# containrrr/watchtower

A process for automating Docker container base image updates.

Repository: https://github.com/containrrr/watchtower
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/watchtower
Homepage: https://containrrr.dev/watchtower/
Language: Go
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Topics: docker, automation, receive-notifications, watchtower, registry, notifications, update-checker, hacktoberfest, devops, continuous-delivery
Archived: true
Last push: 2025-12-17T14:44:11+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 10/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 57, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4069, "days_push": 259, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: archived
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 24666, forks 1148 (observed 2026-08-28T04:11:37.597433+00:00)

## What it is
Watchtower is a Docker-based tool that automatically updates running containers when new images are pushed to a registry. It pulls the new image, gracefully stops the old container, and restarts it with the original configuration.

## Use cases
- automatically update docker containers when new images are released
- keep self-hosted homelab services up to date
- restart containers with latest base image after pushing to registry
- get notifications when containers are updated
- automate container image update checks on a schedule

## When to choose
- you run a homelab, media center, or local dev environment on Docker
- you want hands-off container updates with notifications
- you deploy via image pushes and want automatic rollouts on a single host

## When to avoid
- you need a production or commercial-grade update solution - the project is no longer maintained and recommends Kubernetes (or k3s/MicroK8s)
- you run multi-node orchestration where a proper orchestrator should manage rollouts
- you require guaranteed security patches or ongoing bug fixes from an active project

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: abandoned
- function: deployment, workflow-automation, monitoring, alerting
- domain: self-hosted
- platform: go, self-hosted
- tags: docker-containers, image-updates, container-management, homelab, registry-polling, devops, containers, automation, docker, linux

## Member repositories
- containrrr/watchtower (main) score 10

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:11:37.597433+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 2026-08-29T16:56:10.504960+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/containrrr/watchtower (fetched 2026-08-28T04:11:37.597433+00:00, sha f99c1a006a1d)
  - homepage: https://containrrr.dev/watchtower/ (fetched 2026-08-29T07:53:19.299132+00:00, sha acd449bca06a)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.