Connecting to Hub

Prerequisites

A running PodWarden instance
A PodWarden Hub account at www.podwarden.com

Setup

1. Create an API Key

Sign in to www.podwarden.com
Navigate to Dashboard > API Keys
Click Create Key and give it a descriptive name (e.g. "Production Fleet")
Copy the key immediately — it won't be shown again

The key starts with pwc_ and is used to authenticate your PodWarden instance.

2. Configure PodWarden

There are two ways to configure the Hub connection:

Option A: Settings UI (Recommended)

Open your PodWarden dashboard
Go to Settings > Hub
Enter the Hub URL: https://apps.podwarden.com
Enter your API Key: pwc_your_api_key_here
Click Test Connection to verify
Click Save

Option B: Environment Variables

Add the Hub settings to your PodWarden .env file:

PODWARDEN_HUB_URL=https://apps.podwarden.com
PODWARDEN_HUB_API_KEY=pwc_your_api_key_here

Restart PodWarden:

make restart

3. Verify Connection

From the Settings > Hub page, click Test Connection. A successful test confirms your API key is valid and the Hub is reachable.

You can also verify via the API:

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer pwc_your_api_key_here" \
  https://apps.podwarden.com/api/v1/catalog/templates

Browsing the Catalog

Once connected, go to Apps & Stacks and click Import from Hub. The catalog modal shows all templates available to your organization:

Search by name or description
Filter by category using the category tabs
Browse template details — resource requirements, environment variables, volumes, ports, network requirements

Each template card shows:

Name, description, and category
Resource badges (CPU, RAM, GPU)
Tags for quick identification

Importing Templates

Find a template in the Hub catalog modal
Click Import on the template card
PodWarden creates a local stack with all template fields copied:
- Image name, tag, registry
- Resource requests (CPU, memory, GPU, VRAM)
- Environment variables (static and configurable)
- Ports, volumes, node selectors, tolerations
- Network requirements
The imported definition tracks its Hub origin for update checking

After import, customize any field before deploying — the local definition is independent of the Hub.

Checking for Updates

Go to Apps & Stacks and look for templates with the Hub badge. PodWarden can check if newer versions are available on the Hub for any imported template.

The update check compares your local hub_template_version against the current version on Hub.

DDNS Subdomains

Once connected to Hub, you can allocate DDNS subdomains directly from your PodWarden instance:

Go to Settings > Hub
Scroll down to the Hub DDNS Subdomains section (appears when Hub is connected)
Click Allocate to get a public URL like swift17.vxloc.com
PodWarden automatically keeps the DNS record updated with your public IP

Use these subdomains with Ingress rules to expose workloads to the internet with automatic HTTPS.

See Hub DDNS Subdomains for the full guide.

Private Templates

If your organization has access to private categories, those templates appear alongside public templates in the catalog — marked with a lock icon. Private templates are only visible to API keys belonging to organizations with an explicit access grant.

To request access to a private category, contact the Hub administrator.