13ft with Docker Compose
My own custom 12ft.io replacement In the project's words: 13ft on GitHub (repository description) checked 2026-10-09
Runs on: amd64, arm64, arm/v7 from each image's registry manifest, checked 2026-10-09; a CPU counts only if every image has a build for it. Image by image
Add 13ft to the builder to use your own domain and combine it with other apps in one file.
What 13ft needs
Only figures 13ft's own documentation publishes, each linked to the page it is on. Where the project gives no number, this page does not invent one.
| Resource | Minimum | Recommended |
|---|---|---|
| RAM | The project publishes no figure | |
| CPU | The project publishes no figure | |
| Disk | The project publishes no figure | |
Which hardware 13ft has images for
Read from each image's manifest list in its registry (anonymous, read-only) when this page was built. An app counts for a CPU only if every one of its images lists it.
- x86-64 PC or NAS (
linux/amd64): every image has a build. - Raspberry Pi 4/5, 64-bit OS (
linux/arm64): every image has a build. - Raspberry Pi 3 or Zero 2 W, 32-bit OS (
linux/arm/v7): every image has a build.
| Service | Image | Platforms in the manifest | Digest | Registry | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
13ft | ghcr.io/wasi-master/13ft:latest | amd64, arm/v7, arm64 | sha256:a43146f6b6e6d4b2b516baaa5773707e8ce4611a3d2c54c882377104ade89a0f | ghcr.io | 2026-10-09 |
docker-compose.yml
This is exactly what the builder writes for 13ft alone on example.org: the official definition with its published ports removed and Caddy added in front.
# docker-compose.yml built at dankhost.com for: 13ft # Each app block is its official compose definition. Only the names were prefixed with # the app slug (services, containers, volumes, bind folders, .env variables) so any set of # apps can share one file; other differences are listed under "Changed:" in each block. # Only Caddy publishes ports. Secrets live in .env next to this file. services: # ---- Caddy: the one reverse proxy, HTTPS certificates from Let's Encrypt ---- # Source: https://caddyserver.com/docs/running (checked 2026-09-23) # Source: https://github.com/dani-garcia/vaultwarden/wiki/Using-Docker-Compose (checked 2026-09-23) # Caddyfile goes in ./caddy/Caddyfile. Fixed address 172.30.0.2 so apps can trust it exactly. caddy: image: "caddy:2" container_name: "caddy" restart: "unless-stopped" ports: - "80:80" - "443:443" - "443:443/udp" volumes: - "./caddy:/etc/caddy" - "caddy-data:/data" - "caddy-config:/config" networks: proxy: ipv4_address: "172.30.0.2" # ---- 13ft (13ft.example.org) ---- # Source: https://github.com/wasi-master/13ft/blob/main/docker-compose.yaml (checked 2026-10-09) # Source: https://github.com/wasi-master/13ft/blob/main/README.md (checked 2026-10-09) # Changed: Removed the documented '5000:5000' port, container_name and hostname; Caddy reaches 13ft:5000 on the proxy network. 13ft: image: "ghcr.io/wasi-master/13ft:latest" container_name: "13ft" restart: "unless-stopped" networks: proxy: {} networks: # Pinned so the trusted-proxy address given to each app (172.30.0.2) is exact. # If "docker compose up" reports "Pool overlaps", change 172.30.0 here, in Caddy's # ipv4_address and in every trusted-proxy value to a free 172.x.0 range. proxy: ipam: config: - subnet: "172.30.0.0/24" ip_range: "172.30.0.128/25" gateway: "172.30.0.1" volumes: caddy-data: caddy-config:
Caddyfile save as caddy/Caddyfile
Caddy gets and renews the HTTPS certificate for 13ft.example.org by itself once the DNS record points at your server and ports 80 and 443 reach it.
# Caddyfile built at dankhost.com. Save it as ./caddy/Caddyfile next to docker-compose.yml.
# Caddy gets and renews a Let's Encrypt certificate for each name below by itself,
# once the DNS records point at this server and ports 80 and 443 reach it.
# 13ft
13ft.example.org {
reverse_proxy 13ft:5000
}
.env
13ft needs no secret here; the builder adds nothing you have to fill in by hand.
# .env for 13ft, from dankhost.com/app/13ft/. Nothing here is secret. # Keep this file private (chmod 600). # None of the chosen apps needs a variable here.
Changes from the official file
Besides prefixing every service, container, volume, folder and variable with 13ft (so any set of apps can share one file), these are all the differences from what the project documents:
- Removed the documented '5000:5000' port, container_name and hostname; Caddy reaches 13ft:5000 on the proxy network.
Notes for 13ft behind the proxy
- How it works, in the README's words: "It pretends to be GoogleBot (Google's web crawler) and gets the same content that google will get." It works on sites that show Google's crawler the whole article and goes no further: a site that checks the visitor really is Google, or serves the text only after a login, still shows its paywall.
- Your server does the fetching, from its own address, for anyone who can reach this page, and it fetches whatever address it is given (the README: put a page's address after yours and "it will read out the contents"), so put a password on the proxy or keep it on your own network.
- A site's terms may forbid reading it this way; the README asks you to "support the creators you benefit from".
- Nothing is stored and there is no login. The tag is latest.
How to run it
- At your DNS provider, add an A record named
13fton your domain pointing at the server's public IP address, and forward TCP 80, TCP 443 and UDP 443 to it. - Save the three files in one folder:
docker-compose.ymland.envside by side, the Caddyfile at./caddy/Caddyfile. Replaceexample.orgwith your domain in the Caddyfile, the compose file and the .env, or let the builder do it. - Nothing in
.envneeds filling in;chmod 600 .envall the same. - Start it:
docker compose up -d docker compose logs -f caddy # watch the certificate arrive
- Open the new address (
13ft.plus your domain) in a browser and follow the notes above.
Back it up
13ft publishes no backup procedure, and there is nothing to back up: it stores nothing on the server.
Below is the BACKUP.md the builder writes next to the compose file above: which of its folders and volumes hold data, what to copy with which container stopped, and a restore check. Pick more apps in the builder and it covers them all in one file.
# BACKUP.md built at dankhost.com for: 13ft
What to copy from the docker-compose.yml built with this file, the database dump each project documents (rewritten for the service names in that file), what to copy with which container stopped, and how to check the result. Run every command in the folder that holds docker-compose.yml.
The folders are owned by the containers' users: put sudo in front of tar if it says "Permission denied". Named volumes live under /var/lib/docker/volumes, not next to the compose file, so they are copied through a throwaway ubuntu container (Docker's documented --volumes-from method). tar makes a full copy each run; for large folders an incremental tool (restic, borg, rsync) saves time and space.
Never run "docker compose down -v" on this file: it deletes the named volumes of every app in it.
## Before you start
BACKUP=/mnt/backup/selfhost # change this: a disk or machine other than this server's system disk
mkdir -p "$BACKUP"
## Every time: the three stack files
tar czf "$BACKUP/stack-files.tar.gz" docker-compose.yml .env caddy
.env holds the database passwords and secret keys the apps were set up with; keep this archive as private as the data.
## Caddy (the reverse proxy)
Caddy's docs: 'The data directory must not be treated as a cache.' It holds the TLS certificates and their private keys; without it Caddy has to ask Let's Encrypt for every certificate again.
- caddy-data (named volume, /data in caddy)
BACK UP: TLS certificates, private keys, OCSP staples.
- caddy-config (named volume, /config in caddy)
SKIP: the last active configuration, kept for 'caddy run --resume', which this setup does not use: it starts from the Caddyfile.
- ./caddy (/etc/caddy in caddy)
IN stack-files.tar.gz: the Caddyfile, copied with the stack files above.
Copy (Caddy keeps serving while you copy):
docker run --rm --volumes-from caddy -v "$BACKUP":/backup ubuntu tar cvf /backup/caddy-data.tar /data
Restore check:
tar tf "$BACKUP/caddy-data.tar" > /dev/null && echo OK
docker run --rm --volumes-from caddy -v "$BACKUP":/backup ubuntu bash -c "cd /data && tar xvf /backup/caddy-data.tar --strip 1"
Sources:
- Caddy docs: Conventions, Data directory: https://caddyserver.com/docs/conventions#data-directory (checked 2026-09-24)
- Docker docs: Volumes, Back up, restore, or migrate data volumes: https://docs.docker.com/engine/storage/volumes/#back-up-restore-or-migrate-data-volumes (checked 2026-09-24)
## 13ft
13ft publishes no backup procedure, and there is nothing to back up: it stores nothing on the server.
What this compose mounts:
1. Nothing else to copy: the command above holds all of 13ft's data. It keeps no data.
Restore check:
Run docker compose up -d with the stack files.
Sources:
- 13ft README (how it works: poses as GoogleBot; Docker; reverse proxy): https://github.com/wasi-master/13ft/blob/main/README.md (checked 2026-10-09)
Update it
What docker compose pull does depends only on how each image line in the compose file above is tagged. For 13ft as this page writes it:
| Service | Image | How it is pinned | What docker compose pull does |
|---|---|---|---|
caddy | caddy:2 | Major version only (tag 2) | Takes the newest image tagged 2: minor and patch releases of 2, never 3. A new major version needs a tag edit. |
13ft | ghcr.io/wasi-master/13ft:latest | Not pinned: moving tag latest | Moves to the newest image published as latest, which can be a new major version. |
What 13ft's docs say about updating
13ft publishes no update procedure for this setup; the steps below are Docker's generic method.
The steps
- Back up first, as in Back it up above. An update can migrate 13ft's data on its first start; the copy is the way back.
- Download the new images. Running containers are not touched yet:
docker compose pull
- Recreate the containers whose image changed. Volumes and bind-mounted folders stay as they are:
docker compose up -d
- Watch 13ft start (Ctrl+C stops following the log, not the app):
docker compose logs -f 13ft
- Optional: remove the old images the pull left without a tag. This covers every stack on the machine, not only this one:
docker image prune
Locked out? Reset the admin password
13ft has no accounts and no login, so there is no password to reset.
The README lists no user or password setting: you paste a link and it fetches the page. Anyone who can reach the address can use it, and make your server fetch pages, so put a password on the proxy. Source: 13ft README (how it works: poses as GoogleBot; Docker; reverse proxy) read 2026-10-09
Sources
Every page below was fetched on the date shown.
- 13ft on GitHub (repository description) checked 2026-10-09 (what it does)
- 13ft: docker-compose.yaml (ghcr.io/wasi-master/13ft, port 5000) checked 2026-10-09 (compose definition and proxy settings)
- 13ft README (how it works: poses as GoogleBot; Docker; reverse proxy) checked 2026-10-09 (compose definition and proxy settings, backup plan)
- Caddy docs: Keep Caddy running (Docker Compose section) checked 2026-09-23 (Caddy)
- Vaultwarden wiki: Caddy with HTTP challenge (uses the caddy:2 image) checked 2026-09-23 (Caddy)
- Caddy docs: Conventions, Data directory checked 2026-09-24 (backup plan)
- Docker docs: Volumes, Back up, restore, or migrate data volumes checked 2026-09-24 (backup plan)
- Docker docs: docker compose pull checked 2026-09-30 (update steps)
- Docker docs: docker compose up (recreates changed containers, keeps volumes) checked 2026-09-30 (update steps)
- Docker docs: docker image prune checked 2026-09-30 (update steps)