--- title: "Tools" id: "1717" type: "page" slug: "tools" published_at: "2026-09-20T20:36:26+00:00" modified_at: "2026-09-21T01:36:28+00:00" url: "https://xedant.com/agents/multiagent/docs/tools" markdown_url: "https://xedant.com/agents/multiagent/docs/tools.md" excerpt: "Tools are quick deployments of Docker services onto your managed servers, from templates. A service…" --- # Tools [https://xedant.com/agents/multiagent/docs/tools.md](https://xedant.com/agents/multiagent/docs/tools.md) Tools are quick deployments of Docker services onto your managed servers, from templates. A service (Postgres, Redis, nginx — anything) is described once as a template, then deployed as many times as you like — each instance with its own settings. The library ships with ready built-in tools — Dozzle, Watchtower, pgAdmin, Playwright and Redis — with the projects’ real logos. ## Two levels - **Template library** (the “Tools” section) — global, stored on the MultiAgent’s own disk in the `AGENT_TOOLS` folder and shared by all servers. Templates are edited right in the interface: the manifest, the files and compose.yml — as raw text; - **Instances on a server** (server page → “Tools on this server”) — the deployed copies: each instance’s lifecycle, statuses, logs, files and variables. ## Template structure Each template is a folder named by its slug — lowercase letters, digits and hyphens: ``` {AGENT_TOOLS}/ redis/ ← template slug = folder name tool.json ← name, description, icon, category, variables compose.yml ← Scriban template redis.conf ← any extra files init/ 01-init.sh ← nested subfolders are supported ``` Variables are described in `tool.json` with a type schema: - **string** — a text field; - **secret** — a password field: the value is encrypted in the database and masked in the interface; - **int** — a number field; - **choice** — a dropdown of preset options; - **bool** — a yes/no toggle. A variable can declare an **SSO variant** — the “sign in through the server’s central login” option. When central login is active on the target server, the deploy dialog pre-fills exactly that variant (without it — the normal default), and the instance is born already protected behind the central login. Fields can also be **hidden by a condition** (`when`): such a variable is neither shown nor validated, at deploy time or when editing. Example — the built-in **Dozzle** template: the sign-in method is chosen by the `auth_provider` variable (`simple` — Dozzle’s own password, `forward-proxy` — sign-in through central login), and the login and password are asked for only in own-password mode — deploying through central login needs no credentials. **pgAdmin** works the same way with its `auth_sources` choice: `internal` — the usual email-and-password form, `webserver` — sign-in through central login. Switching the method back to a password (for Dozzle, to `simple`) asks for the password again in the same dialog. Every container MultiAgent puts on a server — agents, applications, tools and its own services — is labeled with the server’s name. If you watch several servers in one Dozzle, the containers group themselves by server automatically. On first run the library fills with examples: `redis`, `pgAdmin`, `dozzle` and `watchtower`. Each template carries its logo (`logo.svg`/`logo.png` — the project’s real emblem), which the catalog shows instead of a glyph icon. The examples can be edited — the library is only overwritten when it is empty. ## Deployment 1. Pick a template and a server — a form with the template’s variables opens; 2. Fill in the values (secrets are encrypted right away) and preview the assembled compose files against the variables you entered; 3. MultiAgent renders all the template files through Scriban, copies them into the server’s tools folder and runs `docker compose up -d`. The compose project name is the instance’s short name, so instances stay isolated in networks and volumes. Templates can use the variable values plus built-in server contexts: `{{ instance_slug }}`, `{{ instance_name }}`, `{{ data_folder }}`, `{{ tools_folder }}`, `{{ temp_folder }}` (the temp-files folder), `{{ server_host }}`, `{{ server_name }}` (the server’s name) and more. Use `{{ instance_slug }}` in `container_name` so two instances of one template can live on the same server. A tool whose template declares a **web port** becomes publicly available at the server’s subfolder `http(s)://{serverHost}/{slug}/` through Nginx — the same route projection agents use (the route appears with the instance and disappears when it is removed). Without a web port, the tool stays at the direct address `http://{host}:{port}`. Details — [Routes](/agents/multiagent/docs/routes) . When [central login](/agents/multiagent/docs/servers) is enabled on a server, a tool with a web interface can be closed **behind the central login** — a toggle on the instance (server page → “Tools on this server”). Unlike agents and products, which are closed by default, tools are protected only by your choice: a visitor signs in once at the server’s login page and the tool opens without its own login; the direct `host:port` address keeps the tool’s own sign-in. An instance deployed through a template’s SSO variant is born already protected — no separate toggle. Without an active central login everything works as before: the tools’ own logins and passwords. ## Instance lifecycle - **Start / Stop / Restart / Pull** — container control; the files are untouched; - **Recreate** — the only operation that rebuilds the files from the template with the saved variables. Manual file edits get overwritten — the interface warns you beforehand; - **Delete** — stops and removes the container, its files and named volumes. After deployment, an instance’s files on the server are free to edit — through the instance’s “Files” tab or over SSH. Instances are ordinary Docker containers, so they reuse the familiar agent UX: lifecycle buttons, status badges, log viewing, and a file browser with operation progress over SignalR. ## Library persistence By default `AGENT_TOOLS` points at `/project/tools` — inside the container, not saved across rebuilds. To let templates survive a container rebuild, set `AGENT_TOOLS=/data/tools`: the `/data` volume persists between rebuilds. The products catalog works the same way — the `AGENT_PRODUCTS` folder with templates for Research, Analytics, Data, Proxy, MultiAgent, plus chat bots, Telegram, UI and CRM. Details — in the [installation guide](/agents/multiagent/docker) . [← Back to documentation](/agents/multiagent/docs)