Introduction

Daytona is a secure and open-source development environment manager that simplifies your workflow. Imagine starting development on a Next.js app without the usual setup hassle. On average, developers lose 56% of their time setting up environments. Daytona eliminates that wasted time and lets you focus directly on coding.

Daytona · Dev Environment Manager

Daytona is a self-hosted and secure open source development environment manager.

daytona.io

Why Use Daytona?

Daytona works with:

• Any Git platform: GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket
• Any IDE: Vim, VS Code, JetBrains IDEs
• Anywhere: Localhost, AWS, Azure, GCP, Digital Ocean

The biggest advantage?

You get a pre-configured environment ready in seconds. Just run this command:

daytona create <REPO_URL>

That's it! Your environment is ready. Now you can focus on building features 📈 and fixing bugs 🐛.

Using Daytona for Recipe Genie

1️⃣ Install Daytona using this guide.

2️⃣ Configure Daytona

Step 1: Connect Daytona to Your Git Repositories
To manage your code with version control, link Daytona to your Git provider like Github. Run this command in your terminal:

daytona git-providers add

Step 2: Install a Cloud Provider
If you need to create or manage cloud environments (like AWS, Azure, or GCP), install a provider using this command:

daytona provider install

Step 3: Set a Target
A "Target" is where your development environment will run, like Docker (local or remote), AWS, GCP, or others. To choose one, use this command:

daytona target set

Step 4: Choose Your IDE
Daytona can connect to many IDEs like VS Code, IntelliJ, and more. To set your default IDE, run:

daytona ide

3️⃣ Add devcontainer.json to the repository.

Create a .devcontainer/devcontainer.json file.

You can generate one with ai.

Here's the devcontainer.json I used for Recipe Genie:

{
  "name": "Recipe Genie Dev Container",
  "image": "mcr.microsoft.com/devcontainers/javascript-node",
  "forwardPorts": [3000],
  "customizations": {
    "vscode": {
      "settings": {
        "terminal.integrated.defaultProfile.linux": "bash",
        "files.autoSave": "onWindowChange",
        "editor.formatOnSave": true,
        "editor.defaultFormatter": "esbenp.prettier-vscode"
      },
      "extensions": [
        "ms-azuretools.vscode-docker",
        "ms-vscode-remote.remote-containers",
        "dbaeumer.vscode-eslint",
        "esbenp.prettier-vscode",
        "dsznajder.es7-react-js-snippets",
        "formulahendry.auto-rename-tag",
        "bradlc.vscode-tailwindcss",
        "christian-kohler.path-intellisense",
        "ms-vscode.vscode-typescript-next"
      ]
    }
  },
  "postCreateCommand": "npm i"
}

4️⃣ Create your workspace and project

daytona create <REPO_URL>

That's it! Your environment is ready.

To start development, simply run the following:

npm run dev

Some highlights of devcontainer.json file:

• Pre-configured environment: Uses the javascript-node devcontainer image from Microsoft.
• Post-setup commands: Automatically runs npm i to install dependencies.
• VS Code settings: Includes useful VSC settings and extensions for productive development, like Prettier, ESLint, and React/Next.js tools.
• PORT forwarding: Automatically forwards port 3000 to access the development server from the host machine.

Conclusion

Daytona simplifies development by automating environment setup. Try Daytona today and experience the difference!

If you like this blog, show some love for Recipe Genie and Daytona.

daytonaio / daytona

The Open Source Dev Environment Manager.

The Open Source Development Environment Manager

Set up a development environment on any infrastructure, with a single command

Documentation · Report Bug · Request Feature · Join Our Slack · Twitter

Features

• Single Command: Activate a fully configured development environment with a single command.
• Runs everywhere: spin up your development environment on any machine — whether it's local, remote, cloud-based, physical server, or a VM & any architecture x86 or ARM.
• Configuration File Support: Initially support for dev container, ability to expand to DevFile, Nix & Flox (Contributions welcome here!).
• Prebuilds System: Drastically improve environment setup times (Contributions welcome here!).
• IDE Support : Seamlessly supports VS Code & JetBrains locally, ready to use without configuration. Includes a built-in Web IDE for added convenience.
• Git Provider Integration: GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, Bitbucket Server, Gitea, Gitness, Azure DevOps, AWS CodeCommit, Gogs & Gitee can be connected, allowing…

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