Travel Monitor

A self-hosted real-time travel time dashboard. Shows how long it takes to drive from a fixed HQ location to multiple offsite destinations, with color-coded status based on current traffic conditions relative to a learned baseline.

Built for homelabs. Runs as a single Docker container.

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Features

• Real-time routing via pluggable provider (Google, Mapbox, HERE, OpenRouteService)
• Baseline-relative status — green/yellow/red/dark-red based on how much worse current traffic is vs. normal
• Interactive map with numbered pins, route display on click, and multiple map styles (Dark Matter, Voyager, Positron, OSM, Satellite)
• Glanceable sidebar with color-coded rows, travel time both ways, and delay percentage
• Stats tab — sortable table by time, distance, or delay
• Location management — add by address or coordinates, rename inline, drag to reorder, delete with confirmation
• Favicon + tab title update to reflect worst current status
• Debug mode — type thisisdebug anywhere on the page to unlock traffic simulation tools
• Keyboard shortcuts — R refresh, 1–9 jump to location, Tab switch tabs, ? show shortcuts, Esc close
• Resizable sidebar — drag the edge, persists across reloads
• Provider status indicator — shows in header when any location fails to fetch, with error details
• Rate limiting on all API endpoints via slowapi
• Mobile layout — stacked map/list, bottom navigation, touch drag-to-reorder, collapsible map
• Dark mode only — as it should be

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Requirements

• Docker + Docker Compose
• API key for your chosen routing provider (see Routing Providers below)

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Setup

# 1. Install Docker on your LXC (if not already)
curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sh

# 2. Copy files to the LXC
scp -r travel-monitor/ root@<LXC_IP>:/opt/travel-monitor

# 3. SSH in and configure
ssh root@<LXC_IP>
cd /opt/travel-monitor
cp .env.example .env
nano .env

# 4. Build and start
docker compose up -d

# 5. Check logs
docker compose logs -f

Open http://<LXC_IP>:<PORT> in your browser.

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Configuration (.env)

Variable	Default	Description
PORT	8000	Host port to expose
APP_TITLE	Travel Monitor	Title shown in header and browser tab
HQ_NAME	—	Friendly name for HQ shown in header (optional)
HQ_ADDRESS	—	HQ street address (geocoded on startup)
HQ_LAT / HQ_LNG	—	HQ coordinates (alternative to address)
ROUTING_PROVIDER	openrouteservice	See routing providers below
ORS_API_KEY	—	OpenRouteService key
GOOGLE_API_KEY	—	Google Maps key
MAPBOX_API_KEY	—	Mapbox key
HERE_API_KEY	—	HERE key
REFRESH_INTERVAL	300	Seconds between auto-refreshes
THRESHOLD_YELLOW	1.20	Ratio where green → yellow (20% worse than baseline)
THRESHOLD_RED	1.50	Ratio where yellow → red (50% worse)
THRESHOLD_DARK_RED	1.70	Ratio where red → dark red (70% worse)
DATA_DIR	/data	Path inside container for locations.json

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Routing Providers

Set ROUTING_PROVIDER to one of the following and supply the matching API key.

Provider	Value	Free tier	Traffic-aware	Notes
OpenRouteService	openrouteservice	2,000 req/day	❌ No	Returns static historical times. Fine for testing, not for real traffic monitoring.
Google Maps	google	~$200/month credit	✅ Yes	Best routing quality. Uses departure_time=now + duration_in_traffic.
Mapbox	mapbox	100,000 req/month	✅ Yes	Uses driving-traffic profile. Generous free tier.
HERE	here	250,000 req/month	✅ Yes	Uses departureTime=now. Good European coverage.

Recommendation: Mapbox or Google for real traffic data. OpenRouteService only if you don't need live conditions.

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Status colors

Color	Ratio	Meaning
🟢 Green	< 1.20×	Normal — within 20% of baseline
🟡 Yellow	1.20–1.50×	Worsened — 20–50% slower than baseline
🔴 Red	1.50–1.70×	Bad — 50–70% slower
⬛ Dark red	> 1.70×	Reconsider — more than 70% slower

Baselines are learned from the first successful fetch per location. To reset a baseline, use the ⋯ menu on any location → Reset baseline.

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Data persistence

Locations and baselines are stored in ./data/locations.json on the host, mounted into the container. Survives container restarts and rebuilds.

To manually reset a baseline without the UI, edit ./data/locations.json and set "baseline_seconds": null for that entry.

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Rate limits

All API endpoints are rate-limited per IP via slowapi:

Endpoint category	Limit
GET /api/config, GET /api/locations	60/min
GET /api/status	30/min
POST /api/refresh	10/min
Write operations (add, rename, delete, reorder, reset)	20/min
Debug (simulate-delay)	20/min

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Docker commands

docker compose up -d            # start
docker compose down             # stop
docker compose up -d --build    # rebuild after code changes
docker compose restart          # restart without rebuild
docker compose logs -f          # follow logs

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Exposing via Caddy + Authentik

The app has no built-in authentication. For external access, put it behind a reverse proxy with forward auth.

DNS

Add an A record: travel.yourdomain.com → your Caddy LXC IP.

Authentik

1. Create a Proxy Provider (Forward auth, single application)
   • External host: https://travel.yourdomain.com
2. Create an Application pointing at the provider
3. Add the application to your existing Outpost
4. Optionally add a policy to restrict access to specific users or groups

Caddyfile

travel.yourdomain.com {
    header {
        Strict-Transport-Security "max-age=31536000;"
        X-Content-Type-Options "nosniff"
        X-Frame-Options "DENY"
        Referrer-Policy "strict-origin-when-cross-origin"
    }

    forward_auth http://<AUTHENTIK_OUTPOST_IP>:9000 {
        uri /outpost.goauthentik.io/auth/caddy
        copy_headers X-Authentik-Username X-Authentik-Groups X-Authentik-Email X-Authentik-Uid
        trusted_proxies private_ranges
    }

    reverse_proxy http://<TRAVEL_MONITOR_LXC_IP>:<PORT>
}

Port binding

When running behind a reverse proxy, bind Docker to the Caddy LXC IP only (already set in docker-compose.yml):

ports:
  - "127.0.0.1:${PORT:-8000}:8000"

If Caddy runs on a different host than the Travel Monitor LXC, change 127.0.0.1 to the Caddy LXC's IP.

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Security notes

• The app has no authentication of its own — rely on the reverse proxy layer
• API keys are stored in .env on the host filesystem — secure the LXC accordingly
• The simulate-delay endpoint is a debug tool — unlock it in the UI by typing thisisdebug; it is not accessible from the browser by default and is only useful for verifying threshold logic
• All API endpoints are rate-limited to prevent API quota exhaustion

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Hardening checklist

• Rate limiting on all endpoints (slowapi)
• Docker port bound to localhost / Caddy IP only
• No user input executed or evaluated server-side
• XSS protection via escHtml() on all user-supplied strings in the frontend
• Caddy security headers (add to Caddyfile block)
• Authentik group policy restricting access to your account only
• Firewall rule on Travel Monitor LXC allowing only Caddy LXC on the app port

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TODO

• Mobile layout polish (touch edge cases)
• Authentik + Caddy deployment (documented above, not yet deployed)