# basecamp/once

Easy self-hosting for Docker-based web apps

Repository: https://github.com/basecamp/once
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/once
Language: Go
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Last push: 2026-08-26T13:56:18+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 82/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 99, longevity 15
- inputs: {"age_days": 216, "days_push": 7, "days_rel": 8, "gap_med": 3, "n_releases_24m": 14}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1908, forks 89 (observed 2026-08-28T04:05:52.558107+00:00)

## What it is
ONCE is a Go-based platform for installing and managing Docker-based web applications with a focus on easy self-hosting. It provides a TUI dashboard plus CLI commands for installing apps, automatic updates, backups, and system monitoring.

## Use cases
- self-host web apps on a VPS or Raspberry Pi
- install Docker applications with a simple guided setup
- keep self-hosted apps automatically updated
- back up self-hosted applications
- monitor and manage Docker apps from a terminal dashboard
- run 37signals apps like Writebook on my own server

## When to choose
- you want one-command self-hosting of Docker web apps on Linux or macOS
- you prefer a TUI/CLI over complex orchestration tooling
- you want built-in updates and backups for your self-hosted apps

## When to avoid
- you need multi-node container orchestration like Kubernetes
- you run Windows-only servers
- you need fine-grained control over container networking and scaling

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: active
- function: deployment, container-orchestration, cli, backup, monitoring, self-hosted
- domain: self-hosted, developer-tools
- platform: cli, self-hosted
- tags: docker-management, tui, app-installer, automatic-updates, 37signals, devops, containers, automation, linux, macos, docker

## Member repositories
- basecamp/once (main) score 82

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:52.558107+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T03:11:12.303214+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/basecamp/once (fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:52.558107+00:00, sha b751f6ff371d)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.