feat: show build version and git commit in UI and startup log

.github/workflows/docker-publish.yml

@@ -69,6 +69,8 @@ jobs:
           push: true
           build-args: |
             SENTRY_RELEASE=${{ github.sha }}
+            APP_COMMIT=${{ github.sha }}
+            APP_BUILD_DATE=${{ fromJSON(steps.meta.outputs.json).labels['org.opencontainers.image.created'] }}
           # Only the source map upload uses it; nothing Sentry-related that
           # decides where an instance reports is baked into the public image.
           secrets: |

Dockerfile

@@ -120,6 +120,12 @@ ENV NEXT_TELEMETRY_DISABLED=1
 # Release reported by backend and frontend when an operator sets SENTRY_DSN.
 ARG SENTRY_RELEASE=
 ENV SENTRY_RELEASE=$SENTRY_RELEASE
+# Build provenance: commit and build date, shown in the UI and startup log.
+ARG APP_VERSION=
+ARG APP_COMMIT=
+ENV APP_COMMIT=$APP_COMMIT
+ARG APP_BUILD_DATE=
+ENV APP_BUILD_DATE=$APP_BUILD_DATE
 
 RUN addgroup --system --gid 1001 appuser && \
     adduser --system --uid 1001 appuser
@@ -153,7 +159,9 @@ RUN chmod +x ./start.sh
 RUN mkdir -p /app/diagnostics && chown appuser:appuser /app/diagnostics
 ENV HEAP_SNAPSHOT_DIR=/app/diagnostics
 
-LABEL org.opencontainers.image.title="AnythingMCP" \
+LABEL org.opencontainers.image.revision="${APP_COMMIT}" \
+      org.opencontainers.image.version="${APP_VERSION}" \
+      org.opencontainers.image.title="AnythingMCP" \
       org.opencontainers.image.description="Convert any API into an MCP server — REST, SOAP, GraphQL, Database, MCP Bridge. Self-hosted MCP middleware." \
       org.opencontainers.image.url="https://github.com/HelpCode-ai/anythingmcp" \
       org.opencontainers.image.source="https://github.com/HelpCode-ai/anythingmcp" \

docs/deployment.md

@@ -199,6 +199,18 @@ cd packages/frontend && npm start
 
 ---
 
+### Build provenance
+
+When building the image yourself, pass the commit and build date so the UI and startup log show real values instead of `dev`:
+
+```bash
+docker build \
+  --build-arg APP_COMMIT=$(git rev-parse HEAD) \
+  --build-arg APP_BUILD_DATE=$(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ) \
+  -t anythingmcp:local .
+```
+
+
 ## Reverse Proxy & HTTPS
 
 ### Caddy (Recommended — Automatic SSL)

docs/operations/observability.md

@@ -64,7 +64,9 @@ Service identity:
 | Env | Default |
 |---|---|
 | `OTEL_SERVICE_NAME` | `anythingmcp-backend` |
-| `OTEL_SERVICE_VERSION` | `npm_package_version` |
+| `OTEL_SERVICE_VERSION` | `APP_VERSION` (from `package.json`) |
+
+The `service.version` value now comes from `APP_VERSION` (resolved from `package.json`), with `APP_COMMIT` and `APP_BUILD_DATE` available as build-time env vars.
 | `OTEL_DEPLOYMENT_ENVIRONMENT` | `NODE_ENV` |
 
 Auth: standard `OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_HEADERS` (e.g. `authorization=Bearer …`).
@@ -193,3 +195,4 @@ When a customer reports a problem, the **first** thing to ask is "what's the `X-
 - No PII in error reports: the organization id is the only identifier, and no IP address is sent.
 
 If a self-hoster wants any of these enabled, every knob is a documented env var. If we add one that isn't, that's a bug — file it.
+

packages/backend/src/common/app-version.spec.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+describe('app-version', () => {
+  const originalEnv = { ...process.env };
+
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    jest.resetModules();
+  });
+
+  afterEach(() => {
+    process.env = { ...originalEnv };
+    jest.resetModules();
+  });
+
+  it('APP_COMMIT falls back to dev when unset', () => {
+    delete process.env.APP_COMMIT;
+    delete process.env.SENTRY_RELEASE;
+    const mod = require('./app-version');
+    expect(mod.APP_COMMIT).toBe('dev');
+  });
+
+  it('APP_COMMIT prefers APP_COMMIT over SENTRY_RELEASE', () => {
+    process.env.APP_COMMIT = 'abc1234';
+    process.env.SENTRY_RELEASE = 'def5678';
+    const mod = require('./app-version');
+    expect(mod.APP_COMMIT).toBe('abc1234');
+  });
+
+  it('APP_COMMIT uses SENTRY_RELEASE when APP_COMMIT is unset', () => {
+    delete process.env.APP_COMMIT;
+    process.env.SENTRY_RELEASE = 'def5678';
+    const mod = require('./app-version');
+    expect(mod.APP_COMMIT).toBe('def5678');
+  });
+
+  it('APP_BUILD_DATE defaults to null', () => {
+    delete process.env.APP_BUILD_DATE;
+    const mod = require('./app-version');
+    expect(mod.APP_BUILD_DATE).toBeNull();
+  });
+
+  it('APP_BUILD_DATE reads from env', () => {
+    process.env.APP_BUILD_DATE = '2026-10-10T12:00:00Z';
+    const mod = require('./app-version');
+    expect(mod.APP_BUILD_DATE).toBe('2026-10-10T12:00:00Z');
+  });
+
+  it('APP_VERSION is a non-empty string', () => {
+    const mod = require('./app-version');
+    expect(mod.APP_VERSION).toBeTruthy();
+    expect(typeof mod.APP_VERSION).toBe('string');
+  });
+});

packages/backend/src/common/app-version.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+/**
+ * Single source of truth for the backend version, commit and build date.
+ *
+ * The version is resolved by walking up from this file rather than with a
+ * fixed relative path: tsc emits to `dist/src/...`, so the package.json sits
+ * one level further up in the build than in the source tree, and the runtime
+ * image moves it again (`/app/backend/package.json` against
+ * `/app/backend/dist/src/common/`). A hardcoded `../../package.json` is
+ * correct in exactly one of those three layouts, and being wrong throws
+ * MODULE_NOT_FOUND at import time — which takes the whole backend down for a
+ * string that appears in one handshake field. Hence also the try/catch: this
+ * can degrade, it cannot fail to boot.
+ */
+
+import { readFileSync } from 'node:fs';
+import { dirname, join } from 'node:path';
+
+function readPackageVersion(): string {
+  let dir = __dirname;
+  for (let i = 0; i < 6; i++) {
+    try {
+      const pkg = JSON.parse(
+        readFileSync(join(dir, 'package.json'), 'utf8'),
+      ) as { name?: string; version?: string };
+      if (pkg.name && pkg.version) return pkg.version;
+    } catch {
+      /* keep walking */
+    }
+    const parent = dirname(dir);
+    if (parent === dir) break;
+    dir = parent;
+  }
+  return '0.0.0';
+}
+
+/** Package version, read from the nearest package.json. */
+export const APP_VERSION: string = readPackageVersion();
+
+/** Short commit SHA, or 'dev' when unset (local builds, source runs). */
+export const APP_COMMIT: string =
+  process.env.APP_COMMIT || process.env.SENTRY_RELEASE || 'dev';
+
+/** Build date (ISO), or null when unset. */
+export const APP_BUILD_DATE: string | null =
+  process.env.APP_BUILD_DATE || null;

packages/backend/src/health/health.module.ts

@@ -1,13 +1,14 @@
 import { Module } from '@nestjs/common';
 import { TerminusModule } from '@nestjs/terminus';
 import { HealthController } from './health.controller';
+import { VersionController } from './version.controller';
 import { SentryVerifyController } from './sentry-verify.controller';
 import { UsersModule } from '../users/users.module';
 import { ProcessVitalsService } from '../common/process-vitals.service';
 
 @Module({
   imports: [TerminusModule, UsersModule],
-  controllers: [HealthController, SentryVerifyController],
+  controllers: [HealthController, SentryVerifyController, VersionController],
   providers: [ProcessVitalsService],
 })
 export class HealthModule {}

packages/backend/src/health/version.controller.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+import { Controller, Get, UseGuards } from '@nestjs/common';
+import { ApiTags, ApiBearerAuth } from '@nestjs/swagger';
+import { AuthGuard } from '@nestjs/passport';
+import { APP_VERSION, APP_COMMIT, APP_BUILD_DATE } from '../common/app-version';
+
+@ApiTags('Version')
+@Controller('api/version')
+@UseGuards(AuthGuard('jwt'))
+export class VersionController {
+  @Get()
+  @ApiBearerAuth()
+  getVersion() {
+    return {
+      version: APP_VERSION,
+      commit: APP_COMMIT,
+      buildDate: APP_BUILD_DATE,
+      deploymentMode: process.env.DEPLOYMENT_MODE || 'self-hosted',
+    };
+  }
+}

packages/backend/src/instrument.ts

@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
  * ./common/sentry-scrub.ts for the exact rules.
  */
 import * as Sentry from '@sentry/nestjs';
+import { APP_VERSION } from './common/app-version';
 import { scrubBreadcrumb, scrubEvent } from './common/sentry-scrub';
 import { sampleRateFor } from './common/sentry-sampler';
 
@@ -28,7 +29,7 @@ if (dsn) {
       process.env.SENTRY_ENVIRONMENT ||
       process.env.NODE_ENV ||
       'development',
-    release: process.env.SENTRY_RELEASE || process.env.npm_package_version,
+    release: process.env.SENTRY_RELEASE || APP_VERSION,
 
     // Tracing is opt-in on top of error reporting because it adds overhead.
     // SENTRY_TRACES_SAMPLE_RATE applies to HTTP requests; MCP calls take

packages/backend/src/main.ts

@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ import { startTracing } from './tracing';
 startTracing();
 
 import { NestFactory } from '@nestjs/core';
+import { APP_VERSION, APP_COMMIT, APP_BUILD_DATE } from './common/app-version';
 import { Logger, ValidationPipe } from '@nestjs/common';
 import { SwaggerModule, DocumentBuilder } from '@nestjs/swagger';
 import { ConfigService } from '@nestjs/config';
@@ -206,6 +207,9 @@ async function bootstrap() {
     });
   }
 
+  const mode = process.env.DEPLOYMENT_MODE || 'self-hosted';
+  const shortCommit = /^[0-9a-f]{40}$/.test(APP_COMMIT) ? APP_COMMIT.slice(0, 7) : APP_COMMIT;
+  logger.log(`AnythingMCP v${APP_VERSION} (commit ${shortCommit}, built ${APP_BUILD_DATE ?? 'unknown'}, mode ${mode})`);
   logger.log(`AnythingMCP backend running on: http://localhost:${port}`);
   logger.log(`Swagger docs: http://localhost:${port}/api/docs`);
   logger.log(`MCP endpoint (global): http://localhost:${port}/mcp`);

packages/backend/src/mcp-server/mcp-endpoint.controller.ts

@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import { APP_VERSION } from '../common/app-version';
 import {
   Controller,
   Post,
@@ -77,40 +78,6 @@ import {
   planServerResources,
 } from './mcp-resources';
 import { jsonSchemaToZodShape, stripEnvVarParams } from './tool-schema.util';
-import { readFileSync } from 'node:fs';
-import { dirname, join } from 'node:path';
-
-/**
- * Backend version, reported as the demo server's version (was a hardcoded 1.0.0).
- *
- * Resolved by walking up from this file rather than with a fixed relative path:
- * tsc emits to `dist/src/...`, so the package.json sits one level further up in
- * the build than in the source tree, and the runtime image moves it again
- * (`/app/backend/package.json` against `/app/backend/dist/src/mcp-server/`).
- * A hardcoded `../../package.json` is correct in exactly one of those three
- * layouts, and being wrong throws MODULE_NOT_FOUND at import time — which takes
- * the whole backend down for a string that appears in one handshake field.
- * Hence also the try/catch: this can degrade, it cannot fail to boot.
- */
-function readAppVersion(): string {
-  let dir = __dirname;
-  for (let i = 0; i < 6; i++) {
-    try {
-      const pkg = JSON.parse(
-        readFileSync(join(dir, 'package.json'), 'utf8'),
-      ) as { name?: string; version?: string };
-      if (pkg.name && pkg.version) return pkg.version;
-    } catch {
-      /* keep walking */
-    }
-    const parent = dirname(dir);
-    if (parent === dir) break;
-    dir = parent;
-  }
-  return '0.0.0';
-}
-
-const APP_VERSION: string = readAppVersion();
 
 function trimSlash(url: string | undefined): string {
   return (url || '').trim().replace(/\/+$/, '');

packages/backend/src/tracing.ts

@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
  * (Sentry for error correlation, OTLP for an in-house collector).
  */
 import { NodeSDK } from '@opentelemetry/sdk-node';
+import { APP_VERSION } from './common/app-version';
 import { getNodeAutoInstrumentations } from '@opentelemetry/auto-instrumentations-node';
 import { OTLPTraceExporter } from '@opentelemetry/exporter-trace-otlp-http';
 import { resourceFromAttributes } from '@opentelemetry/resources';
@@ -32,8 +33,7 @@ export function startTracing(): void {
       [ATTR_SERVICE_NAME]: process.env.OTEL_SERVICE_NAME || 'anythingmcp-backend',
       [ATTR_SERVICE_VERSION]:
         process.env.OTEL_SERVICE_VERSION ||
-        process.env.npm_package_version ||
-        '0.0.0',
+        APP_VERSION,
       [ATTR_DEPLOYMENT_ENVIRONMENT_NAME]:
         process.env.OTEL_DEPLOYMENT_ENVIRONMENT ||
         process.env.NODE_ENV ||

packages/frontend/src/app/settings/admin/page.tsx

@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 import { useState, useEffect } from 'react';
 import Link from 'next/link';
 import { useAuth } from '@/lib/auth-context';
-import { adminSettings, type AlertWebhookInput } from '@/lib/api';
+import { adminSettings, versionApi, type AlertWebhookInput } from '@/lib/api';
 import { Button } from '@/components/ui/button';
 import { Card } from '@/components/ui/card';
 import { AppSelect } from '@/components/ui/select';
@@ -30,6 +30,8 @@ export default function SettingsAdminPage() {
 
   // Footer links
   const [footerLinks, setFooterLinks] = useState<Array<{ label: string; url: string }>>([]);
+  const [versionInfo, setVersionInfo] = useState<{ version: string; commit: string; buildDate: string | null; deploymentMode: string } | null>(null);
+  const [versionMsg, setVersionMsg] = useState('');
   const [footerMsg, setFooterMsg] = useState('');
 
   // Connector-failure alert webhook
@@ -63,6 +65,7 @@ export default function SettingsAdminPage() {
     }).catch(() => {});
 
     adminSettings.getFooterLinks(token).then(setFooterLinks).catch(() => {});
+    versionApi.get(token).then(setVersionInfo).catch(() => {});
 
     adminSettings.getAlertWebhook(token).then((data) => {
       if (!('url' in data)) return;
@@ -526,6 +529,41 @@ export default function SettingsAdminPage() {
           )}
         </div>
       </Card>
+
+      {/* About this instance */}
+      <Card>
+        <h3 className="text-sm font-semibold text-[var(--text)] mb-2">About this instance</h3>
+        {!versionInfo && (
+          <p className="text-sm text-[var(--text-3)]">Version info unavailable.</p>
+        )}
+        {versionInfo && (
+          <div className="space-y-2">
+            <p className="text-sm text-[var(--text-2)]">
+              Version <span className="font-mono">{versionInfo.version}</span> · commit{' '}
+              <span className="font-mono">
+                {/^[0-9a-f]{40}$/.test(versionInfo.commit) ? versionInfo.commit.slice(0, 7) : versionInfo.commit}
+              </span>
+              {versionInfo.buildDate && <> · built {versionInfo.buildDate.slice(0, 10)}</>}
+            </p>
+            <Button
+              variant="secondary"
+              size="sm"
+              onClick={async () => {
+                const text = `AnythingMCP v${versionInfo.version} (commit ${versionInfo.commit}, built ${versionInfo.buildDate ?? 'unknown'}, mode ${versionInfo.deploymentMode})`;
+                const ok = await copyText(text);
+                setVersionMsg(ok ? 'Copied to clipboard' : 'Copy failed');
+              }}
+            >
+              Copy version info
+            </Button>
+            {versionMsg && (
+              <p className={`text-sm ${versionMsg === 'Copy failed' ? 'text-[var(--danger)]' : 'text-[var(--ok)]'}`}>
+                {versionMsg}
+              </p>
+            )}
+          </div>
+        )}
+      </Card>
     </div>
   );
 }