Admin, Multi-Cortex Orchestrator

Habits Admin is a self-hosted web UI that manages multiple Cortex Server instances on a single server. It handles subdomain routing, service lifecycle, user management, habit installation, and the Mirror P2P service.

What it is

Capability	Description
Service management	Start, stop, and monitor Cortex instances per subdomain
Habit library	Browse, install, and update habits from the library
User management	Create accounts and control access
Mirror hosting	Run the P2P Mirror signaling server as a managed service
Base hosting	Optionally run a Base UI instance as a managed service
Health monitoring	Real-time status and dependency checks

Screenshots

How to run Admin

npx habits admin

Admin starts at http://localhost:3000 by default. In production, put it behind a reverse proxy with wildcard subdomain support so each Cortex instance gets its own subdomain.

Architecture

yourdomain.com          → Admin UI
app.yourdomain.com      → Cortex instance (habit: my-app)
crm.yourdomain.com      → Cortex instance (habit: crm-workflow)
mirror.yourdomain.com   → Habit Mirror signaling server
base.yourdomain.com     → Base UI (optional)

System services

Admin has two built-in system services you can enable:

Service	Description
Habits Base	Visual editor for building habits
Habit Mirror	P2P habit transfer signaling server (Mirror)

When to use Admin

• You need to host multiple habits for different teams or customers on one server
• You want a management UI instead of SSH + CLI
• You're building a SaaS where each customer gets their own Cortex instance
• You need subdomain-per-service routing

Relation to other tools

Tool	Relation
Cortex Server	Admin orchestrates multiple Cortex instances
Base	Admin can host a Base instance as a managed service
Mirror	Admin includes Mirror as a system service