DevStack

Auto-detect your project's tech stack and launch dev services from the VS Code activity bar.

Features

• Auto-detection of Next.js, Nuxt, Remix, Astro, Vite, Angular, Go, FastAPI, Django, Flask, Rust, Docker Compose, Makefile, and npm scripts
• Activity bar panel with services grouped by role: Frontend, Backend, Database, Infrastructure, Full Stack
• Inline play/stop buttons on each service
• Status indicators: running (green check) / stopped (empty circle)
• Managed terminals — each service runs in a labelled VS Code terminal
• Config override via .devstack.json at workspace root

Usage

Open a project. Click the DevStack icon in the activity bar. Click play on any detected service.

Custom services (optional)

DevStack auto-detects most things, but anything that's specific to your workflow — a one-off script, a project-local task, a meta-command like "rebuild this extension" — belongs in a .devstack.json at the workspace root (or use the gear icon in the DevStack panel to create one).

This very repo dogfoods its own config. The .devstack.json checked in here defines a single "Reload Extension" service that repackages the .vsix and reinstalls it, so iterating on DevStack is one click in DevStack itself:

{
  "services": [
    {
      "name": "Reload Extension",
      "role": "infra",
      "command": "rm -f devstack-*.vsix && npx @vscode/vsce package --allow-missing-repository && code --install-extension devstack-*.vsix --force"
    }
  ],
  "disable": []
}

Each entry under services accepts name, role, command, and optional cwd (relative to the workspace root), port, and url. Valid roles: frontend, backend, database, infra, fullstack, other. port overrides the localhost port used to build the clickable link shown while the service runs; url overrides the full URL (useful for HTTPS, custom domains, or a sub-path). Use disable to hide auto-detected services by name.

Scripts (one-shot commands)

Services model long-running processes (dev servers, watchers) with a start/stop lifecycle. For one-shot interactive REPLs, batch jobs, or anything that's meant to finish, use the scripts array instead. Scripts render in a dedicated Scripts section in the sidebar with a single Run action — no status indicator, no stop button, no URL handling. Each click opens a fresh terminal; concurrent runs are independent.

{
  "scripts": [
    {
      "name": "Scan documents",
      "command": "bin/docpipe-scan",
      "description": "Duplex scan loop → ~/Scans/raw/"
    },
    {
      "name": "Compile once",
      "command": "npx tsc -p ./"
    }
  ]
}

Each entry under scripts accepts name, command, and optional description (one-line subtitle) and cwd (relative to the workspace root). Scripts are config-only — there is no auto-detection of bin/ or scripts/ entry points in this iteration.

Build from source

npm install
npx tsc -p ./
npx @vscode/vsce package --allow-missing-repository
code --install-extension devstack-0.4.0.vsix

License

MIT