jetify-com/devbox

What is it?

Key features

• 01Declare project tools in a devbox.json file and share it across the team.
• 02Install and run versioned OS-level packages without touching the host system.
• 03Start an interactive shell with devbox shell or run one-off commands with devbox run.
• 04Generate devcontainer and Dockerfile setups from the same environment definition.
• 05Access a large catalog of package versions from the Nix Package Registry.

Use cases

• Giving every contributor to a project the same versions of compilers and CLI tools.
• Trying a new tool or language version without changing the global system installation.
• Working on several projects that require conflicting versions of the same binary.
• Building a production container image that uses the same tools as local development.

Quick start

1. 1

   Open a terminal in a new empty folder and initialize Devbox

   devbox init
2. 2

   Add a package from Nix (example: Python 3.10)

   devbox add python@3.10
3. 3

   Start a shell with these tools installed

   devbox shell
4. 4

   Run the official install script from the README first (it pipes a remote script into bash)

Things to know

• !Packages come from the Nix registry, so you need Nix-based tooling underneath Devbox.

Topics

FAQ

What is devbox?

A command-line tool that creates isolated, reproducible development shells with project-specific packages from the Nix registry, without containers. Devbox is a command-line tool for creating isolated development shells. You list the packages a project needs in a devbox.json file, and Devbox builds an environment with exactly those tools, separate from the host machine. It works like a project-level package manager for operating-system packages such as Python, Go or Node, and it draws on the Nix Package Registry, which offers hundreds of thousands of package versions.

Is devbox free to use? What license does it have?

devbox is open source under the Apache-2.0 license. Check the license terms before using it in commercial products.

Is devbox still maintained?

Actively maintained. The last commit to devbox was on Nov 6, 2026.

What can I use devbox for?

Giving every contributor to a project the same versions of compilers and CLI tools. Trying a new tool or language version without changing the global system installation. Working on several projects that require conflicting versions of the same binary. Building a production container image that uses the same tools as local development.

How do I install devbox?

Open a terminal in a new empty folder and initialize Devbox: devbox init Add a package from Nix (example: Python 3.10): devbox add python@3.10 Start a shell with these tools installed: devbox shell Run the official install script from the README first (it pipes a remote script into bash)

Where can I get devbox?

The source code and installation instructions are on GitHub: https://github.com/jetify-com/devbox