Inker v0.3.3

Self-hosted e-ink device management server built for the homelab community. Works with TRMNL devices (supports firmware 1.7.8) and any BYOD e-ink display. Design screens, create custom widgets with live data from your local network, and manage your displays from a modern web interface.

Inker is heading in its own direction — focusing on homelab integrations like server monitoring, smart home dashboards, network stats, and self-hosted service displays. TRMNL device compatibility is maintained, but the plugin ecosystem will be Inker-native.

Features

• Screen Designer — Drag & drop widget placement, snap guides, freehand drawing, auto-fit zoom for any resolution
• Built-in Widgets — Clock, date, text, weather, countdown, days until, QR code, image, GitHub stars, battery, WiFi, device info
• Custom Widgets — Connect to any JSON API or RSS feed (including local network sources), JavaScript transformations, grid layouts
• Plugins — Coming soon — homelab-native integrations for server monitoring, smart home, network stats
• Playlists — Rotate multiple screens on devices automatically
• Device Management — Auto-provisioning, firmware 1.7.8 support, real-time status, logs
• BYOD Support — Register any e-ink device manually with custom screen resolution
• No external infra — Runs locally with Bun and SQLite, no database or cache service required

Screenshots

Screen Designer	Devices	Screens

List of sources	Custom Data Sources	Custom Widgets

Quick start

Local Bun

bun run install:all
bun run dev

Open http://localhost:3337 and log in with PIN 1111.

The dev launcher creates the SQLite database at backend/data/inker.db, syncs the Prisma schema, seeds built-in models/templates, then starts:

• public app: http://localhost:3337
• internal backend: http://localhost:3338

In dev, Vite owns port 3337 and proxies /api plus /uploads to the backend. TRMNL devices should use the same public URL as the browser, for example http://de-unit-2506.local:3337.

For single-port mode without Vite HMR:

bun run dev:single

Open http://localhost:3337. This builds the frontend and serves it from the Nest backend.

MCP server

Inker includes a local stdio MCP server for agent-driven CRUD over screen designs, widgets, data sources, custom widgets, and playlists:

bun run mcp

Example Codex/Claude-style command:

{
  "command": "bun",
  "args": ["run", "mcp"],
  "cwd": "/path/to/inker"
}

The server uses the same SQLite default as the app (backend/data/inker.db) unless DATABASE_URL is set.

If your Mac cannot expose port 3337 to the LAN, but a Raspberry Pi can, bring up the temporary SSH proxy:

bun run proxy:rpi

By default it exposes http://birdnet-pi.local:3337 and forwards traffic back to the local app on 127.0.0.1:3337. Stop it with:

bun run proxy:rpi:down

Docker Compose

# docker-compose.yml
services:
  inker:
    image: wojooo/inker:latest
    container_name: inker
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "80:3337"
    volumes:
      - sqlite_data:/app/data
      - uploads_data:/app/uploads
    environment:
      TZ: UTC
      ADMIN_PIN: "1111"  # Quotes required — YAML strips leading zeros without them
      DATABASE_URL: "file:../data/inker.db"

volumes:
  sqlite_data:
  uploads_data:

docker compose up -d

Open http://your-server-ip and log in with PIN 1111.

Configuration

Variable	Description	Default
ADMIN_PIN	Login PIN	1111
TZ	Timezone for widgets	UTC
HOST	Backend listen host	127.0.0.1
PORT	Backend port	3337
VITE_HOST	Frontend dev listen host	127.0.0.1
VITE_PORT	Frontend dev port	3337
VITE_BACKEND_PORT	Frontend dev server backend target	3338
DATABASE_URL	SQLite database URL	file:../data/inker.db
CORS_ORIGINS	Allowed CORS origins (comma-separated, or * for all)	same-origin

Pass with -e:

docker run -d \
  --name inker \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  -p 80:3337 \
  -e ADMIN_PIN="1111" \
  -e TZ=Europe/Warsaw \
  -e DATABASE_URL="file:../data/inker.db" \
  -v inker_data:/app/data \
  -v inker_uploads:/app/uploads \
  inker:latest

Build from source

git clone https://github.com/wojo-o/inker.git
cd inker
bun run install:all
bun run dev

Updating

bun run install:all
bun run db:init

All data (screens, devices, playlists, settings) is preserved in backend/data/inker.db. Uploads are stored under backend/uploads/.

Troubleshooting

If something isn't working after an update or on first run, reset local runtime state and start fresh:

rm -rf backend/data backend/uploads
bun run dev

Note: This removes all data (database, uploads). Only use on a fresh install or when you don't mind losing data.

Testing

cd backend && bun test      # 395 tests
cd frontend && bun run test  # 19 tests

License

Source Available — see LICENSE for details.