Open-Source Automation Platform
oachkatzl is a self-hosted web UI and REST API that lets your team execute automation tasks — Ansible playbooks, shell scripts, Python code, and custom apps — with role-based access, live log streaming, and full audit history.
🐿️
oachkatzl is Bavarian and Austrian dialect for squirrel (German: Eichhörnchen) — famously used in the tongue-twister "oachkatzlschwoaf" (squirrel's tail).
It diligently collects nuts — your playbooks and inventories — and stashes them away for the right moment.
It leaps from branch to branch — your server nodes — with speed and precision.
From the top of the tree it keeps a perfect overview of its entire domain and infrastructure.
Capabilities
From one-off scripts to multi-step deployment pipelines — oachkatzl keeps your automation organised, auditable, and accessible to the right people.
Organise users into projects with fine-grained roles: Owner, Manager, Task Runner, and Guest — so the right people can do the right things.
Define reusable templates for Ansible playbooks, Bash scripts, Python code, or any custom application. Categorise them as task, build, or deploy workflows.
Watch stdout and stderr in real time via WebSockets. All output is archived in MongoDB so you can replay logs from any past run.
Store SSH keys and username/password pairs with Fernet encryption. Credentials are injected automatically as Ansible variables — no plain-text secrets in your playbooks.
Prompt operators for runtime input with typed fields: string, integer, enum, secret, boolean, and separator. Build interactive task launchers without writing extra code.
Re-run any completed task with the exact same survey answers and git revision. Perfect for reproducing issues or re-deploying a known-good state.
Chain templates into directed graphs with conditional edges. Build and edit pipelines with a drag-and-drop canvas — no YAML required.
Store and retrieve project-scoped files and JSON blobs via a simple REST API. Share build artefacts between tasks or export results for downstream systems.
Configure cron expressions for any template. Celery Beat handles recurring execution automatically — no external scheduler needed.
Expose HMAC-authenticated HTTP endpoints to kick off tasks from CI/CD systems, monitoring tools, or any external service that can POST a request.
Send run results to Email, Slack, Telegram, Microsoft Teams, and more. Keep your team informed without polling the UI.
Local accounts with JWT tokens, two-factor authentication (TOTP), and LDAP integration for enterprise single sign-on.
Route templates to dedicated Celery worker containers with specialized environments — GPU drivers, Terraform, kubectl, or custom Python packages. Each pool maps to its own queue via OACHKATZL_WORKER_QUEUES.
Place a gate node anywhere in a workflow to pause execution and wait for a human decision. The operator chooses to Proceed or Cancel — with title and description dynamically pulled from a JSON artifact of the preceding task.
In Action
A clean, modern interface that makes complex automation approachable for everyone — from senior DevOps engineers to first-time task runners.
Browse your project's template library, pick a template, fill in the survey form, and hit Run. oachkatzl validates input types and injects credentials before dispatching the job to Celery workers.
Watch your Ansible plays, script output, and error traces stream in real time. The WebSocket-powered console auto-scrolls, highlights ANSI colours, and preserves the full log in MongoDB for later review.
Drag templates onto a canvas, connect them with conditional edges, and define branching logic for success and failure paths. Deploy complex multi-step pipelines without writing a single line of orchestration code.
See exactly what's happening inside a running workflow — which steps succeeded, which are pending, and where errors occurred. Each node shows its live status so you can react instantly without tailing log files.
Set any template to run automatically via a cron expression. Quick-pick presets and a live preview make it easy without leaving the UI.
Store and share files or JSON between tasks and workflow runs. Each cache has a configurable retention period and is accessible via REST API using the OACHKATZL_ARTIFACT_TOKEN.
Define reusable credential schemas with custom input fields and injector rules. Values are securely injected as env vars, extra_vars, or files — keeping secrets out of your code entirely.
Map Active Directory groups directly to project roles. Members get the right access automatically on every login — no manual provisioning, no stale permissions.
Manage who has access to each project and at what role. Combine local users, direct LDAP user mappings, and AD group mappings in a single view.
Insert a dedicated gate node anywhere in a workflow to pause execution and wait for a human decision. A modal dialog prompts the operator to Proceed — continuing the workflow — or Cancel — stopping it immediately. The gate's title and description are sourced from a JSON artifact uploaded by the preceding task; if no artifact is provided, a default "Proceed?" prompt is shown instead.
Route templates to dedicated Celery worker containers that carry exactly the tools your tasks need — GPU drivers, Terraform, kubectl, or any custom Python packages. Define a named pool in Settings, set OACHKATZL_WORKER_QUEUES=<slug> on your worker container, and assign the pool per template or as a default for a custom app type.
Technology
oachkatzl is built on a robust, container-friendly stack that's easy to self-host and scale.
Get Started
Pull the pre-built images from Docker Hub or build everything from source. No Kubernetes required.
# 1. Download the compose file and example environment curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/lanbugs/oachkatzl/main/docker-compose.hub.yml \ -o docker-compose.yml curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/lanbugs/oachkatzl/main/.env.example \ -o .env # 2. Generate secrets and update .env # OACHKATZL_ENCRYPTION_KEY, OACHKATZL_JWT_SECRET, admin credentials … # 3. Start all services docker compose up -d # Web UI → http://localhost:8888 # API docs → http://localhost:8888/api/docs
# 1. Clone the repository git clone https://github.com/lanbugs/oachkatzl.git cd oachkatzl # 2. Set up your environment cp backend/.env.example backend/.env # Edit backend/.env — set secrets, admin credentials, etc. # 3. Build & start docker compose up --build # Web UI → http://localhost:8888 # API docs → http://localhost:8888/api/docs
Pre-built images are available on Docker Hub (lanbugsde). Full documentation and advanced configuration in the GitHub repository.
Open Source
oachkatzl is community-driven. Whether you fix a bug, improve the docs, or build a new feature — every contribution matters.
Found something broken? Open an issue on GitHub and help us track it down.
Got an idea? Share it in the issue tracker — we'd love to hear what would make oachkatzl more useful for you.
Fork the repo, make your changes, and open a PR. All skill levels welcome — from typo fixes to new integrations.
Star oachkatzl on GitHub to spread the word and help others discover the project.
oachkatzl is free forever under the MIT licence. Star the repo, open an issue, or submit a pull request.