Lightweight CLI to manage fast & repeatable dev environments and runnable projects

Create and manage vm-like dev containers for any directory in seconds.

Installation

Quick Install (Recommended):

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/philogicae/fast_dev_container/main/install | bash

Manual Install:

git clone https://github.com/philogicae/fast_dev_container.git ~/.fdevc
echo 'source ~/.fdevc/fdevc.sh' >> ~/.bashrc  # or ~/.zshrc
source ~/.bashrc  # or ~/.zshrc

Usage

fdevc [id|name] [OPTIONS]     # Create/start/attach container (auto-stop on exit unless -d)
fdevc start [id|name]         # Explicit alias for fdevc
fdevc new [OPTIONS]           # Create timestamped container for parallel environments
fdevc vm [OPTIONS]            # Create VM-like container (no volume/socket mounts)
fdevc stop [id|name]          # Stop running container without removing
fdevc rm [id|name] [OPTIONS]  # Remove container+volumes (--all to remove everything)
fdevc ls                      # List all containers with status and configuration
fdevc config [--rm] [id|name] # Show/manage saved configs
fdevc custom                  # Copy template Dockerfile as fdevc.Dockerfile
fdevc gen <name>              # Create shareable fdevc runnable project
fdevc -h, --help              # Show detailed help message

Common options:

• -i IMAGE|DOCKERFILE - Custom image or Dockerfile path
• -p "8080 3000:3001" - Port mappings (space-separated)
• -v "/data:/data" - Volume mounts (can be repeated)
• -c CMD / --c-s CMD - Run command on attach (--c-s saves for future)
• --cp ID|NAME - Copy config from container
• -n BASENAME - Custom basename (collision-checked)
• -d / --tmp - Persist on exit / Remove on exit
• -f, --force - Recreate if config differs
• --dkr podman - Use alternative runtime
• --no-dir / --no-v-dir / --no-s - No project dir / Skip auto-mount / Skip socket

Examples

fdevc                              # Start/attach container for current dir
fdevc -p "8080:80 3000"            # With port mappings
fdevc -i ubuntu:22.04              # With custom image
fdevc -v "/data:/data"             # With custom volume mount (host path)
fdevc -v "mydata:/app/data"        # With named volume (virtual volume)
fdevc --c-s "npm run dev"          # With saved startup command
fdevc --cp 1 -n myproject          # Copy config from container #1, use custom name
fdevc new --tmp --no-dir           # Temporary isolated environment (no project)
fdevc new -n test-env              # Create named container (no timestamp)
fdevc vm -i debian:13-slim -n dev  # VM-like container with custom name
fdevc vm -v "data:/data"           # VM with named volume (no project dir/socket)
fdevc gen my-project               # Create shareable fdevc runnable for my-project
fdevc ls                           # List all (use id to start: fdevc 1)
fdevc --dkr podman                 # Use Podman instead of Docker

Configuration

Settings are automatically saved to ~/.fdevc/.fdevc_config.json.

Local Dockerfile: If fdevc.Dockerfile exists in current directory, it will be used by default instead of the global template. Use fdevc custom to create one.

Environment Variables:

export FDEVC_PYTHON="python3"         # Python interpreter (default: python3)
export FDEVC_DOCKER="podman"          # Container runtime (default: docker)
export FDEVC_IMAGE="debian:13-slim"   # Default image or Dockerfile path

Tips

• Use --tmp for one-off experiments that should be cleaned up automatically
• Use -d (detach) to keep containers running after exit for long-running services
• Use --no-dir for portable containers that don't depend on a project directory
• Copy configs with --cp to quickly spin up similar environments
• Use fdevc gen to create shareable runnable projects others can install with curl
• Runnable project example: enclave-template

Changelog

See CHANGELOG.md for a history of changes to this project.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please open an issue or submit a pull request.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.