go-micro/internal/website/docs/server.md

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Micro Server (Optional)

The Micro server is an optional web dashboard and authenticated API gateway for production environments. It provides a secure entrypoint for discovering and interacting with services that are already running (e.g., managed by systemd via micro deploy).

micro server does not build, run, or watch services. It only discovers services via the registry and provides a UI/API to interact with them.

micro server vs micro run

	micro run	micro server
Purpose	Local development	Production dashboard
Builds services	Yes	No
Runs services	Yes (as child processes)	No (discovers already-running services)
Hot reload	Yes	No
Authentication	Yes (default admin/micro)	Yes (default admin/micro)
Scopes	Yes (/auth/scopes)	Yes (/auth/scopes)
Dashboard	Full gateway UI with auth, scopes, agent	Full dashboard with API explorer, logs, user/token management
When to use	Day-to-day development	Deployed environments, shared servers

For local development, use micro run instead.

Install

Install the CLI which includes the server command:

go install go-micro.dev/v5/cmd/micro@v5.16.0

Note: Use a specific version instead of @latest to avoid module path conflicts. See releases for the latest version.

Run

Start the server:

micro server

Then open http://localhost:8080 and log in with the default admin account (admin/micro).

Features

• Web Dashboard — Browse registered services, view endpoints, request/response schemas
• API Gateway — Authenticated HTTP-to-RPC proxy at /api/{service}/{method}
• JWT Authentication — All API endpoints require a Bearer token or session cookie
• Token Management — Generate, view, copy, and revoke JWT tokens
• User Management — Create, list, and delete users with bcrypt-hashed passwords
• Endpoint Scopes — Restrict which tokens can call which endpoints via /auth/scopes
• MCP Integration — AI agent playground and MCP tools, with scope enforcement
• Logs & Status — View service logs and status (PID, uptime) from the dashboard

Typical Production Setup

After deploying services with micro deploy:

# On your server, start the dashboard
micro server

Services managed by systemd are discovered via the registry and appear in the dashboard automatically. The server provides the authenticated API and web UI for interacting with them.

When to use it

• You have services running in production (via systemd or otherwise) and want a web UI
• You need authenticated API access with JWT tokens
• You want user management and token revocation
• You're running a shared environment where multiple people interact with services

For CLI usage details, see the CLI documentation on GitHub.