# Unraid Docker Manager

## What This Is

A Telegram bot that lets you manage Docker containers on your Unraid server. Control containers from your phone without needing to open a laptop — check status, view logs, start/stop/restart/update containers via simple keyword commands.

## Core Value

When you get a container update notification or notice a service is down, you can immediately investigate and act from your phone.

## Requirements

### Validated

- [x] Send a message to the bot and receive a response — v1.0
- [x] Check container status ("status") — v1.0
- [x] Start a container by name — v1.0
- [x] Stop a container by name — v1.0
- [x] Restart a container by name — v1.0
- [x] Update a container (pull new image, recreate) — v1.0
- [x] View container logs with configurable line count — v1.0
- [x] Bot only responds to your Telegram user ID — v1.0

### Active

(None — v1.0 complete, define new requirements for v1.1)

### Out of Scope

- Taking over Unraid notifications — keep existing notification system, this bot is for control
- Deploying new containers — manage existing only, not create new ones
- Natural language understanding — simple keyword matching sufficient, Claude API adds complexity
- Proactive monitoring/notifications — bot is reactive (you ask, it answers)
- Resource queries — "what's using the most memory?" deferred to future version

## Current State

**Shipped:** v1.0 (2026-02-02)
**Tech stack:** n8n workflow + Telegram Bot API + Docker socket
**Files:** n8n-workflow.json (~3,200 lines), README.md

## Context

**Environment:**
- Unraid server with Intel N100 CPU, 32GB RAM
- n8n container with Docker socket access
- Multiple Docker containers (Plex, Sonarr, lldap, etc.)

**Constraints:**
- Platform: Unraid (Docker-based)
- Orchestration: n8n (already running)
- Matching: Keyword/substring with exact-match priority
- Auth: Single user via Telegram ID
- Logs: Configurable line count, default 50, max 1000

## Key Decisions

| Decision | Rationale | Outcome |
|----------|-----------|---------|
| Use keyword matching over NLU | Simple substring matching works well, Claude API adds complexity | ✓ Good |
| Use n8n for orchestration | Already running, handles Telegram webhooks | ✓ Good |
| Manage existing containers only | Keeps scope focused, deployment rarely needed from mobile | ✓ Good |
| Single user auth via Telegram ID | Simple security, only one person needs access | ✓ Good |
| Static curl binary mount | Hardened n8n image lacks package manager | ✓ Good |
| Exact match priority | Prevents substring collisions (plex vs jellyplex) | ✓ Good |
| Default to :latest tag | Prevents Docker API from pulling all tags | ✓ Good |
| HTML escape logs | Log content may contain <tag> text | ✓ Good |
| Text menu over keyboard | Native Telegram node replyKeyboard had issues | ✓ Good |

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*Last updated: 2026-02-02 after v1.0 milestone*