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Migrate from GitHub Codespaces

This guide helps you move from GitHub Codespaces to devbox. The migration is straightforward — most concepts map directly.

Why migrate?

GitHub Codespaces devbox
Cost $40-80/dev/month (compute + storage) Free (your hardware)
Hardware GitHub-managed VMs Any Linux machine you own
Customization Limited VM sizes Full control over specs
Networking GitHub network, port forwarding Tailscale (HTTPS, DNS, ACLs)
Offline No Yes (local server)
Data residency GitHub's cloud Your infrastructure
Editor lock-in VS Code / JetBrains Any SSH-capable editor

Concept Mapping

Codespaces devbox Notes
Codespace Workspace Same idea: isolated dev environment
devcontainer.json devbox.yaml devbox also reads devcontainer.json as fallback
Machine type (2/4/8 core) resources.cpus / resources.memory Set in devbox.yaml
Features Services + Plugins Docker images for services, plugins for extensions
Secrets env in devbox.yaml Or use your server's env management
Port forwarding ports in devbox.yaml Auto-exposed via Tailscale
Prebuilds Snapshots devbox snapshot to save state
gh codespace CLI devbox CLI Similar command structure

Step-by-Step Migration

1. Set up your server

If you don't have a server yet, any Linux machine works — a spare laptop, mini PC, or $5/month VPS:

# On the server
curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sh
curl -fsSL https://tailscale.com/install.sh | sh
sudo tailscale up

2. Install devbox

On your development machine:

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

3. Convert your devcontainer.json

If your project has a .devcontainer/devcontainer.json, devbox can read it directly. But for full control, create a devbox.yaml:

Before (devcontainer.json): 

{
  "name": "my-app",
  "image": "mcr.microsoft.com/devcontainers/javascript-node:18",
  "features": {
    "ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/docker-in-docker:2": {}
  },
  "forwardPorts": [3000, 5432],
  "postCreateCommand": "npm install",
  "customizations": {
    "vscode": {
      "extensions": ["dbaeumer.vscode-eslint"]
    }
  }
}

After (devbox.yaml): 

name: my-app
server: dev1
repo: git@github.com:your-org/my-app.git
services:
  - postgres:15
ports:
  app: 3000
  postgres: 5432
env:
  NODE_ENV: development
  DATABASE_URL: postgres://postgres:postgres@postgres:5432/myapp

4. Convert Docker Compose (if applicable)

If your Codespace uses a Docker Compose file:

devbox init --from-compose .devcontainer/docker-compose.yml

5. Start your workspace

devbox up

6. Connect your editor

Instead of "Open in Codespaces", use SSH remoting:

Same Remote - SSH extension you may already use: 

Remote-SSH: Connect to Host... → dev1
Open folder: /workspaces/my-app


zed ssh://dev1/workspaces/my-app

devbox ssh my-app

What you gain

  • No monthly bill — use hardware you already own
  • No cold starts — workspaces persist until you destroy them
  • Full root access — install anything, no restrictions
  • Tailscale networking — HTTPS, DNS, and access control without configuration
  • Multi-server — scale across multiple machines as your team grows

What's different

  • No browser IDE — devbox is SSH-based, so you use your local editor
  • Server maintenance — you're responsible for keeping Docker and Tailscale updated
  • No prebuilds — use devbox snapshot for similar functionality