dev-environment-bootstrapper

Dev Environment Bootstrapper

Create consistent, reproducible development environments across all machines.

Core Workflow

1. Detect stack: Identify languages and tools used in project
2. Choose version manager: Select appropriate tool (Volta, asdf, mise, nvm, pyenv)
3. Generate configs: Create .tool-versions, .nvmrc, package.json volta fields, etc.
4. Setup environment vars: Create .env.example with all required variables
5. Write setup script: Generate bootstrap script for automated setup
6. Create onboarding doc: Write SETUP.md with step-by-step instructions

Version Management Strategies

Volta (Recommended for Node.js)

// package.json
{
  "volta": {
    "node": "20.11.0",
    "pnpm": "8.15.0"
  }
}

asdf (Multi-language)

# .tool-versions
nodejs 20.11.0
python 3.11.7
ruby 3.2.2

mise (Modern alternative to asdf)

# .mise.toml
[tools]
node = "20.11.0"
python = "3.11"

nvm (Node.js only)

# .nvmrc
20.11.0

Environment Variables Template

# .env.example

# Application
NODE_ENV=development
PORT=3000

# Database
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://user:password@localhost:5432/dbname

# External APIs
OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...
STRIPE_SECRET_KEY=sk_test_...

# Feature Flags
ENABLE_FEATURE_X=false

Setup Script Structure

For Node.js Projects

#!/bin/bash
set -e

echo "🚀 Setting up development environment..."

# Check prerequisites
command -v pnpm >/dev/null 2>&1 || { echo "Installing pnpm..."; npm install -g pnpm; }

# Install dependencies
echo "📦 Installing dependencies..."
pnpm install

# Setup environment
echo "⚙️ Setting up environment variables..."
cp .env.example .env
echo "Edit .env file with your values"

# Setup database (if needed)
if [ -f "prisma/schema.prisma" ]; then
  echo "🗄️ Setting up database..."
  pnpm prisma generate
  pnpm prisma migrate dev
fi

echo "✅ Setup complete! Run 'pnpm dev' to start"

For Python Projects

#!/bin/bash
set -e

echo "🚀 Setting up development environment..."

# Create virtual environment
python -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate

# Install dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt
pip install -r requirements-dev.txt

# Setup environment
cp .env.example .env

# Run migrations
python manage.py migrate

echo "✅ Setup complete! Run 'source venv/bin/activate && python manage.py runserver'"