Headscale is a self-hosted control plane for private mesh networking that enables the creation of secure, encrypted peer-to-peer networks. By acting as a centralized coordination server, it manages device authentication, cryptographic key exchange, and network topology, allowing distributed infrastructure to communicate without relying on third-party services. It implements a zero-trust security architecture, verifying device and user identity before granting access to internal resources.
The project distinguishes itself by providing a fully independent, self-hosted alternative for managing network overlays. It integrates with external identity providers to automate user authentication and enforces granular, declarative access control policies across a fleet of devices. Administrators can manage the network through a web-based dashboard, a REST API, or a gRPC interface, providing flexibility for both manual oversight and programmatic automation.
The system supports a wide range of networking capabilities, including remote subnet routing, exit node configuration, and automated DNS management. It ensures connectivity across diverse environments through relay-based NAT traversal, which facilitates communication even when direct peer-to-peer connections are blocked by firewalls. The platform also maintains state persistence using a relational database and automates security through integrated TLS certificate management.
The software is available as a standalone binary or via containerized deployment, with support for cross-platform clients across various mobile and desktop operating systems.
