Alpha coming Q1 2026 • Self-Hosted

Stop Organizing.
Start Automating.

The intelligent developer platform that fits your stack, not the other way around.

Why Shoehorn

Built for teams who need a production-ready platform without the complexity

Traditional IDPs

× Manual configuration - Endless YAML files
× Weeks of setup - Complex plugin systems
× Dedicated team required - Hard to maintain
× Migration headaches - Rewrite everything

Shoehorn

✓ Auto-discovery - Zero manual config
✓ 15-minute setup - Works out of the box
✓ 2 people maintain - Small team friendly
✓ Backstage compatible - Use existing files

Backstage Compatible

Zero Migration Required

Native Support

✓ template.yaml works as-is
✓ catalog-info.yaml auto-discovered
✓ Run Backstage + Shoehorn in parallel

Optional Migration

Ready to modernize? One command converts everything:

# Convert to native format
shoehorn convert template.yaml

→ 70% cleaner syntax, better DX, Shoehorn-specific features

Your Platform's Mission Control

Everything you need to run platform engineering at scale. In one beautiful interface.

Click for next Swipe or tap

dashboard

Everything You Need.
Nothing You Don't.

Battle-tested features that actually matter. Zero bloat. Maximum impact.

Service Catalog

Auto-discover and track all your services, teams, and dependencies

Documentation Hub

Lightning-fast hybrid search (BM25 + Vector) with auto-discovery

Forge Engine

Scaffold services with Backstage-compatible templates

Kubernetes Agent

Real-time cluster discovery with push-based updates

Enterprise Auth

SSO with any OIDC provider, RBAC, multi-tenancy

GitHub Integration

PRs, Actions, Security scanning - all connected

GitOps Ready

Works with Helm, Kustomize, ArgoCD, and Flux

Day-2 Operations

Restarts, rollbacks, access grants - all in one place

Smart Defaults

Learn from your org patterns and auto-configure

<200ms

Search Speed

15min

Setup Time

100%

Self-Hosted

Built for platform engineers who move fast.

Ready to Automate?

Production-ready repos in 15 minutes. Intelligent automation over endless configuration.

View on GitHub

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Shoehorn?

Shoehorn is an intelligent developer platform for teams tired of overwhelming dashboards and endless configuration. We auto-discover your services, docs, and infrastructure—then surface only what matters. Beautiful UI, instant search, invisible AI assistance. Your stack stays yours; we just make it visible.

How is this different from Backstage?

Backstage is powerful but requires significant engineering effort to set up and maintain. Shoehorn is designed to be production-ready in under 15 minutes with auto-discovery and minimal configuration. We're built on a scalable microservice architecture with event-driven design—API-first with CLI available, opinionated but batteries included. It's modular: use what you want, skip what you don't (maybe just DocsHub?). We're Backstage-compatible—your existing catalog.yaml files and templates work as-is, no migration required. If you want to convert to native format, we offer automatic migration tools.

How do I install Shoehorn?

Shoehorn is self-hosted and runs on your infrastructure. Install using Docker Compose for quick testing, or use our Helm chart for production Kubernetes deployments. We ship multi-architecture containers (amd64 and arm64) that work on any platform.

What's included in the alpha release?

The alpha includes the core platform features: Service Catalog with auto-discovery, Documentation hub with hybrid search, Forge (scaffolding engine), Kubernetes agent, and enterprise authentication. You can connect your GitHub organization and Kubernetes clusters to start managing real services. All features are fully functional—we're gathering feedback to improve the experience before GA.

Is Shoehorn free to use?

Yes! Shoehorn is free to self-host. Core functionality has no usage limits. Run it on your own infrastructure with full control over your data. We'll offer optional managed hosting and enterprise support in the future, but the self-hosted core version will always be free.

What identity providers do you support?

Shoehorn currently supports Zitadel out of the box. Support for other OIDC providers like Okta, Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD) and Google Workspace is coming soon.

Stop Organizing. Start Automating.