Most homelab beginners make the same mistake: they grab a Docker Compose template, paste it in, and then discover three months later that their “simple setup” is a sprawling mess of undocumented dependencies, a database with no backup, and ports wide open to the internet.
I’ve been there. I still end up there sometimes.
So I built a tool to catch it before it happens.
What Homelab Architect Does
Homelab Architect takes your docker-compose.yml — or lets you build your stack manually from a curated database of 45+ common homelab services — and generates:
- Resource dashboard — total CPU and RAM estimates across your entire stack
- Service cards — each service with its resource footprint, exposed ports, and restart policy
- Security audit — flags
:latesttags, exposed ports without firewall rules, missing restart policies - Single points of failure — detects services with no backup plan that others depend on
- Dependency map — see what talks to what, so you know what to restart in what order
- Backup plan — tells you exactly what to back up and how, based on your actual services
- Export — save as JSON to share or reload later, or export a Mermaid diagram for documentation
It’s essentially the “before you build” companion to Prism Engine’s “after you’ve built” visualization.
How It Works
Import tab: Paste your docker-compose.yml. The parser extracts services, ports, volumes, depends_on relationships, and restart policies. It maps image names to a database of 45+ known services (PostgreSQL, Nginx, Plex, Home Assistant, Pi-hole, and more) to fill in resource estimates and security flags automatically.
Builder tab: Don’t have a compose file yet? Browse services by category (Infrastructure, Media, Automation, Security, Network) or search by name. Add them one by one, specify dependencies, and build your plan from scratch.
What It Catches
A few examples from my own docker-compose files:
nginx:latest→ flagged as a security issue. Pin to:1.27-alpineor similar- Database without
restart: unless-stopped→ marked as a single point of failure. A crash means manual intervention - Service with no backup recommendation → added to the backup plan with its data directory path
The Service Database
The builder includes 45+ services with realistic resource estimates:
| Category | Services |
|---|---|
| Infra | Nginx, Traefik, Caddy, PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, Redis, Portainer, Prometheus, Grafana, InfluxDB, MinIO, Watchtower, Docker |
| Media | Plex, Jellyfin, Emby, Sonarr, Radarr, Prowlarr, SABnzbd, NZBGet, Bazarr, Calibre-Web, PhotoPrism, Immich |
| Automation | Home Assistant, Nextcloud, Gitea, Node-RED, Actual Budget, MQTT, Zigbee2MQTT |
| Security | WireGuard, Vaultwarden, Bitwarden, Authelia, Authentik, Duplicati, Vault, Frigate, Mailcow |
| Network | Pi-hole, AdGuard Home, UniFi Controller, Uptime Kuma, Statping |
Each entry has CPU/RAM/disk estimates, default ports, known security flags, and backup recommendations.
No Account, No Upload
Everything runs in your browser. Your docker-compose.yml is never sent anywhere — the YAML parsing, security analysis, and rendering all happen client-side. Works offline after first load.
Try it: Homelab Architect