☠️ dead-mans-switch

Dead Man's Switch is an all one self-hosted app for creating a "Dead Man's Switch". Create switch via the UI, API, or CLI that sends a message via many providers if you don't "check-in" by resetting your timer(s).

Table of Contents

Try out a demo version here 👈

• Features
• Quick Start
• Install as a PWA
• Configuration
• Guides
• CLI Reference
• Deployment
• Development
• License

Background

I have several personal use cases for this so I made this to run for myself. Maybe you'll like it too.

Features

• Multi-channel alerting — Notify via push, email, webhook, twilio, discord and more. Never miss an expired switch. Powered by Shoutrrr
• Push notifications — Check in via real-time push notifications on mobile or desktop before a switch expires as your chosen threshold.
• Add location to switches — Add a google maps link to your switch's message with a single click.
• Zero-dependency deployment — UI, CLI, and API ship as a single binary. No runtime dependencies, no sidecar services. Just run it.
• Secure — Automatic TLS via CertMagic, with optional Authentik OIDC integration for multi-user setups, optional encryption per switch.
• Full observability — Prometheus metrics and structured JSON logging

Quick Start

Demo

Mobile App view — creating a switch, checking in, and receiving push notifications

Deploy

# Start the server with default settings (HTTP)
# http://localhost:8080
docker run -v $PWD/dead-mans-switch-data:/data -p 8080:8080 circa10a/dead-mans-switch

# Start with HTTPS (Let's Encrypt for automatic TLS)
# Requires domain pointing to host address
# http://myexamplesite.com
docker run -v $PWD/dead-mans-switch-data:/data -p 443:443 -p 80:80 circa10a/dead-mans-switch \
  server \
  --auto-tls \
  --domains myexamplesite.com \
  --data-dir /data

# Start with HTTPS (Custom Certs)
docker run -v $PWD/certs:/certs $PWD/dead-mans-switch-data:/data -p 8443:8443 circa10a/dead-mans-switch \
  server
  --auto-tls \
  --domains myexamplesite.com \
  --data-dir /data \
  --tls-certificate /certs/cert.pem \
  --tls-key /certs/key.pem

Note

HTTPS is required for push notifications.

Caution

The --data-dir directory contains your database and VAPID keys. Deleting or losing this directory will permanently destroy all switches and break existing push notification subscriptions. Back it up.

Install as a PWA

Dead Man's Switch can be installed as a Progressive Web App (PWA) for a native app-like experience on your phone or desktop.

iOS (Safari)

1. Open your Dead Man's Switch instance in Safari
2. Tap the Share button (square with an arrow)
3. Scroll down and tap Add to Home Screen
4. Tap Add

Android (Chrome)

1. Open your Dead Man's Switch instance in Chrome
2. Tap the three-dot menu (⋮)
3. Tap Add to Home Screen (or Install app)
4. Tap Install

Desktop (Chrome / Edge)

1. Open your Dead Man's Switch instance in Chrome or Edge
2. Click the install icon (⊕) in the address bar, or go to Menu -> Install Dead Man's Switch
3. Click Install

Note

HTTPS is required for PWA installation. Use --auto-tls or provide custom certificates.

Configuration

The server can be configured via CLI flags, environment variables, or a YAML config file. When multiple sources set the same value, the precedence order is:

CLI flags > Environment variables > Config file > Defaults

Config File

Place a dead-mans-switch.yaml file in the current working directory or your home directory and it will be loaded automatically. You can also specify a path explicitly:

dead-mans-switch server --config /path/to/config.yaml

Example config (see dead-mans-switch.example.yaml for all options):

port: 8080
log-level: info
log-format: json
data-dir: ./data
metrics: true

auth-enabled: true
auth-issuer-url: https://auth.example.com/application/o/dead-mans-switch/
auth-audience: my-client-id

worker-interval: 1m
worker-batch-size: 1000

Config keys match CLI flag names (hyphenated). Every flag also has a corresponding environment variable with the DEAD_MANS_SWITCH_ prefix (e.g. DEAD_MANS_SWITCH_PORT).

Guides

• Authentik Integration — Set up OIDC authentication with Authentik
• Tailscale + MagicDNS HTTPS — Private HTTPS via Tailscale without exposing to the internet

API Documentation

Visit the interactive API documentation:

• API Docs: http://localhost:8080/v1/docs

CLI Reference

Install

# curl (Linux/macOS)
curl -sSfL https://github.com/circa10a/dead-mans-switch/releases/latest/download/dead-mans-switch_$(uname -s)_$(uname -m).tar.gz | tar xz

# Go
go install github.com/circa10a/dead-mans-switch@latest

Usage

$ dead-mans-switch
Manage Dead Man's Switches

Usage:
  dead-mans-switch [command]

Available Commands:
  completion  Generate the autocompletion script for the specified shell
  help        Help about any command
  server      Start the dead-mans-switch server
  switch      Manage dead man switches
  version     Print the version information

Flags:
  -h, --help      help for dead-mans-switch
  -v, --version   version for dead-mans-switch

Use "dead-mans-switch [command] --help" for more information about a command.

Server Command

$ dead-mans-switch server -h
Start the dead-mans-switch server

Usage:
  dead-mans-switch server [flags]

Flags:
      --auth-audience string           Expected JWT audience claim. (env: DEAD_MANS_SWITCH_AUTH_AUDIENCE)
      --auth-enabled                   Enable JWT authentication via OIDC. (env: DEAD_MANS_SWITCH_AUTH_ENABLED)
      --auth-issuer-url string         Identity provider OAuth2 issuer URL. (env: DEAD_MANS_SWITCH_AUTH_ISSUER_URL)
  -a, --auto-tls                       Enable automatic TLS via Let's Encrypt. Requires port 80/443 open to the internet for domain validation. (env: DEAD_MANS_SWITCH_AUTO_TLS)
      --contact-email string           Email used for TLS cert registration + push notification point of contact (not required). (env: DEAD_MANS_SWITCH_CONTACT_EMAIL) (default "user@dead-mans-switch.com")
      --demo-mode                      Enable demo mode which creates sample switches on startup and resets the database periodically. (env: DEAD_MANS_SWITCH_DEMO_MODE)
      --demo-reset-interval duration   How often to reset the database with fresh sample switches when in demo mode. (env: DEAD_MANS_SWITCH_DEMO_RESET_INTERVAL) (default 6h0m0s)
  -d, --domains stringArray            Domains to issue certificate for. Must be used with --auto-tls. (env: DEAD_MANS_SWITCH_DOMAINS)
  -h, --help                           help for server
  -f, --log-format string              Server logging format. Supported values are 'text' and 'json'. (env: DEAD_MANS_SWITCH_LOG_FORMAT) (default "text")
  -l, --log-level string               Server logging level. (env: DEAD_MANS_SWITCH_LOG_LEVEL) (default "info")
  -m, --metrics                        Enable Prometheus metrics instrumentation. (env: DEAD_MANS_SWITCH_METRICS)
  -p, --port int                       Port to listen on. Cannot be used in conjunction with --auto-tls since that will require listening on 80 and 443. (env: DEAD_MANS_SWITCH_PORT) (default 8080)
  -s, --data-dir string               Data directory for database and keys (env: DEAD_MANS_SWITCH_DATA_DIR) (default "./data")
      --tls-certificate string         Path to custom TLS certificate. Cannot be used with --auto-tls. (env: DEAD_MANS_SWITCH_TLS_CERTIFICATE)
      --tls-key string                 Path to custom TLS key. Cannot be used with --auto-tls. (env: DEAD_MANS_SWITCH_TLS_KEY)
      --worker-batch-size int          How many notification records to process at a time. (env: DEAD_MANS_SWITCH_WORKER_BATCH_SIZE) (default 1000)
      --worker-interval duration       How often to check for expired switches. (env: DEAD_MANS_SWITCH_WORKER_INTERVAL) (default 5m0s)

Switch Command

$ dead-mans-switch switch -h
Manage dead man switches

Usage:
  dead-mans-switch switch [command]

Available Commands:
  create      Create a new dead man switch
  delete      Delete a dead man switch
  disable     Disable a dead man switch
  get         Get all switches or a specific one by ID
  reset       Reset a dead man switch timer
  update      Update an existing dead man switch

Flags:
      --color           Enable colorized output (default true)
  -h, --help            help for switch
  -o, --output string   Output format (json, yaml) (default "json")
  -u, --url string      API base URL (default "http://localhost:8080/api/v1")

Global Flags:
      --config string   Config file (default: ./dead-mans-switch.yaml or ~/dead-mans-switch.yaml)

Use "dead-mans-switch switch [command] --help" for more information about a command.

Deployment

Docker Compose

services:
  dead-mans-switch:
    image: circa10a/dead-mans-switch
    ports:
      - 8080:8080
    volumes:
      - dms_data:/data

volumes:
  dms_data:

Kubernetes

Deploy to Kubernetes using the provided manifest:

# Apply the manifest
kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/circa10a/dead-mans-switch/main/deploy/k8s/manifest.yaml

# Verify deployment
kubectl get pods -l app=dead-mans-switch

The service will be available based on your Kubernetes configuration.

For local development with Tilt:

make k8s

See deploy/k8s for the manifest files.

Development

Important

Most make targets require Docker to be installed.

Start Local Server

make run

2024-10-26T19:09:03-07:00 INFO <server/server.go:118> Starting server on :8080 component=server

Run Tests

make test

Run local Authentik stack

# Start
make auth

# Stop
make auth-down

Run local Prometheus/Grafana/Loki stack

make monitoring

License

See LICENSE file