MIT License · Open Source

Container
for AI
agents

One command launches Claude Code, Codex, or OpenCode in an isolated container. Your project directory is available at /workspace — nothing else is exposed.

View on GitHub →Quickstart
~/myproject on main
$ cell claude
starting container...
✔ image ready
✔ workspace mounted
──────────────────────────
Claude Code ready in /workspace
▌

Overview

What it does

Isolated execution

Runs AI agents inside Docker with full access to your project directory. The agent edits freely; your host system is untouched.

Full toolchain

Debian base with Go, Node, Python, asdf, Docker CLI, Terraform, and more pre-installed. No extra setup per project.

Reproducible via Nix

Nix home-manager pins every tool to an exact version. The environment is byte-identical across machines and rebuilds.

GUI & desktop

VNC and X11 forwarding for running browsers and GUI tools inside the container — useful for Playwright and visual debugging.

Project isolation

Each project gets its own container state, cell home, and Chrome profile. No state bleed between projects.

One command, anywhere

Navigate to any repo and run cell claude. The working directory is mounted automatically — no project-level config needed.

Included packages

Feature set

AI Agents
  • Claude Code
    Isolated container with full project file access
  • OpenAI Codex
    Runs with correct environment and terminal support
  • OpenCode
    Open-source coding agent with MCP server integration
Languages & Runtimes
  • asdf
    Node.js, Python 3.13, Go, Ruby — versions pinned via .tool-versions
  • Swift / Clang / LLVM
    Open-source Apple toolchain available on Linux
  • Nix home-manager
    Declarative environment profiles, byte-identical across machines
Infrastructure
  • Terraform / OpenTofu
    IaC toolchain with OpenTofu MCP server
  • Docker & Compose
    Docker CLI with Compose plugin
  • Packer
    Machine image building
Electronics & IoT
  • ESPHome
    ESP microcontroller firmware configuration
  • Wokwi CLI
    Circuit simulation without hardware
  • ngspice
    SPICE circuit simulator
Desktop & GUI
  • VNC
    Full desktop environment accessible via VNC
  • X11 forwarding
    GUI apps rendered on your host screen
  • Playwright MCP
    Browser automation with secrets injection
Media & Docs
  • ffmpeg / ImageMagick
    Media processing
  • Slidev
    Markdown-based presentations
  • yt-dlp
    Video downloader

Getting started

Quickstart

  1. 1

    Install

    Download the cell binary for your platform from GitHub releases. Requires docker.

  2. 2

    Initialize

    Run cell init once. Scaffolds config and builds the Docker image (~5 min first time).

  3. 3

    Run from any project

    Navigate to a repo and run cell claude, cell codex, or cell opencode. Working directory is mounted automatically.

# download cell from GitHub releases# github.com/DimmKirr/devcell/releases# one-time setup — builds the Docker imagecell init# run from any project directorycd ~/dev/my-projectcell claude
Note On first run, cell claude auto-scaffolds config and offers to build the image — so cell init is optional if you prefer an interactive first run.