ownpaas documentation
ownpaas is a macOS app: local Kubernetes labs where you and your coding agent build, test and deploy an app in self-contained environments, and a control panel for the lab. You use it in three steps.
- Prepare. Build your cloud-native app on your Mac, alone or with a coding agent. The app runs a lab with Kubernetes clusters, VMs, private networks, load balancers, volumes, DNS and S3. Reset and checkpoints let you and the agent go back after a mistake.
- Pre-publish. Give the app a public address through a gateway, so testers and customers can use it before it runs in the cloud. The gateway is a small server in your own cloud account.
- Publish. Move to Cloud shows what the setup costs per month in your cloud account, then moves it there. Hetzner Cloud is the first target; for a Kubernetes app the destination is a k3s cluster in your own Hetzner project, run with PaaSbox Clusters (planned).
What exists today
Section titled “What exists today”ownpaas is not released. This is the state of the app in October 2026; it will change before launch.
| Part | State |
|---|---|
| The lab: servers, networks, load balancers, volumes, DNS, S3 | built, in testing |
| Agent integration (MCP) for Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, Claude Desktop | built, in testing |
| Agent tokens, the activity per token, the kill switch | built, in testing |
| Reset and checkpoints | built, in testing |
| Kubernetes clusters | Preview |
| Gateway with a public address and a tunnel to your Mac | built, in testing |
| Edge protection on the gateway: a login in front (OpenID Connect), rate limits | in development (not enabled in the app yet) |
| Cost preview for Move to Cloud | built, in testing |
| Move to Cloud: Terraform export for Hetzner Cloud | built, in testing |
| Move to Cloud: the guided move of clusters and apps | in development |
| Move to Cloud into PaaSbox Clusters | planned |
| A signed and notarized download | in development |
| Automatic updates | planned |
Where to start
Section titled “Where to start”- Install & requirements: what your Mac needs and what the first start does.
- Your first lab: a project, a server and the environment for your tools.
- Connect your agent: add ownpaas to Claude Code, Cursor or Codex.
The words used in these docs
Section titled “The words used in these docs”| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| lab | everything ownpaas runs on your Mac: the engine, its VMs and their data |
| engine | the background service that runs the lab. It keeps running when the app window is closed |
| project | an isolated part of the lab with its own token, resources and checkpoints. One per agent, task or app is a good default |
| checkpoint | a saved state of a project that you can restore |
| cluster | a Kubernetes cluster, in the lab or in your cloud account |
| gateway | a small server in your cloud account that gives an app a public address |
| cloud account | your account at a cloud provider, which ownpaas reaches with your own token |