cd /path/to/omniroute
podman build --target runner-base -t omniroute:base .
# For web-cookie providers (gemini-web, claude-web, claude-turnstile):
podman build --target runner-web -t omniroute:web .
# For CLI tool support:
podman build --target runner-cli -t omniroute:cli .

2. Copy Quadlet files to the systemd directory

mkdir -p ~/.config/containers/systemd/omniroute
cp contrib/podman/*.container ~/.config/containers/systemd/omniroute/
cp contrib/podman/*.network ~/.config/containers/systemd/omniroute/
cp contrib/podman/*.volume ~/.config/containers/systemd/omniroute/

3. Mount the project .env for secrets

Edit ~/.config/containers/systemd/omniroute/omniroute.container and uncomment/replace the EnvironmentFile line with the absolute path to your project .env:

EnvironmentFile=/home/USER/code/docker/OmniRoute/.env

Make sure CONTAINER_HOST=podman is set in that .env.

Alternatively, edit the env vars directly in the .container file.

4. Reload systemd and start

systemctl --user daemon-reload
systemctl --user start omniroute-redis
systemctl --user start omniroute

5. Verify

systemctl --user status omniroute
curl http://localhost:20128/v1/models

To follow logs:

journalctl --user -u omniroute -f

6. Enable on boot

systemctl --user enable omniroute-redis
systemctl --user enable omniroute

Option B: podman compose

The project's docker-compose.yml now works with both Docker and Podman. Just set CONTAINER_HOST=podman in .env before starting.

1. Prepare the data directory

Rootless Podman maps container UIDs into a subordinate range. The node user (UID 1000) inside the container maps to a different UID on the host, so it cannot write to ./data owned by your host user.

Fix the ownership before starting:

mkdir -p data
podman unshare chown 1000:1000 ./data

2. Set the runtime in `.env`

Make sure .env contains:

CONTAINER_HOST=podman

3. Start

podman compose --profile base up -d

Profiles

Same profiles as docker compose:

Profile	Command
`base` (no CLIs)	`podman compose --profile base up -d`
`web` (+Chromium/Playwright)	`podman compose --profile web up -d`
`cli` (+CLI tools)	`podman compose --profile cli up -d`
`host` (host-mounted binaries)	`podman compose --profile host up -d`
`cliproxyapi` (sidecar)	`podman compose --profile cliproxyapi up -d`

How it works

The docker-compose.yml uses fully-qualified image names (docker.io/library/redis:7-alpine) and flat variable expansions so it works with both Docker and Podman without a separate compose file.

The entrypoint script (check-permissions.sh) reads CONTAINER_HOST from .env to give the correct fix instructions:

docker: sudo chown -R ... ./data
podman: podman unshare chown 1000:1000 ./data

README.md

Podman Deployment

Option A: Quadlet (recommended)

1. Build the image