While this site (iamrichardd.com/pharos/) provides static documentation and architectural guidance, the Pharos Console is the dynamic interface used for managing your infrastructure in real-time.
What is the Pharos Console?
The Pharos Console is the Agent-Native Control Plane of your lab. It serves as the primary Human/AI Interface, transforming the high-performance RFC 2378 engine into an actionable, resource-first command center. Rather than relying solely on the CLI, the Web Console provides a unified, real-time view of your inventory, node telemetry, and security configuration directly from your browser.
Key Features
- WebMCP Gateway: A secure JSON-RPC 2.0 bridge for AI agents to interact with your lab resources.
- Resource-First MDB: High-density inventory management with visual search and metadata “glance” blocks.
- Identity Bonding: A “First-to-Claim” enrollment system for securing new nodes.
- TUI/Web Hybrid: Access the full server dashboard from any browser.
AI Orchestration with WebMCP
Pharos is built for the Agent-Native era. The Console implements the Model Context Protocol (MCP) and WebMCP to allow LLMs to safely manage your lab as a first-class citizen.
How WebMCP Works
WebMCP acts as a secure bridge between your browser and an AI agent (like Gemini or Claude). Instead of the agent “scraping” the DOM, the Console exposes structured JSON-RPC tools via the /mcp endpoint.
- Tool Discovery: When you ask an agent to “Query my lab for Proxmox nodes,” the agent discovers and calls the
query_mdbtool. - Human-in-the-Loop (HitL): For destructive actions (like
provision_node), the Console will trigger a browser-level confirmation modal. The agent cannot bypass your manual approval. - Scoped Access: The agent only sees the tools and data you have explicitly granted access to via your current session.
Available Tools
| Tool | Description | HitL Required |
|---|---|---|
query_mdb | Search machine and infrastructure records using RFC 2378 syntax. | No |
provision_node | Adds a new machine record to the database. | Yes |
mcp.list_keys | Lists all SSH public keys currently authorized for write access. | No |
mcp.provision_key | Enrolls a new SSH public key into the security tier. | Yes |
Storage Tiers & Transparency
Pharos maintains strict engineering integrity by distinguishing between Home Lab and Enterprise capabilities.
Enterprise LDAP (Read-Only)
The Enterprise Tier utilizes LDAP-backed storage for seamless integration with existing corporate directories. In its current implementation, the LDAP Tier is Read-Only. This design decision ensures that Pharos can serve as a high-performance proxy for your existing source of truth without requiring administrative write-access to your corporate directory.
Home Lab (Full CRUD)
The Home Lab Tier uses a file-level, restart-survivable storage engine. This tier supports full Create, Read, Update, and Delete (CRUD) operations, allowing you to manage your lab with zero external dependencies.
Deployment & Separation
To maintain high availability, we recommend keeping these two sites separate:
- Documentation (This Site): Hosted on GitHub Pages or a CDN. Always available, even if your lab is offline.
- Management (Pharos Console): Hosted inside your private network (e.g., in a Proxmox LXC). Provides the direct interface to your
pharos-server.
Running the Console
The console is included with the pharos-server binary or can be run via Node.js:
# Start the Pharos Server with the Console enabled
export PHAROS_CONSOLE_ENABLE=true
export PHAROS_CONSOLE_PORT=3000
./pharos-serverAccess the dashboard at http://<your-server-ip>:3000.