/profile not working in when use profile in docker compose

[padixa]

I've used below docker compose file:

services:
  meridian:
    image: ghcr.io/rynfar/meridian:latest
    container_name: meridian
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      - MERIDIAN_HOST=0.0.0.0
      - MERIDIAN_PORT=3456
      - MERIDIAN_API_KEY=XXXXXXXXXX
      - MERIDIAN_PASSTHROUGH=1
      - MERIDIAN_DEFAULT_PROFILE=home
      - MERIDIAN_PROFILES=[{"id":"home","claudeConfigDir":"/profiles/home"},{"id":"home2","claudeConfigDir":"/profiles/home2"},{"id":"home3","claudeConfigDir":"/profiles/home3"}]
      - HTTP_PROXY=http://x.x.x.x:x
      - HTTPS_PROXY=http://x.x.x.x:x
      - NO_PROXY=localhost,127.0.0.1,::1
    volumes:
      - /home/meridian/default:/home/claude/.claude      # default
      - /home/meridian/profiles/home:/profiles/home
      - /home/meridian/profiles/home2:/profiles/home2
      - /home/meridian/profiles/home3:/profiles/home3
    ports:
      - "192.168.1.77:3456:3456"

I've manually go into the container by docker exec -it meridian sh, thne try to login with home2:

CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR="/profiles/home2"  claude login

It's all normal now, but when I opened /health, it will show:

{
status: "degraded",
version: "1.37.4",
error: "Could not verify auth status",
mode: "passthrough"
}

If I opened /profiles, it will show:

{
type: "error",
error: {
type: "authentication_error",
message: "Invalid or missing API key"
}
}

I could see there is a lot of files updated in /home2 folder in local, but dashboard seems not recognized it.and unable to connect LAN /3456 to use it in claude code extention for VSCode

[padixa]

Now what I can do is changed: MERIDIAN_DEFAULT_PROFILE=home2 from home in docker compose config file.
then restart the meridian container, the /health could correctly shows the result now. but the /profiles endpoint still unable to open, the error json result shows the the authentication_error like earlier.

but when I go into the claude container, directly use command: claude, seems like it still using .claude(default) folder but not any profile folder, even not the default profile.

I think we need a good method and tutorial on how to use it correctly in Docker.

[padixa]

I've been running Meridian via Docker with MERIDIAN_API_KEY set, and ran into two confirmed issues after testing:

---

1. Admin routes inaccessible from browser without header injection

GET / works without auth (good for monitoring), but /profiles, /telemetry etc. require x-api-key header — which browsers can't send directly via URL.

Two minimal fixes that would solve this:

Option A — Query parameter support:

GET /profiles?x-api-key=<key>

Standard pattern used by many web UIs. User bookmarks the URL with the key and accesses it directly.

Option B — Web UI injects the key automatically in navigation links:
Since the dashboard at GET / is public, when a user navigates to /profiles or /telemetry via the dashboard's nav links, the frontend JS could append the x-api-key param (or send it as a header via fetch) automatically — so clicking within the dashboard just works.

Either option avoids needing browser extensions or reverse proxy workarounds.

---

2. meridian CLI binary missing from Docker image

Tested via docker exec meridian which meridian — not present. This means CLI profile management doesn't work in Docker deployments:

# These all fail inside the container:
meridian profile switch home2
meridian profile list

Confirmed workarounds needed without CLI:

• Profile switching: POST /profiles/active REST call from outside the container
• Adding/logging in a new profile: enter container manually, run CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR=/profiles/<name> claude, then use in-REPL /login
• Running claude without CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR falls back to /home/claude/.claude (not logged in)

Request: Include the meridian CLI binary in the Docker image so Docker users can do:

docker exec -it meridian meridian profile switch home2
docker exec -it meridian meridian profile add home3

Both issues significantly impact Docker deployment usability. Happy to discuss or contribute. Thanks for the great project!