Coolify Interface – Detailed Dashboard Usage Guide

After installing Coolify, the next step is getting familiar with the dashboard interface. This article provides a detailed guide to each section of Coolify, from creating Projects and managing Servers to understanding how applications are organized.

📖 Previous article: Part 2, Installing Coolify on VPS

I. Dashboard Overview

When you log into Coolify, you’ll see the main dashboard with 3 important sections:

• Projects: List of projects with “+ Add Resource” button to deploy apps/databases/services
• Servers: Connected servers: displaying status and quick links
• Sidebar (left menu): Navigation to all sections: Dashboard, Projects, Servers, Sources, Settings…

II. Core Concepts

Before diving into each section, you need to understand how Coolify organizes everything:

Hierarchical Structure

Server (VPS)
  └── Project (application group)
        └── Environment (Production / Staging / Dev)
              └── Resource (App / Database / Service)

• Server: Physical machine or VPS. Coolify connects via SSH to deploy containers
• Project: Highest level organizational group: e.g., “Personal Blog”, “E-commerce”, “Side Projects”
• Environment: Environment within project: helps separate Production, Staging, Development
• Resource: A specific application, database, or service you deploy

💡 Real-world example: You have Project “Personal Blog” → Environment “Production” containing: WordPress app + MySQL database + Redis cache. Everything grouped in 1 project, easy to manage.

III. Servers – Server Management

Go to Servers from the sidebar to view the list of connected servers:

Each server has the following tabs:

• General: Basic information: IP, user, SSH key, Docker version
• Proxy: Reverse proxy management (Traefik/Caddy): route domains to containers
• Resources: List of all containers running on server
• Terminal: Direct SSH terminal in browser (no SSH client needed!)
• Security/Patches: Security management and updates
• Destinations: Docker networks on server
• Metrics: Monitor CPU, RAM, disk, network
• Docker Cleanup: Clean up old images/containers to free disk space

Reverse Proxy – Traefik

Coolify uses Traefik as the default reverse proxy (can switch to Caddy). Traefik automatically:

• Routes domains to the correct container
• Issues SSL certificates via Let’s Encrypt
• Load balancing when there are multiple instances
• Redirects HTTP → HTTPS

ℹ️ You don’t need to configure Traefik manually, Coolify handles everything when you set a domain for a resource. Just point DNS and you’re done.

IV. Projects – Application Organization

Each Project contains one or more Environments. By default, Coolify creates a “Production” environment.

Creating a New Project

1. Go to Projects from sidebar
2. Click “+ Add”
3. Name the project (e.g., “E-commerce”, “Blog”, “Side Projects”)
4. Add description (optional)
5. Click Save

Environments – Environment Separation

Environments help separate different versions of your application:

• Production: Main version serving real users
• Staging: Testing before going to production
• Development: Dev environment, can be changed freely

💡 Each environment has its own set of environment variables. Example: Production uses main database, Staging uses test database, same code but different config.

V. Resources – Deploy Applications

Within each Environment, you add Resources: things you want to deploy:

When you click “+ Add Resource”, Coolify shows the types of resources you can deploy:

3 main resource types:

• Application: Deploy from Git repository (GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket) or Docker image. Supports all languages: Node.js, Python, PHP, Go, Rust, Ruby…
• Database: PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, MongoDB, Redis, ClickHouse, DragonFly, KeyDB
• Service: 294+ ready-to-use services: one-click deploy: WordPress, n8n, Plausible, Supabase, Ghost, Uptime Kuma…

VI. Settings – System Configuration

Important settings in Settings:

• Instance Domain: Set domain for Coolify dashboard (e.g., coolify.yourdomain.com)
• Auto-update: Automatically update Coolify when new version is available
• API Tokens: Create tokens to call Coolify API from CI/CD
• Telemetry: Enable/disable sending anonymous usage data

VII. Other Dashboard Sections

Sources – Git Connection

Sources allow connecting Coolify with Git providers:

• GitHub App: Best approach: create dedicated GitHub App, with repo access permissions, automatic webhooks
• GitLab: Connect via Personal Access Token
• Bitbucket: Connect via App Password
• Or use Public Repository: no connection needed, just URL

Notifications – Alerts

Coolify supports multiple notification channels:

• Email: SMTP or Resend
• Discord: Webhook URL
• Telegram: Bot token + chat ID
• Slack: Webhook URL

⚠️ You should enable at least 1 notification channel! Coolify will alert when deploy fails, server is down, SSL is about to expire, or disk is nearly full.

Other sidebar menu

• Destinations: Docker networks on each server: usually no need to change
• S3 Storages: Connect S3-compatible storage for database backup (AWS S3, Cloudflare R2, MinIO…)
• Shared Variables: Environment variables shared across multiple resources
• Keys & Tokens: Manage SSH keys and API tokens
• Tags: Tag resources for organization and filtering
• Terminal: SSH into server directly from browser
• Teams: Manage team members and permissions

VIII. Real-world Workflow

Below is a common workflow when using Coolify:

Deploy your first app (5 steps)

1. Create Project (or use existing project)
2. Go to Environment → click “+ Add Resource”
3. Choose type: Application (from Git) / Database / Service
4. Configure: Repo URL, branch, domain, environment variables
5. Click Deploy → Coolify automatically builds and starts container

After deployment

• View build logs in real-time
• Configure domain + SSL (automatic certificate provisioning)
• Set environment variables
• Enable auto-deploy (push code → auto deploy)
• Rollback if new version has issues

IX. Summary

Coolify dashboard is simple yet feature-complete for both newcomers and experienced developers. The Server → Project → Environment → Resource structure helps organize everything clearly, making it easy to manage as the number of applications grows.

Next article: Domain, DNS and SSL configuration, pointing real domains and automatic HTTPS provisioning for applications on Coolify.