| I want to... | Type | Start here |
|---|---|---|
| Add a Docker service (new container, health check, dashboard tile) | Service extension | This guide (below) |
| Change the installer itself (new tier, swap theme, add/skip phase) | Installer mod | INSTALLER-ARCHITECTURE.md |
This guide is the fastest path to extend Dream Server without editing core internals.
Each extension service is a directory under extensions/services/:
extensions/services/
my-service/
manifest.yaml # Service metadata (required)
compose.yaml # Docker Compose fragment (for extension services)
compose.amd.yaml # GPU overlay for AMD (optional)
compose.nvidia.yaml # GPU overlay for NVIDIA (optional)
Core services (llama-server, open-webui, dashboard, dashboard-api) have only a manifest.yaml — their compose definitions live in docker-compose.base.yml.
Extension services have both manifest.yaml and compose.yaml. The compose fragment is merged into the stack automatically by resolve-compose-stack.sh.
- Docker services via
extensions/services/<name>/compose.yaml - Service metadata (health checks, ports, aliases, categories) via
manifest.yaml - Feature tiles exposed by
GET /api/featuresvia manifestfeaturesblocks - Dashboard UI via plugin registration in
dashboard/src/plugins/registry.js
mkdir extensions/services/my-servicecp extensions/templates/service-template.yaml extensions/services/my-service/manifest.yamlEdit the manifest:
- set
service.idto a unique kebab-case ID - set
service.name,service.port,service.health - set
service.aliasesfor CLI shorthand names - set
service.container_name(typicallydream-<id>) - set
service.category:core,recommended, oroptional - set
service.compose_file: compose.yaml - set
service.depends_onif it needs other services - set
service.gpu_backends(amd,nvidia, or both) - add feature entries under
featuresif the service unlocks user-visible capability
Create extensions/services/my-service/compose.yaml:
services:
my-service:
image: my-org/my-service:latest
container_name: dream-my-service
restart: unless-stopped
ports:
- "${MY_SERVICE_PORT:-9200}:8080"
environment:
- LLM_URL=http://llama-server:8080/v1
depends_on:
llama-server:
condition: service_healthy
healthcheck:
test: ["CMD", "curl", "-f", "http://localhost:8080/health"]
interval: 30s
timeout: 10s
retries: 3
start_period: 15sThe service automatically joins dream-network and can reach other services by Docker DNS name.
# Schema check
python3 -c "import yaml; yaml.safe_load(open('extensions/services/my-service/manifest.yaml'))"
# Compose merge check
docker compose -f docker-compose.base.yml -f docker-compose.amd.yml \
-f extensions/services/my-service/compose.yaml config
# Contract audit (manifest + compose + overlay consistency)
python3 scripts/audit-extensions.py --project-dir .
bash tests/test-extension-audit.sh
# Integration/smoke checks
bash tests/integration-test.sh
bash tests/smoke/linux-amd.sh# Enable and start
dream enable my-service
dream start my-service
# Verify healthy
dream logs my-service
curl http://localhost:9200/health
# Check it appears in the list
dream listcompose.yamlpresent → enabled (included in stack)compose.yaml.disabled→ disabled (manifest still visible to CLI/dashboard)- Core services (
category: core) have no compose.yaml — always on in base.yml
dream enable my-service # Renames compose.yaml.disabled → compose.yaml
dream disable my-service # Stops container, renames compose.yaml → compose.yaml.disabled
dream list # Shows all services with statusDream Server now includes an extension audit workflow so new services can be validated like core components instead of relying on ad hoc manual checks.
Run the full audit:
python3 scripts/audit-extensions.py --project-dir .Audit one service only:
python3 scripts/audit-extensions.py --project-dir . whisperFail on warnings too:
python3 scripts/audit-extensions.py --project-dir . --strictFrom an installed system you can use the CLI:
dream audit
dream audit --json comfyuiWhat the audit checks:
- manifest schema/version, categories, types, ports, and health endpoints
- alias collisions and broken dependency references
- feature IDs and feature service references
- compose file presence for non-core docker services
- compose container names, port mappings, healthchecks, and disabled-state discovery
- GPU overlay coverage for stub-based GPU services such as ComfyUI-style layouts
This is especially useful when validating large extension libraries, because it surfaces integration regressions before they hit installer or runtime testing.
Required root field:
schema_version: dream.services.v1
Optional root field:
compatibility— version compatibility hints:dream_min: minimum Dream Server version this extension supports (e.g."2.0.0")dream_max: maximum Dream Server version this extension was tested against (optional)
Service section:
- required:
id,name,port,health - recommended:
aliases,container_name,compose_file,category,depends_on - optional:
host_env,default_host,external_port_env,external_port_default,type,gpu_backends,env_vars
Feature section (optional list):
- required per feature:
id,name,description,icon,category,requirements,priority - optional:
enabled_services_all,enabled_services_any,setup_time,gpu_backends
| Category | Behavior | Examples |
|---|---|---|
core |
Always on, lives in base.yml | llama-server, open-webui, dashboard |
recommended |
Enabled by default | searxng, litellm, token-spy |
optional |
User opts in | n8n, whisper, tts, comfyui |
If your service uses a GPU, you need overlay files alongside compose.yaml. The compose resolver (resolve-compose-stack.sh) automatically picks up compose.nvidia.yaml or compose.amd.yaml based on the detected GPU vendor. Only one overlay is active at a time.
There are two patterns. Pick the one that matches your service:
When to use: Your service works on CPU but runs faster on GPU (e.g., speech-to-text, embedding generation, transcription).
The base compose.yaml has the full service definition with a CPU image. The GPU overlay only overrides the image tag and adds GPU device reservations. Everything else (ports, volumes, healthcheck) is inherited from the base.
File layout:
extensions/services/my-service/
manifest.yaml
compose.yaml # Full definition, CPU image (e.g., :latest-cpu)
compose.nvidia.yaml # Swaps image to :latest-cuda, adds GPU devices
compose.amd.yaml # Swaps image to :latest-rocm, adds AMD devices
Example (from whisper):
compose.yaml — full service with CPU image:
services:
whisper:
image: ghcr.io/speaches-ai/speaches:latest-cpu
container_name: dream-whisper
# ... ports, volumes, healthcheck, etc.compose.nvidia.yaml — only the GPU-specific overrides:
services:
whisper:
image: ghcr.io/speaches-ai/speaches:latest-cuda
deploy:
resources:
reservations:
devices:
- driver: nvidia
count: 1
capabilities: [gpu]
limits:
cpus: '4.0'
memory: 8GWhen to use: Your service only makes sense on a GPU, with no CPU fallback (e.g., image generation, video rendering).
The base compose.yaml is an empty stub (services: {}). Each GPU overlay contains the complete service definition. The definitions often differ significantly between vendors (different images, device passthrough, environment variables, CLI flags).
File layout:
extensions/services/my-service/
manifest.yaml
compose.yaml # Empty stub: services: {}
compose.nvidia.yaml # Complete NVIDIA definition
compose.amd.yaml # Complete AMD definition
Example (from comfyui):
compose.yaml — empty stub so the registry detects the service:
# ComfyUI — Image Generation
# The GPU overlay provides the full service definition.
services: {}compose.nvidia.yaml — full service definition:
services:
comfyui:
build:
context: ./comfyui
dockerfile: Dockerfile
container_name: dream-comfyui
restart: unless-stopped
ports:
- "${COMFYUI_PORT:-8188}:8188"
volumes:
- ./data/comfyui/models:/models
# ... other mounts
shm_size: '8g'
deploy:
resources:
reservations:
devices:
- driver: nvidia
count: 1
capabilities: [gpu]
healthcheck:
test: ["CMD", "wget", "--spider", "--quiet", "http://localhost:8188"]
interval: 30s
timeout: 10s
start_period: 120s
retries: 3compose.amd.yaml — full service with AMD-specific config:
services:
comfyui:
image: ignatberesnev/comfyui-gfx1151:v0.2
container_name: dream-comfyui
devices:
- /dev/dri:/dev/dri
- /dev/kfd:/dev/kfd
group_add:
- "${VIDEO_GID:-44}"
- "${RENDER_GID:-992}"
environment:
- HSA_OVERRIDE_GFX_VERSION=11.5.1
# ... ports, volumes, healthcheck, deploy, etc.| Pattern 1 (tag swap) | Pattern 2 (GPU-only) | |
|---|---|---|
| CPU fallback? | Yes | No |
| Base compose.yaml | Full service definition | services: {} |
| GPU overlay contains | Image tag + deploy block | Entire service definition |
| Example service | whisper | comfyui |
| Template | extensions/templates/compose-gpu-swap.yaml |
extensions/templates/compose-gpu-only.yaml |
AMD ROCm requires additional container configuration compared to NVIDIA:
- Device passthrough:
/dev/dri(rendering) and/dev/kfd(compute) - Group membership: Container user must be in the host's
videoandrendergroups - GFX version override: Set
HSA_OVERRIDE_GFX_VERSIONto match your GPU (check withrocminfo | grep gfx) - Security relaxation:
cap_add: SYS_PTRACEandseccomp:unconfinedmay be needed for ROCm profiling
- Service ID is unique and stable
- Health endpoint is cheap and deterministic
- Feature requirements use real service IDs
- AMD/NVIDIA support is explicitly declared
- Docs/examples reference canonical paths (
config/n8n,docker compose) - CI scripts pass locally (
integration-test, smoke scripts, syntax checks)
bash -non changed shell filespython3 -m py_compile dashboard-api/main.pybash tests/integration-test.sh- relevant smoke scripts in
tests/smoke/ - if dashboard code changed and Node is available:
cd dashboard
npm install
npm run lint
npm run build- Manifest loading is additive with safe fallback defaults.
- Unknown/malformed manifests are skipped with warnings, not fatal crashes.
- Keep extension files ASCII and small; one service per directory is preferred.
- The service registry (
lib/service-registry.sh) provides bash functions for resolving aliases and discovering enabled services. - Scripts that load
.env: Sourcelib/safe-env.shand useload_env_file "<path>"; do not useevalorexport $(grep ... .env | xargs)(injection risk).