Self-hostable, multi-tenant management platform for makerspaces — run your inventory, tool & equipment lending, and 3D printing in one place. Browse, borrow, track, and stay accountable, without spreadsheets.
Space Works started inside the TinkerSpace Kochi community, from a simple need: make it easy for a makerspace to know what tools and equipment exist, who borrowed what, what's available, and how every loan and print job moves from request to done — with enough traceability that accountability for shared gear is never a guessing game. It's built by makers, for makers: run it at your space, fork it, remix it, or use it as a starting point. If your community works differently, make it your own.
One deployment can host many makerspaces (tenants). Each owns its inventory, public URL, staff, Telegram group, QR namespace, and audit scope — fully isolated from the others.
- Public catalog — browse by makerspace and category, request to borrow, and (when enabled) QR self-checkout/return for present members with photo evidence.
- Full hardware lifecycle — request → accept → issue (box QR scan + photo) → return (photo + remark) → accountability, all audited. Direct staff handouts too.
- 3D-printing manager — public print requests, printer/spool management, filament tracking, slicer estimates, and an optional (staff-private) cash charge at collection.
- QR everywhere — boxes, tools, and individual assets; immutable scan history.
- Role-based staff console — 5 scoped roles; a superadmin-only Django control plane.
- Reports & ledger — what's out, who has it, overdue tracking, CSV/XLSX export.
- Notifications — per-makerspace Telegram alerts and async (Celery) email.
- Traceable by design — append-only audit log; immutable evidence photos and scan records.
Space Works runs entirely through Docker Compose — it brings up PostgreSQL, Redis, MinIO storage, the Celery worker/beat, and database migrations and wires them to the app for you (the images don't bake in any addresses; the compose file passes them in). Pick one path:
Path 1 — Guided setup (easiest; builds from source). One script generates all secrets, writes
.env, builds everything, and creates your first admin + makerspace:
git clone https://github.com/SpaceWorks-HQ/SpaceWorks.git
cd SpaceWorks
bash setup.sh # macOS / Linux
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File setup.ps1 # WindowsIt prints your URL and login when it finishes and offers to install seven-day, backup-first production update checks. Super Admins can control automatic or manual installation from Platform settings -> Software updates. (Requires Docker Desktop.)
Path 2 — Prebuilt images (no local build). Pull the two published images and start the stack —
after cp .env.example .env (fill in the few values it asks for):
export MAKERSPACE_IMAGE_TAG=latest # or pin a release, e.g. 0.5.1-main.42.a1b2c3d4e5f6
docker compose -f docker-compose.prod.yml up -dThis pulls ghcr.io/spaceworks-hq/spaceworks-backend + ghcr.io/spaceworks-hq/spaceworks-frontend and brings up the
full stack automatically.
| I want… | Go to |
|---|---|
| A plain-language, non-technical walkthrough | docs/setup-for-makerspaces.md |
| Production reference (env vars, TLS, upgrades, releases) | docs/self-hosting.md |
| Advanced config (Telegram, HMAC, Supabase, cron) | .github/ADVANCED.md |
| Develop / contribute (run from source, tests, releases) | .github/DEVELOPMENT.md |
Space Works 0.5 is focused on reliable self-hosting and complete makerspace operations:
- automatic, backup-first updates from every successful
mainrelease; - stable public, member, staff, and superadmin workflows across the full module set;
- continued accessibility, mobile, reporting, and operational resilience work.
Current work and shipped changes are tracked in GitHub issues, pull requests, and the release notes. The running product intentionally does not expose a separate roadmap page.
Access is scoped per makerspace and per action. Super Admin is global; every other role is a per-makerspace membership.
| Role | Can do | Cannot do |
|---|---|---|
| Super Admin | Everything, globally: makerspaces, all hardware/printing/ops, staff, settings, API clients, audit; the Django control plane | — |
| Space Manager | Full hardware lifecycle, direct handouts, inventory, staff & settings — for their space | Other makerspaces; Django admin |
| Inventory Manager | Full hardware lifecycle + inventory + QR + evidence + audit — for their space | Printing, staff, settings; Django admin |
| Print Manager | 3D-printing lifecycle, printers & spools | Hardware, inventory, staff; Django admin |
| Guest Admin | Issue accepted requests + process returns (evidence/QR/remark) | Accept/reject, inventory, QR, direct handouts; Django admin |
| Public | Browse, request, self-checkout/return eligible QR tools (member presence + photo evidence) | Anything authenticated |
Roles are defined by the system, not by users — nobody can invent roles or grant themselves extra powers; they can only assign people to existing roles within their own makerspace.
Staff work in the React console at /admin; the superadmin-only Django control plane lives at
/control/ (backend-only, never exposed on the public port). Two design rules are load-bearing — the
Request Workflow module is the single source of truth for state transitions, and the Inventory
Availability module owns all quantity math. Details in .github/CONTRIBUTING.md.
The goal is to self-host inside the makerspace, on your own server — your data, your network, no third party. The Quick start above is the recommended path. After it's up:
| Surface | URL |
|---|---|
| Public catalog | http://localhost |
| Staff console | http://localhost/admin |
| API | http://localhost/api (Swagger at /docs/) |
| Django control plane | /control/ on the backend only — not exposed on the public port |
Create the first superadmin + makerspace (the wizard does this for you; for a manual instance):
docker compose -f docker-compose.prod.yml exec backend python manage.py setup_instanceWith no arguments it seeds superadmin / super123 and forces a password change on first login.
Guided installs can receive each successful main release automatically with a backup and readiness
check. If deployment fails, the application containers return to the previous retained release. Run
scripts/update.sh --force (macOS/Linux) or scripts/update.ps1 -Force (Windows) for an immediate
update; see docs/self-hosting.md for scheduling, pinning, TLS, and recovery.
No server of your own? Space Works is multi-tenant — partner with a nearby makerspace to run your space
as a tenant on their instance. Prefer managed Postgres? Point DATABASE_URL at any managed
Postgres (e.g. Supabase) and host the app anywhere; a fully-managed free-tier path is documented in
docs/supabase-deployment.md (best for demo/pilot, not dependable
production).
Django 6 + DRF · React 19 + Vite 8 + Tailwind CSS 4 + TypeScript (TanStack Query v5) · PostgreSQL 16 ·
Celery + Redis · MinIO (S3-compatible) · django-unfold admin · drf-spectacular / OpenAPI. Delivered as
two Docker images (spaceworks-backend, spaceworks-frontend); everything else is official upstream images.
Space Works is a collaborative project for the makerspace community, and contributors are very welcome — code, docs, translations, or just running it at your space and reporting what's rough. See .github/CONTRIBUTING.md. No CLA is required — by opening a pull request you agree your contribution is offered under the project's AGPL-3.0-or-later license (inbound = outbound); merged contributors are credited in .github/CONTRIBUTORS.md.
Space Works is free and open source software, licensed under the
GNU Affero General Public License v3 (AGPL-3.0-or-later).
You are free to use, study, share, and modify Space Works — for any purpose, commercial or noncommercial — subject to the AGPL. Because the AGPL is a network copyleft license: if you run a modified version and let users interact with it over a network, you must offer those users the corresponding source code of your modified version under the same license.
Thanks to everyone who has contributed to Space Works — code, docs, bug reports, or running it at their space. The wall below is pulled live from this repository's GitHub contributor graph and shows all contributors — bots and automation included, no filtering:
Contributor image by contrib.rocks.