# Cloud in a Bottle

> Open-source personal cloud OS: install web apps from Git repos on your own Ubuntu server or VM, with subdomain routing, HTTPS, sandboxed containers, backups and a CLI.

- **Category:** PaaS
- **Licence:** AGPL-3.0
- **Latest version:** v0.3.0
- **Open source:** oss
- **Languages:** Python
- **Platforms:** Debian
- **Tags:** Caddy, Matrix, Deployment, Acme, Home Server, Paas, Podman, Self Hosting, Containers, Restic, Personal cloud, Personal server, Coredns, App Platform, Self Hosted Apps

## Description

Cloud in a Bottle packages an open-source personal-cloud operating system you install on hardware you own, so installing web apps feels like using an app store while the data never leaves your machine. Its control plane, the router, is a Python service offering a dashboard plus APIs; it clones app repositories, interprets their cloudinabottle.toml manifests, produces container images via rootless Podman, and forwards HTTP and WebSocket traffic to whichever app a request's subdomain names. Everything sits behind the owner's session by default, though a manifest can expose chosen path prefixes. Public deployments put Caddy in front for TLS and run CoreDNS as the zone's authoritative server, so wildcard resolution and wildcard certificates need no per-app work. Manifests govern ports, memory and CPU ceilings, extra host port mappings, storage tiers (permanent, temporary, and an archive on local disk or S3-compatible buckets), provisioned SQLite files, and permissioned cross-app services that the router brokers between containers. Every instance arrives with helper apps already installed: a curated catalog, an encrypted restic backup tool with a migration tab, a file browser, secrets storage, an OAuth token holder, and a Matrix chat server. The same actions are available from the terminal through the bottle CLI, which scripting and coding agents can drive. Self-hosting means running the project's provisioning script on a fresh Ubuntu 24.04 server or home machine, or booting its prebuilt VM image under QEMU or VirtualBox; Imbue also sells managed instances from $5 per month. It remains early (v0.2.0, AGPL-3.0): named per-person logins are roadmap only, and app updates stay manual for now.

## Links

- [Homepage](https://github.com/cloud-in-a-bottle/cloud-in-a-bottle)
- [Website](cloudinabottle.org)
- [Cloud in a Bottle Manual](https://cloudinabottle.org/docs/)
- [Project roadmap](https://cloudinabottle.org/docs/roadmap.html)
- [Community on Matrix](https://matrix.to/#/#openhost-community:matrix.openhost.imbue.com)
- [App catalog manifest repo](https://github.com/cloud-in-a-bottle/app-manifest)
- [Blog](https://cloudinabottle.org/blog)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/project/cloud-in-a-bottle