DevEx MCP Server

DevEx is an open-source platform to spin up cloud-based development environments (REPLs) that work like your local setup — but in the browser, anywhere, anytime.

Built for flexibility, you can code in your preferred stack, connect over SSH, or run sessions with AI agents via our MCP server. We also support sandboxing AI-generated code securely, letting you test real changes in isolated environments.

Unlike Gitpod or E2B, DevEx is lightweight, self-hostable, and production-grade out of the box — with a developer-first CLI, seamless AI integration, and Kubernetes-native design for infinite scale.

📣 Want to add your own REPL template? It's easy! 👉 Read the Contributing Guide to get started.

✨ Features

• 🔐 GitHub OAuth authentication

• 🪄 Create, Start, Stop, Delete REPLs via Core API

• 💾 S3-backed file persistence

• 📦 Kubernetes Deployments per REPL (Dynamic)

• 📡 WebSocket-based Editor & Terminal

• 🧹 Ephemeral containers for cleanup and sync

• 🔒 HTTPS & TLS via Let's Encrypt & Cert Manager

• 🎨 Beautiful Next.js + Tailwind frontend

Related MCP server: Magic Component Platform

⚙️ How It Works

graph TB
    User[👤 User] --> Web[🌐 Web Frontend<br/>React/Next.js Application]
    Web --> Core[🔧 Core Backend<br/>• User Authentication<br/>• Repl Management<br/>• S3 Integration<br/>• K8s Orchestration]
    Core --> S3[(🗄️ S3 Storage<br/>username/repl-id/<br/>├── templates/<br/>└── user-files/)]

    subgraph K8sCluster["☸️ Kubernetes Cluster"]
        direction TB
        IngressController[🚪 Traefik Ingress Controller<br/>Traffic Routing]
        CertManager[🔒 Cert Manager<br/>TLS Certificate Management]

        subgraph ReplResources["📦 Per-Repl Resources"]
            Deployment[🚀 Deployment<br/>Repl Container Instance]
            Service[🔗 Service<br/>Internal Network Access]
            Ingress[🌍 Ingress<br/>External Access Route]
        end

        subgraph Pod["🏠 Repl Pod"]
            MainContainer[🐳 Runner Container<br/>• WebSocket Server<br/>• File Operations<br/>• PTY/Terminal Access<br/>• Code Execution]
            EphemeralContainer[⚡ Ephemeral Container<br/>File Sync Back to S3<br/>🔄 Cleanup Process]
        end

        Deployment --> Pod
        Service --> Pod
        Ingress --> Service
        IngressController --> Ingress
    end

    Core --> K8sCluster
    Core -.->|Create Resources<br/>Deploy → Service → Ingress| ReplResources
    Web -.->|🔌 WebSocket Connection<br/>• File Management<br/>• Terminal Access<br/>• Real-time Collaboration| MainContainer
    Core -.->|📁 Copy Template<br/>to user directory| S3
    EphemeralContainer -.->|💾 Sync Files Back<br/>Before Cleanup| S3
    MainContainer -.->|📂 Load Files<br/>on Session Start| S3

🌀 Session Lifecycle

sequenceDiagram
    participant U as User
    participant W as Web Frontend
    participant C as Core Service
    participant K as Kubernetes
    participant S as S3 Storage
    participant R as Runner Container

    U->>W: Create New Repl
    W->>C: POST /repl/create
    C->>S: Create user directory<br/>Copy template files

    U->>W: Start Session
    W->>C: POST /repl/start
    C->>K: Create Deployment<br/>Service & Ingress
    K->>R: Initialize Container
    R->>S: Download files
    R->>W: WebSocket Connection

    Note over U,R: Development Session Active
    U->>R: File operations via WebSocket
    R->>R: Real-time file editing

    U->>W: Close Session
    W->>C: POST /repl/stop
    C->>K: Inject Ephemeral Container
    K->>S: Upload modified files
    C->>K: Delete Resources

🔩 Key Components

apps/web/ – Frontend

• Built with Next.js + Tailwind CSS

• GitHub OAuth login

• GUI for File Tree, Editor, Terminal

• WebSocket hooks to interact with Runner

apps/core/ – Backend API

• Written in Go

• Handles user auth, S3 ops, Kubernetes deployments, cleanup

• Redis for REPL session state

• 📄 See apps/core/README.md for detailed architecture & deployment steps

apps/runner/ – REPL Runtime Container

• Lightweight Go server

• WebSocket API for:

  • File tree and file content access

  • Terminal (PTY) sessions

• 📄 See apps/runner/README.md for event list and package internals

infra/k8s/ – Kubernetes Bootstrap & TLS

• Contains:

  • Traefik (hostNetwork) setup

  • cert-manager + Let’s Encrypt for auto TLS

• 📄 See infra/k8s/README.md for full setup instructions

templates/

• Base folders (e.g. Node.js, Python) copied on REPL creation

• Language-specific dockerized scaffolds

• 📦 Want to add your own template? See the Contribution Guide

🧱 Infrastructure

• ☸️ Kubernetes cluster for REPL pods

• 🔒 Cert Manager + Let’s Encrypt for TLS

• 🗃️ S3-compatible storage for persistence

• 🐳 Docker images for runtime environments

• ⚙️ Redis for in-memory session tracking

📦 Deployment Flow

1. User logs in and creates a REPL

2. apps/core/ copies a template into username/repl-id/ on S3

3. apps/core/ deploys a pod, service, ingress in Kubernetes

4. apps/runner/ connects via WebSocket and serves FS + Terminal

5. On session end:

   • Ephemeral container uploads updated files to S3

   • All K8s resources are cleaned up

💻 Tech Stack

📄 Per-Component Docs

📚 For deeper implementation details:

• apps/core/ – Backend README.md

• apps/runner/ – Runner WebSocket README.md

• infra/k8s/ – Kubernetes + TLS Setup

• apps/web/ – Frontend README.md

🧠 Why I Built This

“This project is my deep dive into Cloud Infrastructure, DevOps, and FullStack Engineering — wrapped in a real-world application.” — Parth Kapoor

🌐 Demo & Links

• 🧪 Live

• 🧑‍💻 Portfolio

• 🐙 GitHub Repo

🤝 Contributing

This project is under active development. Want to contribute a template, fix, or feature? Start here 👉 CONTRIBUTING.md

Pull requests, suggestions, and feedback are always welcome!

📜 License

Licensed under the MIT License