Atuin Desktop: Runbooks that Run — Now Open Source
Atuin Desktop looks like a doc, but runs like your terminal. Script blocks, embedded terminals, database clients and prometheus charts - all in one place.
Most infrastructure is held together by five commands someone remembers when shit breaks. Docs are out of date, if they exist. The real answers? Buried in Slack threads, rotting in Notion, or trapped in someone's shell history.
Atuin CLI fixed part of this, with synced, searchable shell history. But history isn’t enough. Teams need workflows they can repeat, share, and trust.
That’s why we built Atuin Desktop. Runbooks that actually run. Now open beta, and fully open source.
What is Atuin Desktop?
Atuin Desktop looks like a doc, but runs like your terminal. Built to make local developer workflows repeatable, shareable, and reliable.
Runbooks should run. Workflows shouldn't live in someone's head. Docs shouldn't rot the moment you write them. Scripts, database queries, HTTP requests and Prometheus charts - all in one place.
- Kill context switching: Chain shell scripts, database queries, and HTTP requests
- Docs that don't rot: execute directly + stay relevant
- Reusable automation: dynamic runbooks with Jinja-style templating
- Local knowledge: Build runbooks from your real shell history
- Collaborative: Sync and share via Git, or in real-time via our Hub
Back in April we launched the closed beta.
Thousands of you signed up, used it at your day jobs, and told us exactly what broke. We’ve listened, rebuilt, and now it’s ready for everyone.
What’s new since April?
Our early users gave us a lot of feedback, which we've used to build something much better.
- Offline, file based, Git/VCS-compatible workspaces
- Team accounts with shared, realtime workspaces
- Kubernetes integration for live state and monitoring
- MySQL query blocks
- Dropdown and more contextual blocks
- A huge number of bug fixes, performance improvements, and UI upgrades
How it’s being used
Atuin Desktop is already being used across engineering teams for serious, day-to-day work.
- Automation and debugging: linking commands, monitoring systems, and tracking results
- Database operations: managing migrations, access control, and production queries
- Onboarding: getting started workflows new engineers can actually run
- Deploying and managing clusters: repeatable, documented automation for real environments
- Incident response: runbooks that execute instead of rotting in some internal wiki
It’s become a shared system of record for the commands and processes that keep production alive.
What’s next
We’re just getting started! We've got a lot in the pipeline, including:
- Block dependencies and advanced execution flow
- Run runbooks remotely and on CI
- Audit logs and enhanced permissions
- Comments and deeper collaboration
- More block types
- Specify local networks, containers, and more
- Tighter integration with authentication and cloud providers
- More polish, more speed, fewer bugs
Stop copy-pasting from outdated wiki pages, and get started with Atuin Desktop
Getting involved
Atuin Desktop is now in open beta and open source under the Apache 2.0 license. Star it, fork it, break it: github.com/atuinsh/desktop
Infrastructure deserves better than rotting docs and tribal knowledge. Atuin Desktop is our attempt to fix that for everyone who’s ever said “I swear I’ve done this before.”
Community links
Discord: discord.gg/Fq8bJSKPHh
Forum: forum.atuin.sh