Boot

Your workspace, wherever you work.

Boot recreates your project setup on any machine or cloud agent, so you can start working without rebuilding it by hand.

Install

macOS or Linux:

curl -fsSL https://useboot.co/install.sh | bash

Windows PowerShell:

irm https://useboot.co/install.ps1 | iex

Boot requires Git.

Get started

Run Boot from the folder that contains your project:

cd ~/code
boot init
boot up . --profile agent
boot inspect --json

boot init scans the project and creates boot.yaml. Review that file and commit it with your code.

boot up prepares the repositories your agent needs and checks the required tools, services, and environment variables. Add --start to run the service start commands declared in boot.yaml and wait until each service reports healthy.

boot inspect --json gives the agent a clear summary of the workspace without including secret values.

boot ui opens a local web app served by the CLI itself (127.0.0.1 only) that lists your workspaces and prepares and launches them with one click.

Run several agents on one project

Create a managed workspace for each task, then launch the agent inside it:

boot session create . --profile agent --name fix --storage auto
boot session run fix -- codex
boot session diff fix
boot session release fix
boot session gc

Sessions use real copy-on-write on APFS and supported Linux filesystems, with explicitly reported worktree/clone fallbacks. Each session has independent files and an index. Start from committed code, or explicitly include working changes and prepared dependencies with --include-working-tree and --include node_modules. Prepared includes require CoW.

GC previews by default. --apply removes eligible released sessions while preserving active processes, changes, outstanding commits, and unverifiable work. See managed sessions for storage, ownership, and cleanup rules.

Start a fresh cloud agent

Publish the reviewed workspace definition once:

boot link git@github.com:acme/billing-map.git ~/code
boot save ~/code

Then prepare any fresh VM, container, or CI runner without a separate install step:

curl -fsSL https://useboot.co/agent.sh | bash -s -- \
  git@github.com:acme/billing-map.git /workspace --profile agent

The adapter installs Boot when needed, then runs the provider-neutral, idempotent contract:

boot agent git@github.com:acme/billing-map.git /workspace \
  --profile agent --run-setup --ephemeral --json

It acquires the workspace map, realizes only the selected profile, materializes available encrypted environment values, runs declared setup commands, and returns runtime-validated, secret-free readiness diagnostics. The adapter's ephemeral mode does not create or publish machine state. Pin a reviewed map revision with --map-commit <full-sha>. A machine that needs Boot-managed secrets must have the workspace key provisioned before bootstrap.

What Boot handles

• One repository or many
• Repository paths, roles, branches, and clone URLs
• Project commands and constraints
• Required tools, services, and environment variables
• Starting declared services and verifying they are healthy (--start)
• Different setups for local work, coding agents, CI, and review
• One-command, profile-scoped setup on fresh cloud machines
• A local launchpad (boot ui) to prepare and launch workspaces in one click
• Managed agent sessions with CoW storage, recursive submodules, and conservative cleanup
• Opt-in session ports and disposable PostgreSQL databases (--runtime)

Boot prepares repositories, checks requirements, and starts the services you declare. It tracks commands launched with boot session run; it does not replace Git or install tools. Session runtimes assign ports and create separate PostgreSQL databases; other external services remain shared.

Learn more

• Getting started
• boot.yaml reference
• Agent workflows
• Managed agent sessions
• Session validation and storage measurements
• Agent bootstrap benchmark
• Sharing a workspace
• CLI reference
• Advanced features

Development

pnpm install
pnpm lint
pnpm test:run
pnpm qa

The launchpad frontend lives in ui/ (Nuxt + Tailwind, dev-only toolchain). Build it once with pnpm ui:build; boot ui then serves it locally. Release binaries embed the built assets automatically.

License

FSL-1.1-MIT