Synk Devspace

Zero-friction environment setup for VS Code. Open a project, click one button — Synk Devspace installs the runtime, the dependencies, and gets you coding in seconds.

What is Synk Devspace?

Synk Devspace is a VS Code extension that eliminates the "it works on my machine" problem by automatically detecting what a project needs to run, installing the correct runtime and dependencies, and recording every decision in a .zerosetup.json manifest so the whole team is always in sync.

Supported ecosystems (v0.1)

v0.1 Features

• 🔍 Auto-detect — Synk scans your workspace for well-known manifest files and determines the project type automatically.
• ⚡ One-click setup — A single command (Synk: Set Up Environment) installs everything. No terminal, no manual steps.
• 📋 View Plan — Preview exactly what Synk will do before it does it.
• 💾 .zerosetup.json manifest — A machine-readable record of the detected environment and installed versions, committed alongside your code.
• 🖥️ Synk Terminal — Opens a pre-configured integrated terminal with the correct runtime already on PATH.
• ▶️ Run Dev Script — Launches your project's start command (npm run dev, python main.py, etc.) from the sidebar.
• 🔐 Authentication — Sign in to your account to sync settings and unlock team features.
• 🗂️ Activity-bar panel — The Synk sidebar gives you at-a-glance project status and quick-action buttons.

Installation

1. Open VS Code.
2. Press Ctrl+P (or ⌘P on macOS) and type:

   ext install synkdevspace.synkdevspace
   

3. Reload VS Code when prompted.

Synk activates automatically when you open a folder containing package.json, requirements.txt, pyproject.toml, Pipfile, setup.py, or .zerosetup.json.

Usage

Automatic setup (recommended)

When synk.autoDetect is enabled (the default), Synk detects your project type on workspace open and shows a notification:

Synk detected a Node.js project. Set up the environment now?   [Set Up]  [View Plan]  [Later]

Click Set Up and Synk handles the rest.

Manual commands

Access all commands via the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P / ⌘⇧P):

Configuration

Open Settings (Ctrl+,) and search for Synk to find:

Authentication

Synk v0.1 includes authentication built on standard VS Code security APIs:

• GitHub Authentication: Uses the native vscode.authentication.getSession('github', ['read:user', 'user:email']) API. Interactive sign-in only prompts when the user requests it.
• Secure Token Storage: Tokens are stored strictly in context.secrets (synk.github.token). Tokens and sessions are never logged, never saved in workspace settings, and never exposed to git.
• Local Autonomy: Scanning, runtime installation, and environment management work 100% offline without signing in. Sign-in exists to unlock future environment sync and cloud capabilities.
• Commands:
  • Synk: Sign In (synk.signIn)
  • Synk: Sign Out (synk.signOut)

Backend Requirements for Google Authentication

In v0.1, Google Sign-In is exposed behind the AuthProvider interface as a stub. When implementing the cloud backend for Google Auth, the backend service must provide:

1. OAuth 2.0 PKCE Authorization Endpoint:
   • RFC 7636 Authorization Code with Proof Key for Code Exchange (PKCE) flow.
   • Redirect URI support for the VS Code loopback handler (http://127.0.0.1:<port>/callback) or custom URI scheme (vscode://synkdevspace.synkdevspace/auth).
2. Token Exchange & Refresh Service:
   • POST /api/v1/auth/google/token accepting authorization code + code verifier.
   • Returns short-lived access token, refresh token, and user profile (id, email, name).
   • Secure refresh endpoint: POST /api/v1/auth/google/refresh.
3. Session Revocation Endpoint:
   • POST /api/v1/auth/google/revoke to invalidate tokens on sign-out.
4. Security & Zero Secrets in Client:
   • OAuth Client Secret must reside exclusively on the backend server.
   • All client-side requests must validate state tokens to prevent CSRF.

The .zerosetup.json Manifest

After a successful setup, Synk writes or updates a .zerosetup.json file in the workspace root. Commit this file to source control so every contributor and CI runner reproduces the identical environment.

Node.js Example

{
  "version": "1",
  "createdAt": "2026-11-13T18:00:00.000Z",
  "updatedAt": "2026-11-13T18:00:00.000Z",
  "projects": [
    {
      "kind": "node",
      "rootPath": ".",
      "runtime": {
        "name": "node",
        "version": "20.11.0"
      },
      "packageManager": "npm",
      "installCommand": "npm ci",
      "scripts": [
        { "name": "dev", "command": "vite" },
        { "name": "build", "command": "tsc && vite build" },
        { "name": "test", "command": "vitest" }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Python Example

{
  "version": "1",
  "createdAt": "2026-11-13T18:00:00.000Z",
  "updatedAt": "2026-11-13T18:00:00.000Z",
  "projects": [
    {
      "kind": "python",
      "rootPath": ".",
      "runtime": {
        "name": "python",
        "version": "3.11.9"
      },
      "venvPath": ".venv",
      "installCommand": "pip install -r requirements.txt"
    }
  ]
}

Monorepo / Multi-Project Example

{
  "version": "1",
  "createdAt": "2026-11-13T18:00:00.000Z",
  "updatedAt": "2026-11-13T18:00:00.000Z",
  "projects": [
    {
      "kind": "node",
      "rootPath": "frontend",
      "runtime": {
        "name": "node",
        "version": "20.11.0"
      },
      "packageManager": "pnpm",
      "installCommand": "pnpm install --frozen-lockfile",
      "scripts": [
        { "name": "dev", "command": "next dev" }
      ]
    },
    {
      "kind": "python",
      "rootPath": "backend",
      "runtime": {
        "name": "python",
        "version": "3.12.4"
      },
      "venvPath": "backend/.venv",
      "installCommand": "pip install -r requirements.txt"
    }
  ]
}

Schema Fields

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Here is how to get started:

Prerequisites

• Node.js 20+
• npm 10+
• VS Code 1.85+

Local development

# 1. Clone the repo
git clone https://github.com/void-dev/void.git
cd void

# 2. Install dev dependencies
npm install

# 3. Compile (watches for changes)
npm run watch

# 4. Launch in VS Code
#    Press F5 — this opens the Extension Development Host

Project structure

void/
├── src/
│   └── extension.ts      # Extension entry-point
├── dist/                 # Bundled output (git-ignored)
├── out/                  # tsc output for type-checking (git-ignored)
├── esbuild.js            # Build script
├── package.json
├── tsconfig.json
├── ROADMAP.md
└── README.md

Scripts

Pull request checklist

• [ ] Code passes tsc --noEmit without errors
• [ ] No new runtime npm dependencies (VS Code API and Node built-ins only)
• [ ] .zerosetup.json schema changes are reflected in this README
• [ ] New commands are added to package.json contributes.commands

License

MIT © 2026 Void Dev