[BUG] Dashboard is present in repo but not buildable / not shipped in non-Docker installs

[evertvorster]

What happened?

Hi folks,

I’m packaging OpenMemory for Arch Linux and ran into an issue with the dashboard that looks like an upstream packaging / repo layout problem rather than an Arch-specific one.

What works

• The backend (packages/openmemory-js) builds and runs correctly.
• All /dashboard/* API routes exist and work (e.g. /dashboard/health, /dashboard/stats).
• The repo contains a dashboard/ directory with a Next.js Dockerfile.

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Steps to Reproduce

What does not work

The dashboard cannot be built outside Docker because:

• dashboard/package.json is missing from the repository.
• There is no documented build command for the dashboard outside Docker.

As a result

• The dashboard is not installable in distro packages.
• Non-Docker users cannot run the UI at all.
• The backend exposes dashboard APIs, but there is no corresponding UI unless Docker is used.

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Evidence

dashboard/Dockerfile expects:

COPY package*.json ./
RUN npm install
RUN npm run build

…but dashboard/package.json does not exist in the repository.

The only frontend package with a package.json is:

packages/openmemory-js

which is the backend, not the dashboard UI.

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Resulting ambiguity

It’s currently unclear whether:

• The dashboard source is incomplete / accidentally not committed, or
• The dashboard is meant to be built from another package (but this is undocumented), or
• The dashboard is Docker-only by design (in which case the repo suggests otherwise).

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What would unblock downstream packagers

Any one of the following would fix this cleanly:

• Commit the missing dashboard/package.json and lockfile so it can be built natively.

• Document that the dashboard is Docker-only and remove expectations that it exists in non-Docker installs.

• Provide a prebuilt static dashboard artifact that the backend can serve.

• Clarify the intended production deployment model:

  • backend-only?
  • backend + dashboard?
  • Docker-first?

Right now the repo suggests the dashboard is a first-class component, but it’s not actually consumable without Docker.

Happy to help test or validate a fix on the packaging side once the intended layout is clarified.

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Component

Frontend (React / UI)

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Environment

      /\          evert@Evert
     /  \         -----------
    /    \        OS: Arch Linux x86_64
   /      \       Host: ROG Strix G733PYV_G733PYV (1.0)
  /   ,,   \      Kernel: Linux 6.18.7-2-cachyos
 /   |  |   \     Uptime: 2 hours, 57 mins
/_-''    ''-_\    Packages: 2100 (pacman), 7 (flatpak)
                  Shell: bash 5.3.9
                  Display (BenQ EX3210U): 3840x2160 @ 1.1x in 32", 144 Hz [External, HDR]
                  Display (NE173QHM-NZ2): 2560x1440 @ 1.33x in 17", 240 Hz [Built-in]
                  DE: KDE Plasma 6.5.5
                  WM: KWin (Wayland)
                  Theme: Breeze (Light)
                  Font: Noto Sans (10pt)
                  Terminal: konsole 25.12.1
                  CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 7945HX3D (32) @ 5.46 GHz
                  GPU 1: AMD Radeon 610M [Integrated]
                  GPU 2: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU [Discrete]
                  Memory: 11.43 GiB / 62.00 GiB (18%)
                  Disk (/): 101.20 GiB / 200.00 GiB (51%) - btrfs
                  Disk (/home): 2.72 TiB / 3.40 TiB (80%) - btrfs
                  Local IP: 192.168.88.132
                  Battery: 65% (AC Connected)
                  Locale: en_GB.UTF-8

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Relevant log output

# (none)

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Code of Conduct

• I agree to follow this project's Code of Conduct

[nullure]

Hey, we are reworking the dashboard as we have completely moved to an npm and py package, so the dashboard won't work currently.

[evertvorster]

Ah, I see. I was using the git head of openmemory because a lot more of the functions in the python sdk were working.

I suppose for the MCP server I need to stick to the latest release?
Things seems to have moved around a bit as far as building it, so I was thinking I better hold off on packaging the MCP server until the next release...

Is there a rough date you guys have in mind for the next release?

[nullure]

Ah, I see. I was using the git head of openmemory because a lot more of the functions in the python sdk were working.

I suppose for the MCP server I need to stick to the latest release? Things seems to have moved around a bit as far as building it, so I was thinking I better hold off on packaging the MCP server until the next release...

Is there a rough date you guys have in mind for the next release?

Probably a week.