Download Ocelescope

Ocelescope runs locally on your machine. Everything happens on your computer, nothing is sent to a server, and no account is required.

The only dependency is Docker, which we’ll get to in the first step.

Installation

1. Install Docker Desktop

   Docker is what runs Ocelescope under the hood. Think of it as a lightweight runtime that keeps the application self-contained and makes it easy to start and stop.

   Download Docker Desktop from docker.com/products/docker-desktop and install it like any other application. Once installed, open it. You should see a small whale icon appear in your menu bar (Mac) or system tray (Windows).

   Note

   Docker Desktop needs to be running whenever you use Ocelescope. You don’t have to do anything inside the Docker window, just keep it open in the background.

2. Download the compose file

   The compose file is a small configuration file that tells Docker what to download and how to run it.

   Download docker-compose.yaml

   Once downloaded, create a dedicated folder for Ocelescope somewhere on your computer. A folder called Ocelescope on your Desktop works perfectly. Move the docker-compose.yaml into that folder. You will come back to this folder every time you want to start or stop the application.

3. Open a terminal in your Ocelescope folder

   You need to open a terminal inside the folder where you put the compose file.

   Mac

   Open Finder and navigate to your Ocelescope folder. Right-click the folder (or hold Control and click) and choose New Terminal at Folder. A terminal window will open already pointing at the right place.

   Windows

   Open File Explorer and navigate to your Ocelescope folder. Click the address bar at the top of the window where the folder path is shown, type cmd, and press Enter. A Command Prompt window will open.

4. Start Ocelescope

   In the terminal, run:

   docker compose up -d

   The first time you run this, Docker downloads the Ocelescope images from the internet. Depending on your connection this can take a few minutes. You will see a lot of output scrolling past, which is normal. When it settles and returns you to the prompt, everything is running.

   Open http://localhost:3000 in your browser and Ocelescope should load.

Stopping Ocelescope

When you are done, open a terminal in your Ocelescope folder and run:

docker compose down

This stops all running containers cleanly. Your data and any uploaded plugins are preserved in a Docker volume, so nothing is lost between sessions.

Starting Ocelescope again

Next time you want to use Ocelescope:

1. Open Docker Desktop and wait for it to finish starting (the whale icon will stop animating).
2. Open a terminal in your Ocelescope folder.
3. Run docker compose up -d.
4. Open http://localhost:3000.

That’s it. Steps 2 and 3 also work if you want to update Ocelescope to the latest version. Docker will pull any new images automatically.

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