration

All configuration lives in .env. The install script generates it automatically, but you can edit it anytime:

Variable	Required	Default	Description
PUBLIC_URL	✅	—	The URL users access the panel from
POSTGRES_PASSWORD	✅	auto-generated	PostgreSQL password
BETTER_AUTH_SECRET	✅	auto-generated	Session encryption key
FRONTEND_PORT		0.0.0.0:8080	Panel port
BACKEND_PORT		127.0.0.1:3000	API port (localhost-only by default)
SFTP_PORT		0.0.0.0:2022	SFTP file access port

For the complete variable reference, see Environment Variables.

🌐 Production & TLS

For production with automatic HTTPS:

# Caddy — automatic Let's Encrypt
docker compose -f docker-compose.yml -f docker-compose.caddy.yml up -d

# Or Traefik — Docker-native routing
docker compose -f docker-compose.yml -f docker-compose.traefik.yml up -d

See Docker Setup for full TLS, reverse proxy, and hardening details.

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Architecture

                     ┌─────────────────────┐
                     │   Docker Compose     │
                     │                      │
  :80 (panel)  ───► │  Nginx (Frontend)   │
                     │    │  /api  /ws      │
                     │    ▼                 │
                     │  Fastify (Backend)   │──► :3000 (API)
                     │    │                 │──► :2022 (SFTP)
                     │    ▼                 │
  :5432 (internal) ◄─│  PostgreSQL          │
  :6379 (internal) ◄─│  Redis               │
                     └─────────────────────┘

  Game Nodes (separate machines):
  ┌──────────────┐                    ┌──────────────┐
  │  Rust Agent  │◄── WebSocket ─────►│  Backend API │
  │  (containerd)│                    └──────────────┘
  └──────────────┘
       │
       ▼
  ┌──────────────┐
  │  Game        │
  │  Servers     │
  └──────────────┘

Tech Stack:

• Backend: TypeScript 5.9, Fastify, PostgreSQL, WebSocket Gateway
• Frontend: React 18, Vite, TanStack Query, Radix UI
• Agent: Rust 1.70, Tokio, containerd gRPC
• Features: RBAC, SFTP, Plugin System, Task Scheduling, Alerts

👉 Full architecture details

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Key Features

🎮 Complete Server Lifecycle

Create, start, stop, restart, and transfer servers with automatic crash detection and recovery.

📊 Real-Time Monitoring

Live console streaming via WebSockets (<10ms latency), resource metrics, and customizable alerts.

🔐 Enterprise Security

RBAC with 20+ granular permissions, API key authentication with rate limiting, audit logging, TLS support.

🔌 Powerful Plugin System

Extend functionality with custom backend plugins, API routes, WebSocket handlers, and scheduled tasks.

📁 File Management

Web-based file editor, SFTP access, upload/download with path validation, and automated backup/restore.

🤖 API-First Design

60+ REST endpoints with billing panel integration examples (WHMCS, Python, Node.js).

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Screenshots

All screenshots are captured automatically at 1080p via Playwright. See how to regenerate them.

Authentication

User Panel

Admin Panel

📁 View all screenshots (41 files)

Auth (3)

• Login · Register · Forgot Password

User (18)

• Dashboard · Profile · Servers
• Server Console · Files · SFTP
• Backups · Tasks · Databases
• Metrics · Alerts · Mod Manager
• Plugin Manager · Configuration · Users
• Settings · Admin Tab

Admin (20)

• Dashboard · Users · Roles
• Servers · Nodes · Templates
• Database · Network · System
• Security · Theme Settings · Alerts
• Audit Logs · API Keys · Plugins
• Node Details · Node Allocations
• Template 1 · Template 2 · Template 3 · Template 4

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What Makes Catalyst Different?

• containerd for superior performance (not Docker)
• WebSocket gateway for real-time communication (<10ms latency)
• Plugin system for infinite extensibility
• Rust agent for memory safety and performance
• Docker Compose for one-command deployment

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Documentation

Guide	For You If...	Description
⚡ Quick Start	New to Catalyst	5-minute setup with Docker Compose
📖 Detailed Installation	Devs & ops	Full install: every option, every edge case
Getting Started	First-time admin	Walkthrough: nodes, templates, first server
Docker Setup	System operator	TLS, volumes, networking, production hardening
User Guide	Server owner	Manage your servers, files, backups, console
Admin Guide	System operator	Deploy nodes, configure networking, monitor health
Agent Guide	Node operator	Deploy the Rust agent on game server nodes
API Reference	Developer	Complete REST API with integration examples
Automation & Plugins	Power user	Scheduled tasks, webhooks, API automation, plugins
Development Guide	Contributor	Dev environment, testing, code style, PR process
Plugin System	Plugin dev	Extend Catalyst with custom functionality
Environment Variables	All	Complete reference of all 60+ config variables
Troubleshooting	All	Common errors, solutions, debugging workflows
Architecture	Technical	System design, data flow, security model

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Project Status

Category	Status
Core Features (Servers, Nodes, Backups, SFTP)	✅ Stable
Security (RBAC, Audit, TLS, API Keys)	✅ Stable
REST API	✅ 60+ endpoints
Real-Time (WebSocket Console, Metrics)	✅ Stable
Frontend UI	✅ 25+ pages, full admin panel
Plugin System	✅ Stable (2 bundled plugins)
Task Scheduling	✅ Stable
Alerting	✅ Stable
Agent (Rust, containerd)	✅ Stable
Testing	✅ 23 E2E test suites
Container Deployment	✅ Docker Compose, Podman Compose
v2 (Scaling, CLI, Mobile)	🔮 Planned

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📚 Quick Documentation Links

New here? Pick your path:

• 🚀 Quick Start — Running in 5 minutes with Docker
• 📖 Detailed Installation — Every option, every edge case, production hardening
• 🐳 Docker Reference — Complete Docker/Podman guide: TLS, volumes, networking

The full documentation catalog is in the table above.

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Contributing

We welcome contributions! Please see CONTRIBUTING.md for repository guidelines, code conventions, and commit standards.

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License

GPLv3 © 2026 Catalyst Contributors