previewctl

previewctl

A CLI tool for managing isolated, reproducible local development environments. Spin up complete sandboxes — git worktrees, Docker infrastructure, cloned databases, and auto-generated config — with a single command.

Features

• Isolated compute — Git worktrees + Docker Compose per environment
• Database cloning — Template-based PostgreSQL cloning for fast, isolated copies
• Deterministic port allocation — Unique, conflict-free ports per environment
• Auto-generated .env files — Template variables for ports, database URLs, and more
• Lifecycle hooks — Run custom scripts before/after any step
• Persistent state — Track and manage multiple concurrent environments

Install

From source

make build
# Binary at ./bin/previewctl

With Go

go install github.com/jake-landersweb/previewctl/src/cmd/previewctl@latest

Quick start

1. Create a previewctl.yaml in your project root (see Configuration)
2. Validate your config:

   previewctl vet
   

3. Seed your template database:

   previewctl db seed --snapshot path/to/snapshot.sql
   

4. Create an environment:

   previewctl create my-feature --branch feat/my-feature
   

Usage

previewctl create <name> [-b branch]   Create a new environment
previewctl list [--json]               List all environments
previewctl status [name]               Show environment details
previewctl delete [name]               Destroy an environment and its resources
previewctl db seed [--snapshot path]   Seed the template database
previewctl db reset [name] [--db name] Reset an environment's database from template
previewctl vet                         Validate previewctl.yaml

Configuration

Create a previewctl.yaml in your project root:

version: 1
name: myproject

core:
  services:
    postgres:
      outputs: [CONNECTION_STRING, DB_HOST, DB_PORT]

infrastructure:
  compose_file: compose.worktree.yaml

services:
  backend:
    path: apps/backend
    command: pnpm dev
    depends_on: [redis]
    env:
      PORT: "{{services.backend.port}}"
      DATABASE_URL: "{{core.postgres.CONNECTION_STRING}}"
      REDIS_PORT: "{{infrastructure.redis.port}}"

  web:
    path: apps/web
    depends_on: [backend]
    env:
      NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL: "http://localhost:{{services.backend.port}}"

local:
  worktree:
    symlink_patterns: [".env", ".env.*"]

hooks:
  create:
    after:
      - run: npm run migrate
        continue_on_error: true

Template variables

Use these in service env values:

Core services

Core services are long-lived services (databases, caches, etc.) managed via lifecycle hooks. Declare outputs in previewctl.yaml, define hooks in overlay files (previewctl.local.yaml, previewctl.remote.yaml).

Hooks write KEY=VALUE pairs to stdout. Outputs are validated against the declared list and made available as template variables.

Hooks

Hooks can be attached to lifecycle steps: allocate_ports, create_compute, symlink_env, generate_env, start_infra, save_state, and top-level create/delete.

Scripts receive context via environment variables: PREVIEWCTL_ENV_NAME, PREVIEWCTL_BRANCH, PREVIEWCTL_WORKTREE_PATH, PREVIEWCTL_STEP, PREVIEWCTL_PHASE, plus port and core output info.

How it works

When you run previewctl create, the tool:

1. Allocates deterministic ports (FNV-1a hash of environment name)
2. Creates a git worktree for code isolation
3. Clones databases from templates
4. Symlinks shared env files from the main worktree
5. Generates .env.local files with resolved template variables
6. Starts infrastructure containers via Docker Compose
7. Persists state to ~/.cache/previewctl/<project>/state.json

previewctl delete reverses all of the above, cleaning up every resource.

License

AGPL-3.0