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deck

What it is​

deck registers any web app you run on your machine as a supervised service with a stable HTTPS address, an always-on dashboard and a one-toggle dev-port override. When you are ready, it can also give an app a public URL on your own domain with access control. The command is deck, not local, because local is a reserved word in zsh and bash. mattstack uses deck to serve its own apps, and deck needs none of them.

Open it​

Use the deck command, or open the dashboard at https://deck.localhost. deck v1 is macOS only. Where the mattstack app is installed, the app supervises deck itself, and deck setup refuses and changes nothing.

What you do in it​

Give an app a name. Run deck add myapp --cmd "bun src/server.ts" --dir ~/code/myapp. The app is live at https://myapp.localhost, starts at login and restarts if it crashes. If you already run your own dev server, run deck add otherapp --port 4200 to track the name without deck touching the process.

Check on everything. deck status lists every app. The dashboard shows health and logs, and lets you restart an app. deck logs <name> tails an app's stderr.

Debug against a dev server. deck override myapp 5173 makes myapp.localhost serve port 5173. deck override myapp off clears it.

Share an app on your terms. Nothing is public until you say so. Options are a casual public URL with portless --funnel, a password gate (deck password <name>), or your own domain with deck domain yourdomain.dev, plus a Google sign-in allowlist of people or domains with deck access. Publish or unpublish with deck publish <name> on|off. Do not share through --ngrok, because it defeats deck's local-only controls.

Serve while your laptop is off. deck remote <name> on redeploys the app to Railway and points its public hostname there. deck push <name> redeploys after a local change, and deck remote <name> off moves it back.

Bring in what already runs. deck migrate adopts your existing LaunchAgents and routes so they show up on the dashboard, without rewriting them.

Settings that matter​

KeyMeaning
deck.appsPer-app publish state, such as the published flag.
deck.accessdeck's access-control roster.
deck.platformdeck's platform-level machine config: public domain and legacy URL prefixes.
  • rt services covers the services rt runs on your Mac.
  • rt apps turns the mattstack apps deck serves on or off.
  • The menu bar app describes the mattstack window that shows those apps.
  • rt secrets holds the Cloudflare secrets deck domain needs.