The intended setup:
Quiet local hardware or a hardened cloud server
Clockwork Control gives you the freedom to choose: run it on a quiet, dedicated machine on your local office network for zero hosting costs, or spin it up on a hardened cloud VPS (DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode) with mandatory 2FA. Pair it with your favorite LLM, build custom modules, and manage your fleet without SaaS vendor lock-in.
Two rock-solid deployment paths: Local hardware or a hardened cloud VPS
You don’t need an enterprise cloud cluster or expensive multi-tenant SaaS subscriptions. Whether you prefer the zero-overhead privacy of an office Mac Mini or spin up a lean server on DigitalOcean or Vultr, Clockwork Control gives you full agency sovereignty.
Local Hardware or Cloud VPS
Run on an M1 Mac Mini / NUC ($0/mo) or spin up a lean $6–$12/mo VPS on DigitalOcean, Vultr, or Linode.
5–10W Local or 2GB VPS
Sips power silently on an office desk or runs smoothly on a basic 1–2 vCPU cloud droplet with minimal overhead.
100% Private, Enforced 2FA
Client API keys, hosting tokens, and origin IP maps stay under your direct control—never pooled in a multi-tenant SaaS.
$0.00 Forever
Manage 20, 50, or 250+ client websites across any number of hosts without per-site rental meters.
Quiet Local Office Hardware
Our primary recommendation: an Apple Silicon M1/M2/M3 Mac Mini or Intel NUC running quietly in your office. It gives you complete, physical data sovereignty with $0/month in cloud hosting bills.
Because it lives behind your office router NAT, it has zero public open ports. To connect remote agency staff while traveling, a free Tailscale or WireGuard mesh gives your team encrypted access without port forwarding.
Hardened Cloud VPS
Need always-on datacenter connectivity without maintaining office hardware? Spin up a dedicated server on DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode, or Hetzner for ~$6 to $12/month.
As long as you are secure about it—enforcing Two-Factor Authentication (2FA), locking down firewall ports (UFW / Cloud Firewalls), or isolating the panel behind Tailscale—a cloud VPS is a superb, high-availability control plane.
The reality of SSH: Why security & 2FA are non-negotiable
SSH is the ultimate administrative backplane for WordPress fleet management. Because Clockwork Control holds master credentials, you must follow strict security whether running on local office hardware or a cloud VPS on DigitalOcean or Vultr.
The "Master Key" Danger
Clockwork Control orchestrates remote WP-CLI runners, diagnostic scripts, and server updates across your entire fleet. To do this, it holds SSH private keys and API tokens. If an attacker gains access to this machine, they don’t compromise one site — they hold the keys to every client server in your agency.
Mandatory 2FA for Operators
If you choose to run on a cloud VPS like DigitalOcean or Vultr, you must enforce Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) across all agency operator accounts. Clockwork Control has built-in TOTP 2FA. Never leave any deployment protected by passwords alone.
Zero Inbound Ports Needed
Clockwork Control communicates outward to provider APIs (SpinupWP, Pressable, WP Engine, Kinsta, Cloudways) and probes origin servers via outbound sockets. It does not need open public webhooks. Close inbound ports with UFW/Cloud Firewalls, or isolate the panel behind Tailscale.
Deploying to DigitalOcean, Vultr, or your office LAN?
Follow the defense-in-depth model: (1) Enforce 2FA on every Clockwork Control account, (2) Disable SSH password login on the host OS in favor of ed25519 keys, (3) Use UFW or provider Cloud Firewalls to restrict port 80/443 to your office IP or put the panel on a private Tailscale / WireGuard mesh, and (4) Enable automatic security updates.
Claude, Gemini, Gemma, or local Ollama — who cares?
We don’t believe in proprietary AI lock-in or vendor-specific prompt pipelines. Clockwork Control is engineered from the ground up with clean PHP interfaces and strict test coverage so any modern LLM can inspect, scaffold, and extend it.
Claude Code / Claude 3.7
Runs directly in your terminal, inspects Composer path modules, runs Pest tests, and edits code autonomously.
Gemini CLI / Antigravity
Deep multi-file codebase reasoning, massive context windows, and instant workspace search for Laravel.
Gemma / Local Ollama
Run Gemma, Llama, or Qwen completely offline on Apple Silicon Unified Memory without external API calls.
Cursor & AI Editors
Inline prompt-driven edits, instant composer package navigation, and test verification right in your editor.
Strict PHP contracts + 2,105 tests = High-precision AI synthesis
Most codebases fall apart when paired with AI because they lack architectural boundaries. In Clockwork Control, every integration implements strict contracts like HostingProviderContract and lives in its own path repository under modules/.
When you hand your model an existing module (like SpinupWP or Pressable) and the API docs of a new host, the AI has a clear template to follow. You run php artisan test, and any contract mismatch or missing method is surfaced instantly.
Build what your agency needs, then give back to everyone
Here is how agency owners and technical operators use Clockwork Control to solve their immediate hosting fleet challenges while expanding the open-source ecosystem.
Deploy Locally or on a Hardened Cloud VPS
Clockwork Control spins up in minutes on an M1 Mac Mini, an office server, or a hardened cloud VPS (DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode). With PHP 8.4, Composer, and SQLite or MySQL, it sits securely, probing origin SSL certificates and polling your client fleet effortlessly.
Prompt Your Favorite LLM to Build Modules
Need an integration for a regional host, custom VPS provider, or internal telemetry tool? Ask your favorite LLM to implement Clockwork Control’s HostingProviderContract inside modules/[YourProvider]/. With 2,105 tests in place, your model writes clean, production-ready code in minutes.
Give Back to the Agency Community
Open a Pull Request to our repository. Once verified, your module is merged and featured in the official public directory feed (/api/modules.json)—giving your agency public recognition while helping other agencies escape SaaS vendor lock-in.
The 1-prompt setup: Let your AI do the heavy lifting
Instead of manually copying and running terminal commands, paste this prompt directly into Claude Code, Cursor, or your preferred AI coding tool. Your AI agent handles the entire deployment autonomously—whether you're setting up on a local Mac Mini or a cloud VPS on DigitalOcean or Vultr.
Clone and set up Clockwork Control on this machine (local Mac Mini, office server, or cloud VPS):
1. Clone the repository:
git clone https://github.com/Clockwork-Web-Dev-LLC/clockwork-control.git && cd clockwork-control
2. Verify environment prerequisites:
- PHP 8.4+ with extensions: curl, mbstring, openssl, pdo_sqlite or pdo_mysql, pcntl
- Composer 2+
- Node.js 20+ and npm
3. Run automated setup & configure environment:
- Run: composer setup
(Installs dependencies, copies .env, generates APP_KEY, runs migrations, and builds frontend assets)
4. Verify the test suite:
- Run: php artisan test
- Confirm all 2,105 tests pass cleanly with 0 failures
5. Provision the initial agency admin user:
- Ask me for my agency email, name, and password, then run:
php artisan clockwork:add-user [email] --name="[name]" --password="[password]"
6. Security & 2FA hardening check:
- Remind me to configure Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) immediately upon first login.
- If deploying on a cloud VPS (DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode), configure UFW firewall rules, disable SSH password login, and recommend Tailscale for encrypted management access.
7. Launch the application & queue scheduler:
- Run: php artisan serve --port=8000
- Run: php artisan schedule:work (in background)
- Open http://127.0.0.1:8000 and verify the dashboard renders cleanly.Everything about local hardware, cloud VPS & building modules
Why do you recommend an M1 Mac Mini with 16GB of RAM as the primary setup?
An Apple Silicon M1 Mac Mini (often found used or refurbished for ~$400) is arguably the greatest homelab and office server ever made. It consumes only 5–10 watts at idle, produces virtually zero heat or fan noise, and its 16GB of Unified Memory gives you plenty of headroom to run Clockwork Control, background queue workers, and even local LLM models (like Gemma or Llama via Ollama) on the exact same box with zero monthly hosting fees.
Can I deploy Clockwork Control on a cloud VPS like DigitalOcean, Vultr, or Linode?
Yes, absolutely—as long as you take security seriously. While running on a quiet local machine is our primary recommendation for natural LAN isolation and zero monthly hosting bills, spinning up a lean $6–$12/mo cloud server on DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode, or Hetzner is a completely supported option. If you deploy in the cloud, you must enforce Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) across all operator accounts, lock down public firewall ports with UFW or provider cloud firewalls, disable root password SSH logins, and ideally place dashboard access behind a private overlay network like Tailscale or WireGuard.
Does my server need inbound ports open to the public internet?
No! Clockwork Control reaches OUT to provider APIs (SpinupWP, Pressable, WP Engine, Kinsta, Cloudways, DigitalOcean, Azure) and probes origin web servers via outbound sockets. It does not require incoming webhooks. Whether hosted on a local Mac Mini or a cloud VPS on DigitalOcean or Vultr, you can keep public inbound ports closed. For remote team access, use Tailscale, WireGuard, or strict IP allowlisting.
Which LLM works best for extending Clockwork Control?
Who cares? Use whichever tool or model you love. Claude Code, Cursor, or local open weights with Ollama (Gemma, Llama) all excel. Because Clockwork Control is architected with strict, typed PHP contracts and Composer path repositories, any modern AI coding tool can read the interface, inspect a reference module like modules/SpinupWP/, and generate clean, tested code.
How does giving back to the community work?
Clockwork Control is a collaborative open-source ecosystem. When you build a module for a provider that isn't yet in core, submit a Pull Request to our GitHub repository. We review the implementation and test coverage, merge it into the monorepo, and list your agency in the official directory feed (/api/modules.json).
Ready to set up your agency’s command center?
Clone the repository onto your local Mac Mini or a hardened cloud VPS on DigitalOcean or Vultr, run migrations, and start managing all your client WordPress hosting in one private place.
Security, Support & Liability Disclaimer
Clockwork Control is provided free, under the MIT license, with no warranty of any kind. If you use this software, you're accepting it exactly as it exists in the repository, and you're responsible for deciding whether it's safe and appropriate for your own fleet before you rely on it.
Free community support is best-effort, with no guaranteed response time. Paid support arrangements may be available for operators who want dedicated help.
This is not a passive dashboard — it stores real credentials for your fleet (SSH keys, database passwords, API tokens) and can take real automated actions (bans, updates, firewall changes). Review any feature before you enable it. The maintainer is not liable for damage, downtime, or a security breach on infrastructure you manage through this software.
This is not legal advice. Full text in DISCLAIMER.md.
