devbox¶

Turn any Linux machine into a ready-to-use dev environment in one command.
No cloud bills. No Kubernetes. No DevOps required.

Get Started GitHub

# Create a workspace in seconds
$ devbox init
$ devbox up

# Connect with any editor
$ devbox ssh my-project
$ zed ssh://dev1/workspaces/my-project

Why devbox?¶

You own the hardware. You deserve a dev environment tool that respects that.

	devbox	GitHub Codespaces	Coder	DevPod
Cost	Free (your hardware)	$40-80/dev/month	Free (self-hosted)	Free
Setup complexity	1 command	Managed	Kubernetes required	Medium
Self-hosted	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Container runtime	Docker	Proprietary	Docker/K8s	Docker/K8s/Cloud
Networking	Tailscale (HTTPS, DNS)	GitHub network	Manual	Manual
Multi-workspace	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Editor support	Any (SSH)	VS Code, JetBrains	Any (SSH)	Any (SSH)
CI/CD previews	Built-in	GitHub only	Manual	No
Plugin system	Yes	No	Yes	No
Active development	Yes	Yes	Yes	Abandoned (2024)

One Command Setup¶

devbox up creates your workspace, starts services, clones your repo, and exposes ports — all in one step.

Docker Isolation¶

Each workspace runs in isolated Docker containers with configurable CPU, memory, and disk limits. No cross-project interference.

Tailscale Networking¶

Automatic HTTPS, DNS hostnames, and access control. Connect from anywhere on your tailnet without port forwarding.

Any Editor¶

Works with Zed, VS Code, JetBrains, Neovim, or any editor that supports SSH remoting. No proprietary lock-in.

Plugin System¶

Extend devbox with custom container providers (Podman, LXC) and lifecycle hooks. JSON protocol for any language.

Built-in Monitoring¶

Real-time CPU, memory, disk, and network metrics per workspace. Interactive TUI dashboard for management.

Install¶

Linux (amd64)Linux (arm64)macOS (Apple Silicon)macOS (Intel)Build from source

curl -fsSL https://github.com/junixlabs/devbox/releases/latest/download/devbox-linux-amd64 -o devbox
chmod +x devbox && sudo mv devbox /usr/local/bin/

curl -fsSL https://github.com/junixlabs/devbox/releases/latest/download/devbox-linux-arm64 -o devbox
chmod +x devbox && sudo mv devbox /usr/local/bin/

curl -fsSL https://github.com/junixlabs/devbox/releases/latest/download/devbox-darwin-arm64 -o devbox
chmod +x devbox && sudo mv devbox /usr/local/bin/

curl -fsSL https://github.com/junixlabs/devbox/releases/latest/download/devbox-darwin-amd64 -o devbox
chmod +x devbox && sudo mv devbox /usr/local/bin/

git clone https://github.com/junixlabs/devbox.git
cd devbox && make build
sudo mv dist/devbox /usr/local/bin/

Requires Go 1.22+.

Verify the installation:

devbox --version

Quick Start¶

# 1. Check your server is ready
devbox doctor --server dev1

# 2. Create a config in your project
devbox init

# 3. Start a workspace
devbox up

# 4. Connect
devbox ssh my-project

Full Quick Start Guide

Architecture¶

 Your Machine                        Linux Server (dev1)
┌─────────────┐     Tailscale      ┌──────────────────────────┐
│             │    ◄──────────►    │  devbox daemon            │
│  Editor     │     Encrypted      │  ┌────────────────────┐  │
│  (Zed/VS    │     WireGuard      │  │ Workspace Container │  │
│   Code)     │     Tunnel         │  │  ├── App Code       │  │
│             │                    │  │  ├── MySQL 8.0      │  │
│  devbox CLI │                    │  │  └── Redis 7        │  │
└─────────────┘                    │  └────────────────────┘  │
                                   │                          │
                                   │  Docker + Tailscale      │
                                   └──────────────────────────┘

devbox connects your local editor to Docker containers on any Linux machine via Tailscale's encrypted WireGuard tunnel. No public IPs, no firewall rules, no VPN configuration.

What's Next?¶

For Developers¶

Daily workflow from devbox init to production-ready workspace. Templates, snapshots, and multi-branch support.

Developer Guide

For Admins¶

Set up server pools, manage users, configure resource limits, and monitor your fleet.

Admin Guide

For AI Agent Builders¶

Give your AI agents isolated dev environments. MCP integration, workspace-per-agent, and automated cleanup.

Agent Builder Guide