self-hosted-cookbook
Self-hosted Cookbook is a curated repository of docker-compose recipes for deploying self-hosted applications and services. It provides copy-paste ready configurations with setup guidance to reduce deployment friction for popular open-source tools.
Key facts
Objective fields from the source. Values we can't verify are shown as “Unknown” rather than guessed.
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Repository | tborychowski/self-hosted-cookbook |
| Owner | tborychowski |
| Primary language | Unknown |
| License | GPL-3.0 — OSI-approved |
| Stars | 1.2k |
| Forks | 61 |
| Open issues | 1 |
| Latest release | Unknown |
| Last updated | 2026-05-13 |
| Source | https://github.com/tborychowski/self-hosted-cookbook |
What self-hosted-cookbook is
A docker-compose recipe collection spanning 30+ application categories (analytics, CMS, email, databases, dashboards, etc.). Each recipe includes environment variable templates, security placeholder guidance, and troubleshooting links; recipes marked 🔗 link to external documentation.
Get the self-hosted-cookbook source
Clone the repository and explore it locally.
git clone https://github.com/tborychowski/self-hosted-cookbook.gitcd self-hosted-cookbook# follow the project's README for install & configurationNeed it deployed, integrated, or customized instead? DEV.co ships production installs.
Best use cases
Implementation considerations
- All security-sensitive values (domains, credentials, API keys) are intentionally left as placeholders; users must regenerate keys (e.g., APP_KEY using openssl rand -base64 32) before deployment.
- Recipes are copy-paste templates only; no automation, orchestration (Kubernetes), or drift detection is provided. Manual docker-compose up -d is the implied workflow.
- Not all recipes have been tested; those marked 🔗 are external references, creating a mixed maintenance and responsibility model.
- No version pinning for docker images or application releases; recipes rely on upstream tags (often 'latest'), creating reproducibility and rollback challenges.
- Users must replace placeholder domains (example.com), usernames, passwords, and environment-specific paths; no templating or variable injection framework is provided.
When to avoid it — and what to weigh
- Requiring production-grade stability and SLA support — This is a community cookbook with no versioning, release cycle, or maintenance guarantees. Recipes are not tested across all app versions or edge cases.
- Need for managed security scanning or compliance integration — Recipes are templates only; no automated security audits, supply-chain checks, or compliance tooling is included. Each recipe requires manual security review before production use.
- Requiring guaranteed compatibility and update cycles — Many apps are marked 🔗 (external links only), and there is no release versioning. Docker image and app version pinning is delegated to users; breakage from upstream changes is unmitigated.
- Organizations with strict dependency and source-code review processes — No bill of materials, no pinned image digests, and no CVE tracking. Each recipe pulls from potentially mutable upstream sources (e.g., linuxserver.io, app registries).
License & commercial use
Licensed under GPL-3.0 (GNU General Public License v3.0). GPL-3.0 is a copyleft license requiring any modifications or distributions to remain open-source and GPL-3.0 compatible.
GPL-3.0 is a copyleft license. Using this repository's recipes in a proprietary or commercial product without releasing modifications under GPL-3.0 may constitute license violation. Internal use is permissible, but redistribution or integration into commercial tools requires legal review. Recommend consulting legal counsel before commercial adoption.
DEV.co evaluation signals
Editorial assessment — not user reviews. Directional, with an explicit confidence level.
| Signal | Assessment |
|---|---|
| Maintenance | Active |
| Documentation | Adequate |
| License clarity | Clear |
| Deployment complexity | Moderate |
| DEV.co fit | Good |
| Assessment confidence | High |
Recipes include environment variable templates for secrets (passwords, API keys) but provide no guidance on secret storage, rotation, or injection. No built-in SSL/TLS, authentication, or network isolation defaults. Users must manually implement reverse proxy TLS, RBAC, and secret management. Upstream image integrity (image digest pinning, signature verification) is not enforced. Treat recipes as starting templates requiring security hardening.
Alternatives to consider
awesome-selfhosted (GitHub repo)
Broader curated list of self-hosted software with links to official docs and ecosystems, but less specific to docker-compose. Better for software discovery; less useful for rapid deployment.
Homelabos.com
Offers more integrated homelab automation and orchestration guidance, but narrower app coverage. Includes infrastructure reasoning and best practices; less focused on copy-paste recipes.
Docker Official and Linuxserver.io Images + Compose Examples
Source of truth for image documentation. Official compose examples are maintained directly by image authors. More fragmented than a single cookbook but higher confidence in accuracy and support.
Build on self-hosted-cookbook with DEV.co software developers
Use Self-hosted Cookbook as a starting point for evaluating and deploying open-source applications. Remember: recipes are templates. Plan for SSL, secrets, backups, and monitoring before production.
Talk to DEV.coRelated on DEV.co
Explore the category and the services that help you build with it.
self-hosted-cookbook FAQ
Are the recipes production-ready?
What if a recipe breaks or an app updates?
Can I use this in a commercial product?
How do I manage SSL, reverse proxies, and multi-app networking?
Work with a software development agency
Need help beyond evaluating self-hosted-cookbook? DEV.co is a software development agency offering software development services and web development for teams of every size. Our software developers and web developers build custom software, web applications, APIs, and open-source devops integrations — and maintain them long-term.
Ready to self-host? Start with proven recipes.
Use Self-hosted Cookbook as a starting point for evaluating and deploying open-source applications. Remember: recipes are templates. Plan for SSL, secrets, backups, and monitoring before production.