Docker container browser

mnml-virt-docker is a terminal browser for Docker. Containers, images, volumes, networks, per-project compose services — tail logs, exec a shell, start / stop / remove, cross-sibling handoff to mnml-aws-ecr for ECR-hosted images. Runs standalone in any terminal. Shells out to docker; no SDK dep, no API tokens — Docker’s socket is the auth boundary.

First sibling in the mnml-virt-* family (planned: mnml-virt-k8s, mnml-virt-podman, mnml-virt-colima).

┌─ docker ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ ▸1.containers (8)  2.images (47)  3.volumes (12)  4.networks (5)      │
└───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
┌─ containers (8) ──────────────┐ ┌─ inspect ───────────────────────────┐
│ ▸ ● redis              redis:7│ │ State          running              │
│   ● postgres-pg        pg:16  │ │ Status         Up 2 hours           │
│   ○ example-api        acme…  │ │ Ports          6379/tcp             │
│   ↺ web-1              myorg/…│ │                                     │
└───────────────────────────────┘ └─────────────────────────────────────┘
  1-9 tab · l logs · e exec · s/S stop/start · R rm · L → ECR · r · q

Install

cargo install --git https://github.com/chris-mclennan/mnml-virt-docker mnml-virt-docker
mnml-virt-docker --install

Pre-requisite

Docker installed + running — Docker Desktop or any other Engine build. TUI shells out to docker, never opens the daemon socket directly. Whichever context docker is configured for is what this sees. v0.1 supports the default context only.

If the daemon isn’t running, the body shows a “Docker daemon not running” notice. Start it, press r, reconnect.

Setup

docker version               # verify CLI reaches daemon
mnml-virt-docker             # first-run scaffolds config

Config

~/.config/mnml-virt-docker/config.toml:

refresh_interval_secs = 60

[[tabs]]
name = "containers"
kind = "containers"

[[tabs]]
name = "images"
kind = "images"

[[tabs]]
name = "volumes"
kind = "volumes"

[[tabs]]
name = "networks"
kind = "networks"

# Per-project compose (opt-in — no default since project dir is per-user)
# [[tabs]]
# name = "myapp"
# kind = "compose"
# project_path = "/Users/me/Projects/myapp"

Tab kinds

kind	What it shows	Required
containers	Every container in the local engine	—
images	Every image	—
volumes	Every volume	—
networks	Every network	—
compose	Services in a compose project (compose.yaml / compose.yml / docker-compose.yml)	project_path

Container-state glyph: ● green running · ○ gray exited / red dead · ↺ yellow restarting · ‖ yellow paused · · gray created.

Keys

Chord	Action
1-9 / Tab	Switch tabs
↑ / k, ↓ / j, PgUp / PgDn, g / G	Navigate (each move re-runs inspect for the new focus, lazy)
o	Open Docker Desktop (macOS only; toast on other OSes)
y	Yank focused item’s full ID / name
l	Tail logs for the focused container
e	Exec a shell (/bin/bash if available, else /bin/sh)
s / S	Stop / start the focused container
R	Remove focused item (y confirms)
L	Cross-sibling jump — if focused image is an ECR URL (<acct>.dkr.ecr.<region>.amazonaws.com/…), spawn mnml-aws-ecr --region <region>
r	Refresh + re-probe daemon if offline
q / Esc / Ctrl+C	Quit

Two run modes

Standalone

mnml-virt-docker

Hosted as a mnml Pty pane

:term mnml-virt-docker

Or <leader>iK after mnml-virt-docker --install.

Source

github.com/chris-mclennan/mnml-virt-docker. MIT.