How to Access the SwarmForge Pack Cockpit Dashboard: Complete Guide

The SwarmForge Pack Cockpit dashboard starts automatically when you run ./swarm and serves on a dynamic localhost port, with the URL written to .swarmforge/dashboard-url for manual access.

The Pack Cockpit is a local web dashboard that the host SwarmForge process launches automatically. According to the unclebob/swarm-forge source code, the dashboard is served by the pack_web component—a Babashka-based HTTP server that binds to 127.0.0.1 with a dynamically assigned port.

Starting the Pack Cockpit Dashboard

Automatic Launch with ./swarm

The standard way to access the dashboard is through the main entry point in swarmforge/scripts/swarmforge.sh【4†L4-L6】:

./swarm

This wrapper script executes the Babashka host, which in turn runs pack_web.bb with the --serve command. The server starts on 127.0.0.1 with an available port【4†L66-L78】.

When initialization completes, two things happen:

1. The full URL is printed to stdout for copy-paste access【4†L74-L77】
2. The same URL is written to .swarmforge/dashboard-url for persistent reference【4†L58-L62】

By default, the URL also opens automatically in your default browser.

Suppressing Automatic Browser Opening

For headless servers or when you prefer manual control, set the environment variable before running the host【4†L122-L123】:

SWARMFORGE_OPEN_BROWSER=0 ./swarm

The dashboard server still starts and the URL is written to .swarmforge/dashboard-url, but no browser window opens.

Manual Dashboard Access Methods

Reading the Stored URL

Once the host is running, retrieve the dashboard location at any time:

cat .swarmforge/dashboard-url

# Output: http://127.0.0.1:64002

Opening the Dashboard Manually

Open the URL using your platform's command:

# macOS

open "$(cat .swarmforge/dashboard-url)"

# Linux

xdg-open "$(cat .swarmforge/dashboard-url)"

Running the Pack Web Server Directly

For advanced use cases, you can invoke the server component directly via pack_web.sh in swarmforge/scripts/【4†L4-L10】:

pack_web.sh --serve <root> [port]

Where <root> is the SwarmForge root directory (containing .swarmforge). The script dispatches to pack_web.bb, which:

• Parses the --serve argument
• Starts an http-kit server on the specified or dynamic port
• Blocks until terminated with Ctrl-C

Key Source Files and Functions

File	Purpose	Critical Lines
swarmforge/scripts/swarmforge.sh	Host wrapper that launches the Babashka environment	Lines 4-6【4†L4-L6】
swarmforge/scripts/pack_web.bb	Core dashboard server implementation	Server start: 66-78; URL writing: 58-62【4†L66-L78】【4†L58-L62】
swarmforge/scripts/pack_web.sh	Shell wrapper forwarding to Babashka script	Lines 4-10【4†L4-L10】
README.md	User documentation for dashboard access	Lines 103-112【4†L103-L112】
.swarmforge/dashboard-url	Runtime file storing current dashboard URL	Generated by write-dashboard-url! function

Startup Flow Architecture

The dashboard initialization follows this execution path:

1. User executes ./swarm in the project root
2. swarmforge.sh wrapper loads the Babashka environment
3. Host process starts pack_web.bb with --serve flag
4. pack_web.bb:
   • Parses command arguments
   • Starts HTTP server on dynamic localhost port
   • Calls write-dashboard-url! to persist the URL
   • Prints the URL to stdout
   • Optionally triggers browser opening (unless SWARMFORGE_OPEN_BROWSER=0)

Summary

• The Pack Cockpit dashboard is a local web interface served by the pack_web component
• Access starts automatically with ./swarm, with the URL stored in .swarmforge/dashboard-url
• Use SWARMFORGE_OPEN_BROWSER=0 to disable automatic browser opening
• The core implementation lives in swarmforge/scripts/pack_web.bb, which handles server startup, URL persistence, and browser integration

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is the Pack Cockpit dashboard URL stored?

The URL is written to the hidden file .swarmforge/dashboard-url in your project root immediately after the server starts listening. This file is created by the write-dashboard-url! function in pack_web.bb【4†L58-L62】.

Can I run the Pack Cockpit without starting the full host?

Yes. Run pack_web.sh --serve <root> [port] directly from swarmforge/scripts/. This launches only the dashboard server without the full SwarmForge host environment. The script forwards to pack_web.bb and blocks until you terminate it【4†L4-L10】.

What port does the Pack Cockpit use?

The server binds to 127.0.0.1 with a dynamically chosen available port by default. You can specify a fixed port as the optional second argument to pack_web.sh --serve <root> [port]【4†L66-L78】.

Why doesn't the browser open automatically on my server?

The auto-open feature is controlled by SWARMFORGE_OPEN_BROWSER. Set it to 0 to suppress opening, or if it's not opening on your system, check that the environment variable isn't already set to disable it. The dashboard URL is still printed and stored regardless【4†L122-L123】.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "instagit": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "instagit@latest"]
    }
  }
}