This Docker Compose configuration sets up Node-RED with Tailscale as a sidecar container to securely access and manage your flow-based programming tool over a private Tailscale network. By using Tailscale in a sidecar configuration, you can enhance the security and privacy of your Node-RED instance, ensuring it is only accessible within your Tailscale network.
Node-RED is a low-code programming tool for event-driven applications, designed to connect devices, APIs, and online services through an intuitive, browser-based flow editor. It’s widely used for IoT, automation, and integration tasks, offering a powerful yet user-friendly way to build workflows. This configuration leverages Tailscale to securely connect to your Node-RED instance, ensuring that your workflows and configurations are protected from unauthorized access and accessible only via your private Tailscale network.
In this setup, the tailscale-node-red service runs Tailscale, which manages secure networking for the Node-RED service. The node-red service uses the Tailscale network stack via Docker's network_mode: service: configuration. This ensures that Node-RED’s web interface is only accessible through the Tailscale network (or locally, if preferred), providing an additional layer of security and privacy for your flow-based programming environment.