🚀Shipkeep is looking for contributors

[samuelmbabhazi]

Hi, I'm Sam. I'm building Shipkeep, an open-source (Apache-2.0) platform to deploy applications on your own servers, without Kubernetes, in TypeScript and Go.

What makes it different is the security model. The control plane never stores a root SSH key. An agent on each server connects out over mTLS and can only run a closed list of typed actions, with no shell commands built from strings. Each application is described in a versioned shipkeep.yml.

Current status

Shipkeep cannot be installed yet and is not ready for production.

State	What
Working and tested	Accounts, two-factor authentication, roles, audit log, CLI, and the web UI for organizations, members, servers, applications, deployments and secrets
Written and unit tested, never run on a real server	Agent, deployment pipeline, rollback, Caddy routing
Draft	Installer (#171)
Not built	Git providers, builds, WireGuard network, failover, managed databases, backups, logs and metrics, previews

Some web screens still show sample data and carry a "Preview" label. The next milestone is the first end-to-end deployment on a real server.

I'm the only maintainer for now, so reviews may take a few days. I also use AI coding assistants a lot, which makes outside review especially valuable.

What you can pick up today

Real servers: the biggest gap

You need a disposable Ubuntu 24.04 VM (amd64 or arm64) that can reach your control plane over HTTPS. The installer sets up Docker and Caddy, so don't use a machine you care about.

• [M8.3a] Install verified node agent and Caddy #171 Run the installer draft on a fresh VM, then check enrollment and that the agent survives a reboot.
• [M3.4] Deployment acceptance on a real server #216 Run the first real deployment. None has gone past queued with the real worker and agent yet. Try the web UI and the CLI, then a rollback. It's labeled blocked only because the project has no test VM yet.

Even a report saying "it broke at this step" is a useful contribution.

Go and Docker

• [M1.4] Container actions #16 Integration tests for the container actions against a real Docker daemon.
• [M1.5] Caddy route management #17 Switch a route under constant load on a real Caddy (k6 or vegeta), with zero failed requests.
• [M10.2] Fuzzing and security pass #244 Fuzz the agent action validators. This part can start now.

TypeScript and NestJS (with Angular for the screens)

• Store a display name on accounts #251 Store a display name on accounts.
• Account sessions: list and sign out other devices #253 List your sessions and sign out other devices.
• Invite people to an organization by email #254 Invite people to an organization by email.
• Gateway: avoid a full role check per node credential check #139 Benchmark the gateway with 100 connected nodes, then propose a safe optimization.

Angular

• Server detail page on real data #264 Server detail page on real data.
• First start checklist on real state #269 First-start checklist computed from real state.
• Token picker: one token across several levels #207 Build one API token across several levels.
• Token picker: test that its permissions match the route matrix #208 Test that the token picker matches the route and role matrix.

Security

• Read the threat model and tell me what it misses.
• Sign in with GitHub and GitLab #250 Sign in with GitHub and GitLab, where an external identity is linked only after password and second-factor proof.

Please report vulnerabilities privately, as described in SECURITY.md.

Testing and documentation

• Landing page: automated browser test #209 Automated browser test for the landing page.
• Follow the local setup and fix any step that didn't work for you.

Good first issues

Small and self-contained:

• Document the generated route and role matrix in the README #140 Document the generated route and role matrix.
• Declare the X-Shipkeep-Truncated header of the audit export in OpenAPI #141 Declare the X-Shipkeep-Truncated header in OpenAPI.
• Scheduler: human-readable messages for placement rejections #142 Human-readable messages for placement rejections.
• Test that SPEC 3.6 lists every confirmable action #143 Test that the spec lists every confirmable action.
• api-client: typed helper to parse the audit JSON Lines export #144 Typed helper to parse the audit export.
• Tests: accept the PostgreSQL 18 code for ON DELETE RESTRICT #212 Accept the PostgreSQL 18 error code in tests.

What isn't ready yet

These depend on earlier work: Git providers (#213), builds (#215), WireGuard (#224), failover (#227), managed databases (#228), backups (#229). Log shipping (#232) and the application lifecycle (#256) are large. If one of them interests you, please say so in Ideas before you start, so your time isn't wasted.

How to start

1. Comment on an issue to say you're taking it.
2. Follow the numbered contribution steps. Running the app needs Node.js 22.22.3 or newer and Docker. Sign-up emails appear in your terminal, so you don't need a mail account. Unit tests don't need Docker.
3. Sign off your commits with git commit -s. There's no CLA to sign.

Changes must respect a few security rules, such as no shell commands built from strings and no host command execution by the agent.

Not sure where to begin? Reply below with what you enjoy working on, and I'll suggest something. And if you find the project promising, a star on GitHub would mean a lot.