Ceki headless-browser provider (Docker)

Run a provider browser for browser.ceki.me from Docker.

The container starts a real Chromium browser with the Ceki extension installed, injects your browser token and keeps the browser online so other people can rent it as a public browser while you're not using your machine.

This image is a thin wrapper around the provider launcher — a small program that sets up the browser, connects it to the Ceki network and stays alive, auto-accepting incoming rentals.

Prerequisites

• Docker (any recent version)
• A provider token — a one-time browser token from your account dashboard on browser.ceki.me (the "call a browser" / "rent out my browser" flow). One token = one browser = one container.

Quick start

docker run --rm \
  -e CEKI_PROVIDER_TOKEN=<your-token> \
  ceki/provider

The container starts a virtual display, launches Chromium with the extension, brings your browser online and keeps it there until someone rents it or you stop the container.

With docker compose

The image bundles the browser-extension dist, which must be staged before building. Run ./build.sh first (it copies the extension dist into the git-ignored extension/ directory). If you skip this, docker compose up --build fails at the COPY extension/ step.

export CEKI_PROVIDER_TOKEN=<your-token>
./build.sh                          # stage the extension dist first (required)
docker compose up -d --build
docker compose logs -f provider
docker compose stop provider

Configuration

Env var	Default	Description
CEKI_PROVIDER_TOKEN	—	Required. One-time browser token from your dashboard.
CEKI_WS_URL	wss://browser.ceki.me/ws/provider	Relay WebSocket URL. Overrides the PROD URL baked into the extension bundle at runtime (see below).
CEKI_API_URL	https://api.ceki.me	API base URL — used by the launcher (token handshake) and substituted into the extension bundle at runtime.
CEKI_PROVIDER_VIEWPORT	1920x1080	Browser viewport / resolution (WxH). Full HD by default; drives both the Chromium viewport and the Xvfb screen (+120px height margin for full-page screenshots).
DISPLAY	:99	X display for the virtual screen.
TZ	host timezone	Browser timezone (keeps it consistent with your location).

One image, environment at runtime

The image ships with the PROD environment baked in and defaults to prod. The extension is static JS and cannot read container env, so the entrypoint replaces the PROD URL strings in the bundled extension config before Chromium starts when the env is set (and differs from the default). No separate dev image is needed (ceki/provider:dev is deprecated).

# prod (default) — no env needed beyond the token
docker run --rm -e CEKI_PROVIDER_TOKEN=<your-token> ceki/provider

# dev stand — override the relay + API URLs
docker run --rm \
  -e CEKI_PROVIDER_TOKEN=<your-token> \
  -e CEKI_WS_URL=wss://browser.ittribe.org/ws/provider \
  -e CEKI_API_URL=https://clawapi.ittribe.org \
  ceki/provider

Stopping / cleanup

docker stop sends a clean shutdown signal: the rented browser is closed and your browser goes offline. docker compose stop does the same.

Building from source

The image bundles the browser-extension dist, so the build script stages it from a local copy of the extension before running docker build:

./build.sh                              # finds browser-extension/dist automatically
./build.sh /path/to/browser-extension/dist

This produces the ceki/provider:latest image locally. The published image on Docker Hub is built automatically from tagged releases.

Notes

• One browser per container. To run several providers, start several containers, each with its own token.
• The token is bound to the specific browser it was issued for; it cannot be reused for another browser.