almeidapaulopt

almeidapaulopt/tsdproxy

Go MIT DevOps Single maintainer risk

Automatic Tailscale reverse proxy for Docker containers. Zero sidecars. Label-based config. Automatic HTTPS.

1.6k stars
77 forks
active
GitHub +11 / week

1.6k

Stars

77

Forks

15

Open issues

18

Contributors

AI Analysis

TSDProxy is a Docker reverse proxy that automatically exposes containers on a Tailscale network using label-based configuration and zero sidecars, delivering automatic HTTPS via Tailscale's Let's Encrypt integration. It is purpose-built for self-hosted homelabs and small infrastructure teams who want to avoid complex sidecar patterns and centralize Tailscale access; it is not a general-purpose load balancer or suited for massive multi-tenant deployments.

DevOps DevOps Tool Discovery value: 6/10
Documentation 8/10
Activity 10/10
Community 8/10
Code quality 5/10

Inferred from signals mentioned in the README (tests, CI, type safety) — not a review of the actual code.

Overall score 8/10

AI's overall editorial judgment — not an average of the bars above, can weigh other factors too.

tailscale-integration docker-automation reverse-proxy self-hosted homelab
Actively maintained Well documented MIT licensed Niche/specialized use case Beginner friendly Production ready
Deep Analysis · Based on README and public signals
2d ago

Label-driven Tailscale reverse proxy for Docker, eliminating per-container sidecars with automatic HTTPS

TSDProxy automates exposing Docker containers on Tailscale networks via simple container labels, eliminating the need for per-service sidecars. Built for self-hosted Docker deployments seeking secure, zero-configuration ingress. Adoption appears concentrated in small-to-medium homelab and business network segments; real-world scale usage is not widely documented. Project gained 1,640 stars in ~9 months and receives regular maintenance updates.

Origin

Created October 2024 by almeidapaulopt as a response to friction in exposing Docker services on Tailscale networks. Positioned as lighter-weight alternative to running individual Tailscale containers per service. Reached 1,640 stars within 9 months, suggesting resonance with Docker + Tailscale users seeking operational simplicity.

Growth

Rapid initial adoption (1,640 stars in 9 months) indicates strong product-market fit within Docker + Tailscale niche. Growth likely driven by: (1) simplicity of label-based activation vs. sidecar pattern, (2) automatic HTTPS via Tailscale certificates, (3) appeal to homelab and small infrastructure communities. Recent rate (11 stars in 7 days as of 2026-07-09) suggests plateauing from early-adopter spike, now entering stable maintenance phase rather than explosive growth.

In production

Adoption not verified. Docker Hub pull stats badge visible in README but no concrete pull count disclosed in provided metadata. No case studies, testimonials, or documented production deployments mentioned. Star count (1,640) and fork count (77) suggest awareness but do not confirm production usage at scale. Community may exist but is not publicly documented.

Code analysis
Architecture

Based on README: appears to be a single daemon written in Go that watches Docker socket, creates tsnet.Server instances per labeled container, and reverse-proxies traffic. Likely stateless per container with centralized configuration. No mention of clustering or distributed state; appears designed for single-host deployments.

Tests

Not documented in README. No test framework, coverage percentage, or CI test runs mentioned in available metadata.

Maintenance

Last push 2026-07-07 (2 days before evaluation date) indicates active maintenance. Repository is 9 months old; absence of stale issues or deprecated features suggests ongoing attention. Maintainer appears to be sole author. Presence of versioning (v2 releases), Docker Hub integration, and documented release process indicates operational maturity rather than experimental status.

Honest verdict

ADOPT IF: you run Docker on a single host, use Tailscale for private network access, and want zero-friction service exposure without per-container sidecars or manual proxy configuration. AVOID IF: you need clustering, geographic failover, multi-host orchestration, or integration with Kubernetes (different abstraction layer). MONITOR IF: you operate on very large Docker estates or require distributed state — TSDProxy may not scale past single-host deployments, and growth trajectory suggests niche maturation rather than broadening scope.

Independent dimensions

Mainstream potential

3/10

Technical importance

6/10

Adoption evidence

3/10

Risks
  • Single-host assumption: no clustering, geographic redundancy, or multi-node failover — limits applicability to small/medium deployments.
  • Sole maintainer: repository appears maintained by one author; bus factor and long-term sustainability unclear.
  • Tailscale dependency: bound to Tailscale's roadmap and API stability; does not work for other mesh networks.
  • Adoption not verified at scale: 1.6k stars suggest interest but no public evidence of production deployments at meaningful scale; may face undiscovered reliability issues in complex environments.
  • Docker-only: no Kubernetes, VM, or bare-metal provider abstraction; ecosystem support narrower than category leaders.
Prediction

Likely to remain a niche but stable tool for Docker + Tailscale users seeking operational simplicity. May see incremental feature growth (clustering, multi-host support) if community demands; unlikely to achieve category-wide dominance given narrower scope than traefik or similar. Appears headed for 'small but satisfied ecosystem' trajectory rather than rapid expansion.

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Languages

Go
95.8%
templ
2.4%
CSS
1%
JavaScript
0.5%
Makefile
0.3%
Dockerfile
0.1%

Information

Language
Go
License
MIT
Last updated
1d ago
Created
21mo ago
Analyzed with
anthropic/claude-haiku-4-5

Stars over time

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Contributors over time

Top 100 contributors only — repos with more will plateau at 100.

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vs. alternatives
traefik

Full-featured reverse proxy with Tailscale support available; vastly larger community (63k stars) and enterprise adoption. TSDProxy trades breadth for simplicity — no sidecar overhead, label-only config, narrower scope.

caddy-docker-proxy

Docker label-driven reverse proxy with 4.5k stars; does not integrate Tailscale natively. TSDProxy adds Tailscale binding and automatic HTTPS; caddy-docker-proxy requires separate cert management and is not Tailscale-specific.

ScaleTail (Tailscale-dev)

Similar positioning (1.9k stars); likely addresses same user segment. Metadata insufficient to assess feature parity; TSDProxy advantage is zero-sidecar Docker integration via labels.

Nginx / manual Tailscale integration

Operators can manually configure Nginx + Tailscale sidecar per service; requires operational discipline. TSDProxy eliminates this boilerplate via automation.

Cloud VPC / managed reverse proxies

Completely different model (external infrastructure). TSDProxy targets self-hosted Docker deployments on private networks; no overlap in use case.