Node Server Dashboard + MCP Control Center

Zero-dependency Node.js dashboard for managing PM2 + system-wide Node processes, plus a full control center for the Docker MCP Toolkit — browse the catalog, build profiles, manage secrets, run the gateway, and connect any AI client (Claude Code, Cursor, Claude Desktop, OpenClaw.ai, Paperclip, …) all from one local web UI.

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Why this exists

The Docker MCP Toolkit ships an excellent CLI — but if you actually use it you end up juggling commands like:

docker mcp catalog show mcp/docker-mcp-catalog:latest --format json
docker mcp profile create --id dev_workflow --name "Dev workflow"
docker mcp profile server add dev_workflow --server catalog://mcp/docker-mcp-catalog:latest/github
docker mcp secret set github.token=...
docker mcp client connect claude-code --global
docker mcp gateway run --profile dev_workflow

This dashboard wraps all of that in a guided, point-and-click UI on top of your existing toolkit — no extra services to install, no daemons to babysit. Zero npm dependencies. It's just node server.js and a browser.

It also keeps everything the original PM2 dashboard already did (live process metrics, start/stop, log tailing, etc.) so you have one home for "everything running on this box."

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✨ Features

MCP Control Center (powered by Docker MCP Toolkit)

• 🧩 Browse the full Docker MCP catalog (316+ servers) — filterable by category, with tool/secret/env metadata previewed
• 🪄 Import wizard — multi-select MCPs from the catalog, drop into a new or existing profile, set required secrets, all in 5 guided steps
• 📦 Profile manager — create, edit, run, delete; live "servers in this profile" panel
• 🔐 Per-profile auth — see exactly which secrets each profile's servers need, set values via the OS keychain (docker mcp secret)
• 🚪 Gateway control — start/stop the MCP gateway with a chosen profile, watch logs scroll in real time
• 🔗 One-click client connections — auto-configurable for 16 supported clients (Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code, Cline, Continue, Codex, Cursor, Gemini, Goose, Gordon, Kiro, LM Studio, OpenCode, Sema4, Zed) plus manual config-snippet generators for OpenClaw.ai, Paperclip Dashboard, or anything else
• 🔧 Custom MCP catalog — add npx-based or command-based MCPs that live outside the Docker catalog
• ➕ New process from Docker — pick any MCP from the catalog and run it as a managed PM2 process (uses docker run -i --rm)

Process management (the original dashboard)

• 📊 Live system metrics (CPU per-core, RAM, disks, uptime)
• ⚙️ PM2 control — start/stop/restart/reload/scale/logs/flush, fork or cluster, env vars, watch mode
• 🟢 External Node process detection — every node.exe on the box with friendly-name detection (Playwright MCP, Desktop Commander, Filesystem MCP, …)
• 🪪 Process lineage — sees through cmd.exe/pwsh.exe wrappers to the real spawning parent
• 🚪 Listening ports per PID
• 💾 Backup/restore — single process or full ecosystem JSON

Architecture

• Zero npm dependencies — pure Node.js standard library + vanilla JS
• Single-file install — copy the folder, run start.bat / start.sh
• 21 dedicated pages behind a sidebar menu, each focused on one task
• Modular backend — lib/ modules wrap PM2, Docker MCP, and system stats; routes are a flat table in server.js
• Local-first — everything stays on 127.0.0.1; nothing phones home

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🚀 Quick start

Requirements

• Node.js ≥ 14 (download)
• Docker Desktop with the Docker MCP Toolkit extension installed (install guide)
• PM2 (optional but recommended for the process side):

  npm install -g pm2
  

Install

git clone https://github.com/withnazmul/node-server-dashboard.git
cd node-server-dashboard
node server.js

Windows: double-click start.bat or run it from PowerShell. Linux/macOS: ./start.sh (chmod +x first if needed).

Open http://127.0.0.1:9615 in your browser.

Run under PM2 (so the dashboard restarts on reboot)

pm2 start server.js --name node-dashboard
pm2 save
pm2 startup       # follow the printed instruction once

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🗺️ The menu

The sidebar groups every task into one of five sections — each menu item is its own page:

📊 Dashboard

── SETUP ──
🛠️  Server Setup           Health checklist: Docker, MCP toolkit, profiles, clients, gateway
➕  New Process            2 options: add manually OR import from Docker catalog
🧩  Browse Catalog         Browse 316+ MCP servers, filter by category
🔧  Add Custom MCP         Save an npx/command-based MCP outside Docker
🪄  Import Wizard          5-step batch import (multi-select → profile → secrets → review)

── PROFILES ──
✨  Create Profile         New profile + optional pre-pick servers
✎  Edit Profile           Pick profile → add/remove servers
▶  Run Profile            Pick profile → start gateway → live logs
🔐  Profile Auth           Surface required secrets, set via OS keychain
📦  All Profiles           Full list view

── CONNECT ──
🤖  Claude Code            Pick profile → connect/disconnect/reconnect
🖥️  Claude Desktop         Same, focused on this client
⚡  Cursor                 Same, focused on this client
🌐  OpenClaw.ai            Profile-aware config snippet generator
📎  Paperclip              Profile-aware config snippet generator
🔗  Manual Connect         Form to add/edit any manual client
🪄  Connect Wizard         4-step guided connect flow
🔌  All Clients            Live status of every supported + manual client

── TOOLS ──
🚪  MCP Gateway            Start/stop, profile picker, live logs
🗝️  Secrets Vault          List/add/update/delete OS keychain secrets
⚙️  Settings               Health and environment info

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📸 Screenshots

Screenshots haven't been generated for this commit. Add yours by running the dashboard and taking shots of each page, then dropping them in docs/screenshots/ and updating this section.

Page	Description
Dashboard	PM2 + external Node processes with live CPU/RAM/IO metrics
Browse Catalog	316+ MCP servers, search + category filter, tool/secret previews
Import Wizard	5-step: source → pick → destination → auth → review
Profile Editor	Side-by-side: servers in profile vs add-from-catalog
Connect Claude Code	Focused page: pick profile → connect, plus fallback config snippet
Connect OpenClaw.ai / Paperclip	Auto-generated config snippet (Stdio/SSE/Env formats) with copy-to-clipboard
MCP Gateway	Start/stop with profile picker, live log tail

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🧠 Architecture

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Browser (127.0.0.1:9615)                                        │
│  └── Sidebar menu → 21 page modules (vanilla JS, no framework)   │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                            │ HTTP/JSON
                            ▼
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  server.js  (~190 lines: HTTP router + static file serving)      │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                            │
        ┌───────────────────┼───────────────────────────┐
        ▼                   ▼                           ▼
   lib/system.js       lib/pm2.js                  lib/docker-mcp.js
   lib/procs.js                                    lib/store.js
        │                   │                           │
        ▼                   ▼                           ▼
   Native APIs:        pm2 CLI                     docker mcp CLI
   - os.cpus()         (jlist, start,              (catalog show,
   - WMIC / ps          stop, scale,                profile create,
   - netstat -ano       logs, flush,                client connect,
                        save, resurrect)            secret set,
                                                    gateway run)

See docs/ARCHITECTURE.md for the deep-dive (file layout, route map, state model, frontend page contract).

File layout

node-server-dashboard/
├── server.js              # HTTP router (slim)
├── package.json
├── start.bat / start.sh   # OS launchers
├── lib/
│   ├── util.js            # runCmd helpers, byte/date formatters
│   ├── system.js          # CPU/RAM/disk metrics
│   ├── procs.js           # node.exe metrics + friendly-name detection
│   ├── pm2.js             # pm2 CLI wrappers
│   ├── docker-mcp.js      # docker mcp CLI wrappers (catalog/profiles/clients/secrets/gateway)
│   └── store.js           # tiny JSON file persistence (custom catalog, manual clients)
├── public/
│   ├── index.html         # single page with sidebar + 21 page sections
│   ├── app.js             # shared core: api, toast, promptModal, page router
│   ├── style.css          # all styling
│   └── pages/
│       ├── dashboard.js
│       ├── setup.js
│       ├── process-new.js          # 2-option page: manual / Docker import
│       ├── catalog.js              # browse Docker catalog
│       ├── catalog-add.js          # focused: add custom MCP
│       ├── import.js               # 5-step import wizard
│       ├── profile-create.js       # focused
│       ├── profile-edit.js         # focused
│       ├── profile-run.js          # focused
│       ├── profile-auth.js         # focused
│       ├── profiles.js             # all profiles (list view)
│       ├── connect-shared.js       # helpers used by every Connect page
│       ├── connect-claude-code.js
│       ├── connect-claude-desktop.js
│       ├── connect-cursor.js
│       ├── connect-openclaw.js
│       ├── connect-paperclip.js
│       ├── connect-manual.js
│       ├── connect.js              # 4-step connect wizard
│       ├── connections.js          # all clients (list view)
│       ├── gateway.js              # focused: gateway control + logs
│       ├── secrets.js              # focused: secrets vault
│       └── settings.js             # health + env info
├── data/                  # gitignored, populated at runtime
│   └── .gitkeep
└── docs/
    ├── ARCHITECTURE.md
    ├── QUICKSTART.md
    └── FAQ.md

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🔌 API reference

The dashboard exposes a small JSON API on 127.0.0.1:9615. Useful if you want to script around it.

System & process management

Method	Path	Returns
GET	/api/system	CPU, RAM, disk, hostname, uptime
GET	/api/processes	{ pm2: [...], node: [...] }
GET	/api/describe/:id	Full PM2 describe object
GET	/api/logs/:id?lines=200	Tail of PM2 logs (text)
POST	/api/start	Start a process via PM2
POST	/api/(stop|restart|reload|delete)/:id	PM2 lifecycle
POST	/api/scale/:id	{ instances: N }
POST	/api/reset/:id	Reset restart counter
POST	/api/flush/:id	Flush logs
POST	/api/save / /api/resurrect	PM2 dump/restore
POST	/api/kill/:pid / /api/killtree/:pid	Force-kill external proc
GET	/api/backup/:id / /api/backup-all	Download JSON backup

MCP routes

Method	Path	Returns
GET	/api/mcp/health	{ docker, mcp, version }
GET	/api/mcp/catalogs	{ docker: [...], custom: [...] }
GET	/api/mcp/catalog?ref=...	Full catalog with all servers/tools
POST	/api/mcp/custom-catalog	Add custom MCP
DELETE	/api/mcp/custom-catalog/:id	Remove custom MCP
GET	/api/mcp/profiles	List of profile { id, name }
GET	/api/mcp/profile/:id	Full profile with servers
POST	/api/mcp/profile	Create profile ({ id, name })
DELETE	/api/mcp/profile/:id	Remove profile
POST	/api/mcp/profile/:id/server/(add|remove)	Add/remove server
GET	/api/mcp/profile/:id/export	Download profile YAML
GET	/api/mcp/clients	{ supported, clients, manual }
POST	/api/mcp/client/:name/(connect|disconnect)	Wire client
POST	/api/mcp/manual-client	Add/edit manual client
DELETE	/api/mcp/manual-client/:id	Remove manual client
GET	/api/mcp/secrets	List secret names
POST	/api/mcp/secret	Set secret ({ name, value })
DELETE	/api/mcp/secret/:name	Remove secret
GET	/api/mcp/gateway	Gateway status + recent logs
POST	/api/mcp/gateway/(start|stop)	Control gateway

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🛠️ Configuration

Env var	Default	What it does
PORT	9615	Port the dashboard listens on
HOST	127.0.0.1	Interface to bind to (default: localhost only)

Example:

# Listen on all interfaces (use with caution — see security notes)
HOST=0.0.0.0 PORT=8080 node server.js

Per-user state lives in data/:

File	Contents
data/custom-catalog.json	Your custom (non-Docker) MCP definitions
data/manual-clients.json	OpenClaw.ai, Paperclip, and any custom client configs
data/settings.json	UI preferences (theme, refresh interval)

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🔒 Security notes

• The dashboard binds to 127.0.0.1 by default. Don't expose it to the public internet — it can spawn processes, run docker commands, and write to your OS keychain.
• All secrets are stored in your OS keychain via docker mcp secret set, which uses the macOS Keychain / Windows Credential Manager / Linux Secret Service depending on your platform. The dashboard never writes secret values to disk.
• The dashboard never makes outbound network calls. All catalog data comes from your local Docker MCP installation.

If you find a security issue, please see SECURITY.md.

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🧪 Sanity check

npm run check

Runs node --check against every backend module. The CI workflow does the same on every push.

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🤝 Contributing

Pull requests welcome! See CONTRIBUTING.md for the dev setup, coding style, and how to propose a new feature.

Some good first issues:

• Add screenshots (the README has placeholders)
• Build a per-tool allowlist editor (docker mcp tools) inside the profile editor
• Add an OAuth helper for MCPs that need browser-based auth (GitHub, Notion, …)
• Add a profile-template browser (docker mcp template)
• WebSocket/SSE log tail instead of polling

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📚 Resources

• Model Context Protocol — the open spec this is all built on
• Docker MCP Toolkit — Docker's container-based MCP runtime (this dashboard wraps its CLI)
• Docker MCP Catalog — the Docker Hub namespace where catalog images live
• Anthropic / Claude Code — primary client this dashboard targets
• PM2 — the process manager this dashboard wraps
• Related projects:
  • Cline — VS Code MCP client (auto-configurable here)
  • Cursor — IDE with MCP support
  • Goose — Block's MCP-native AI assistant

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📜 Changelog

See CHANGELOG.md. Highlights:

• 2.0.0 — MCP Control Center: 21 dedicated pages, sidebar nav, full Docker MCP Toolkit integration
• 1.1.0 — Added external Node process detection with friendly names + listening ports
• 1.0.0 — Initial PM2 dashboard release

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📄 License

MIT — do whatever you want with it. Attribution appreciated but not required.

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Built with vanilla JS, zero npm dependencies, and the Docker MCP Toolkit.
_{Found a bug? Open an issue · Want a feature? PRs welcome}