Use your own project

Start with your first session to install DevCapsule and check Docker. The commands here run in your computer's terminal, from the project folder; agent commands run in the terminal inside the IDE.

Open an existing checkout

Clone or open the repository as you normally would, then cd into its root. Use a project you trust: its source folder will be shared read/write with the capsule, and tools or agents can change it. Commit or back up work you care about before experimenting.

If the project already has a .devcapsule/devcapsule.toml file:

~/.local/bin/devcapsule project init
~/.local/bin/devcapsule project run

init uses the project's declared tools and asks for required local values, base-image consent, and acquisition authorizations it still needs. Repository recommendations do not grant host access. Use project config show to review them, then explicitly authorize the access you choose. If this checkout is already initialized, skip directly to project run.

Give a project its first capsule

If it has no DevCapsule configuration yet, choose one IDE:

The prompts follow the first-session explanation. Additional tools can require their own vendor download/terms authorization. Then run ~/.local/bin/devcapsule project run to open the IDE.

The capsule supplies the selected development tools. An arbitrary project's dependencies, databases and test commands still come from that project's README; run those setup commands in the capsule's IDE terminal. A maintained project configuration can already provide more of that setup.

The .devcapsule/ manifest and platform lock belong with the project in Git. They describe its environment. Host permissions, private agent sign-ins and IDE state live separately in your local DevCapsule storage.

Add a coding agent

Save your work and stop the capsule first. In your computer's terminal, from the same project folder, select the agent you use:

These commands update the project's shared tool selection and lock, then ask for any necessary acquisition authorization. Review the vendor terms shown before accepting. Start the capsule again with project run; it acquires the selected agent on that launch.

Run the agent command inside the IDE terminal and follow its sign-in instructions. Use your own provider account and access plan. DevCapsule does not supply an AI subscription or silently import your host's sign-in. If the agent prints a sign-in URL, open it in your host browser. Its saved sign-in state remains in local capsule storage for later sessions.

Try a small, reviewable request: “Explain how this project runs, then suggest one small improvement and a way to check it. Wait for me before changing files.” Review the result and run the project's checks before committing.

Return to work

From the project folder, ~/.local/bin/devcapsule project run is the return command. Save files before stopping; a new session restarts processes while reusing stored IDE and agent state. The container is disposable; your source folder and local state are not.

Keep normal Git history and backups. Persistent state on one computer does not by itself provide backup, synchronization to another machine, or an agent's memory of every design decision.

Review permissions

Recover after a project configuration change (0.2.14)

Installing a newer launcher keeps the project's existing lock and recorded choices. If the project itself changed its configuration, project run may ask you to resolve it again:

~/.local/bin/devcapsule project config show
~/.local/bin/devcapsule project config resolve

config show prints the configuration listing and then the review: pending decisions together, including your recorded base, the project's current recommendation, and commands for the available choices. config list prints the listing alone. Choose one alternative for each pending authorization; do not execute every alternative. A recorded denial is shown as a decision you can keep.

For example, if you choose to accept the currently recommended base:

~/.local/bin/devcapsule project config authorize base-image default
~/.local/bin/devcapsule project config resolve
~/.local/bin/devcapsule project run

default accepts the current pin. It does not grant host access or accept future versions. A local base override is shown separately; renewing it uses its exact image identity and requires that image to remain available.

Workflow metadata and project display-name changes do not require a new environment resolution. Changing several local options is a sequence of edits followed by one config resolve; if an edit fails, earlier successful edits remain. A refused resolution leaves the previous generated plan intact.

Launch explains the display choice before building the environment. Existing explicit host-x11 decisions survive recovery. Without one, a base supporting the contained desktop uses the browser; an older base uses host X11. If you explicitly deny host X11 and the base cannot provide a contained desktop, launch stops before building and explains the choices. Any required image build is explained before it starts; a new launcher can require a build to install its matching runtime even when project tools stay the same.

Change host access

From your computer's terminal in the project folder:

~/.local/bin/devcapsule project config show

The first exercise uses ordinary container networking and the contained desktop. A project may request host Docker, host networking, administrative tools, or host-browser integration; grant each only when your work needs it. Changing an authorization does not reconfigure a running container. Stop it, change the setting, resolve the configuration, and launch again.

Project launches use these recorded choices and explicit run-once options. Legacy launcher environment variables do not add privileges, credential sources, or host-directory bindings. run --force may use stale ordinary runtime settings, but it cannot restore a removed permission, directory binding, or secret binding.

For example, to return from explicit host X11 access to the contained desktop:

~/.local/bin/devcapsule project config authorize host-x11 false
~/.local/bin/devcapsule project config resolve
~/.local/bin/devcapsule project run

Granting host-x11 true exposes the host's display session to capsule programs; it is not needed for the normal browser desktop.