Run the full Manifest stack with Docker. No Node.js required — just Docker.
Quick start
Download the compose file
curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mnfst/manifest/main/docker-compose.yml
Start the services
This starts Manifest and a PostgreSQL database. Open the dashboard
Go to http://localhost:3001 and log in with the demo account:
- Email:
admin@manifest.build
- Password:
manifest
Connect a provider
Open the Routing page and add an LLM provider (OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, etc.) with your API key.
Connect OpenClaw
In the agent settings, copy the setup command and run it in your terminal:openclaw config set plugins.entries.manifest-model-router.config.devMode true
openclaw config set plugins.entries.manifest-model-router.config.endpoint http://localhost:3001
openclaw gateway restart
Verify
Send a message through OpenClaw. It should appear in the Manifest dashboard within a few seconds.
curl -X POST http://localhost:3001/v1/chat/completions \
-H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_MNFST_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"model": "manifest/auto", "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Hello"}]}'
Custom port
To run on a different port (e.g. 8080), update both the port mapping and BETTER_AUTH_URL in docker-compose.yml:
ports:
- "8080:3001"
environment:
- BETTER_AUTH_URL=http://localhost:8080
If you see an “Invalid origin” error on the login page, BETTER_AUTH_URL doesn’t match the port you’re accessing the dashboard on.
Standalone (bring your own PostgreSQL)
If you already have a PostgreSQL instance:
docker run -d \
-p 3001:3001 \
-e DATABASE_URL=postgresql://user:pass@host:5432/manifest \
-e BETTER_AUTH_SECRET=$(openssl rand -hex 32) \
-e BETTER_AUTH_URL=http://localhost:3001 \
-e NODE_ENV=development \
-e MANIFEST_TRUST_LAN=true \
manifestdotbuild/manifest
NODE_ENV=development enables automatic database migrations on startup.
Environment variables
| Variable | Required | Default | Description |
|---|
DATABASE_URL | Yes | — | PostgreSQL connection string |
BETTER_AUTH_SECRET | Yes | — | Session signing secret (min 32 chars). Generate with openssl rand -hex 32 |
BETTER_AUTH_URL | No | http://localhost:3001 | Public URL of the app. Set when using a custom port |
PORT | No | 3001 | Internal server port |
NODE_ENV | No | production | Set development for auto-migrations |
SEED_DATA | No | false | Seed demo data on startup |
MANIFEST_TRUST_LAN | No | false | Trust private network IPs for auth (required for Docker) |
Stop and clean up
docker compose down # Stop services (keeps data)
docker compose down -v # Stop and delete all data
Docker Hub
The image is available at manifestdotbuild/manifest on Docker Hub. 
