Tailscale Control

Tailscale Control is an unofficial native macOS utility for configuring tailscale serve routes to local apps and Docker-published ports.

It is intentionally small: it validates input, runs the local tailscale and docker CLIs with explicit argument arrays, and shows command output in the app.

This is free and open-source software (MIT) for everyone. There is no vendor, no account, no telemetry, and no branding — just a local utility you can read, build, and modify.

This project is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Tailscale Inc. Tailscale is a trademark of Tailscale Inc.

Screenshot

Features

• Native macOS Swift/AppKit app; no web runtime or Electron.
• Quick route: HTTPS :443 on your tailnet to http://127.0.0.1:8080.
• Custom routes: choose tailnet mode/port and local target scheme/host/port.
• Docker target discovery for containers with published host ports.
• Status and reset controls for tailscale serve.
• Closes like a normal small utility: closing the main window quits the app.

Requirements

Runtime:

• macOS 13 or newer.
• Tailscale CLI installed and logged in.
• Docker CLI installed only if you want Docker target discovery.

Build from source:

• macOS with Xcode Command Line Tools.
• swiftc, codesign, plutil, and hdiutil available in PATH.

Download a DMG from Releases

For normal installation, download the latest .dmg from the project's GitHub Releases page:

1. Open the repository on GitHub.
2. Go to Releases.
3. Download Tailscale-Control-<version>.dmg.
4. Open the DMG and drag Tailscale Control.app to Applications.
5. Launch the app from Applications.

The GitHub release workflow in this repository builds the DMG on macOS runners when a version tag is pushed.

Build locally

git clone <repository-url>
cd tailscale-control
make build
open "build/Tailscale Control.app"

Run verification:

make verify

Create a local DMG:

make dmg

The DMG will be written to dist/.

Release process for maintainers

1. Update version notes if needed.

2. Tag the release:

   git tag v0.1.0
   git push origin v0.1.0

3. GitHub Actions builds the app and uploads:

   • Tailscale-Control-v0.1.0.dmg
   • the generated .app artifact

How routing works

The app configures Tailscale Serve. For example, the quick route runs:

tailscale serve --bg --yes --https=443 http://127.0.0.1:8080

That means:

tailnet HTTPS :443 -> http://127.0.0.1:8080

For Docker on macOS, publish the container port to the host first:

docker run -p 8080:80 your-image

Then route Tailscale to:

http://127.0.0.1:8080

The app does not route to Docker private container IPs. On Docker Desktop for macOS, host-published ports are the reliable path.

Project layout

Sources/TailscaleControl/main.swift   Native app source
scripts/build.sh                      Build and ad-hoc sign the .app
scripts/package-dmg.sh                Create a local DMG
.github/workflows/release.yml         CI/release build workflow
Makefile                              Convenience commands
LICENSE                               MIT License

Development notes

• Commands are executed without shell interpolation.
• Port, host, scheme, and mode inputs are validated before command execution.
• The --self-test mode verifies command construction without changing live Tailscale configuration.
• The --close-self-test mode verifies that closing the window terminates the app process.

License

MIT. See LICENSE.