Dev-Control

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Dev-Control is a modular Bash CLI that automates the repetitive parts of running many repositories: scaffolding repos to community standards, nested submodules, consolidated .tmp/.bak folders, rootless Podman devcontainers, VS Code MCP servers, signed GitHub releases (library tarballs, re-releases and automated version tagging) and multi-platform packages.

It aims to make awkward Git and CLI tasks — signing a worktree while preserving topology, or surgically dropping a commit — routine and reversible. Every command has a --dry-run mode. Issues and contributions are welcome.

# Install
git clone https://github.com/xaostech/dev-control.git &&cd dev-control && ./install.sh
# Use
dc init # Set up a repo with templates, licence, docs
dc repo # Create a GitHub repo from your local project
dc pr # Open a pull request in seconds
dc fix # Rewrite/sign/clean commit history safely
dc modules # Manage nested submodules automatically
dc licences # Audit licence compliance across repos
dc mcp # Configure AI coding assistants (MCP servers)
dc contain # Generate devcontainer.json for VS Code
dc package # Build tarballs, Homebrew, Snap, Deb, Nix, Docker
dca-alias # Sync (all) new alias and reload bashrc

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📋 Table of Contents

• Why Dev-Control?
• Features at a Glance
• Quick Start
• Core Commands
• Plugin System
• Configuration
• Documentation
• Contributing
• Roadmap
• Licence

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💡 Why Dev-Control?

Managing modern software projects involves a lot of repetitive housekeeping:

• Initialising repos with consistent templates, licences, and docs
• Keeping submodules in sync across complex monorepos
• Rewriting commit history to fix author dates or add GPG signatures
• Auditing licence compliance when you have dozens of dependencies
• Making devcontainers with the right mounts and settings and reusable category images
• Packaging your tool for multiple platforms (Homebrew, Snap, Nix, Docker…)

Dev-Control bundles all of this into a single, modular CLI. Each command is designed to be:

Principle	How
Safe	Dry-run modes, automatic backup bundles, harness wrappers
Fast	Batch processing, parallel operations, minimal dependencies
Extensible	Plugin system, YAML config, themeable TUI
Portable	Pure Bash 4+, no exotic runtime, runs anywhere Git runs

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✨ Features at a Glance

Category	What You Get
Repo Setup	Template loading, licence selection, README/CONTRIBUTING/SECURITY scaffolding, GitHub Actions workflows
Git Ops	History rewriting with GPG signing, date preservation, conflict auto-resolution, worktree sync
Submodules	Auto-generated .gitmodules, temp-folder consolidation, symlink pruning
Licensing	SPDX detection, compatibility checking, bulk apply, JSON export
DevEx	Devcontainer generation, MCP server setup (GitHub, StackOverflow, Firecrawl)
Packaging	Tarball + SHA256, Homebrew formula, Snap YAML, Debian .deb, Nix flake, Docker + ttyd web terminal
TUI Themes	Matrix, Hacker, Cyber aesthetics powered by Charmbracelet Gum

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🚀 Quick Start

Prerequisites

• Bash 4.0+ or Zsh
• Git 2.0+
• GitHub CLI (gh) for repo/PR commands
• Optional: gum or fzf for interactive TUI; GPG for signing

Install

git clone https://github.com/xaostech/dev-control.git
cd dev-control
./install.sh # Adds `dc` to your PATH and installs aliasessource~/.bashrc # Or restart your shell

Verify

dc --version # Print the installed version
dc --help # List all commands

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🔧 Core Commands

Run dc <command> --help for full options.

Command	Purpose
dc alias	Install shell aliases for Git, Docker and system monitoring
dc init	Populate a repo with docs, licence, workflows and GitHub templates
dc repo	Create a GitHub repo from the local project
dc pr	Open a pull request from the current branch
dc fix	Rewrite commits — edit messages, sign, fix dates, drop or combine
dc modules	Auto-generate .gitmodules; consolidate temp folders
dc licences	Detect, check compatibility and apply licences
dc mcp	Configure MCP servers for AI coding assistants
dc contain	Generate a .devcontainer/ setup
dc package	Build tarball, Homebrew, Snap, Deb, Nix and Docker packages

Command examples ›

dc aliases — Shell Alias Installer

Add productivity aliases for Git, Docker, system monitoring, and more.

dc alias# Interactive category selectionsource~/.bashrc

Example aliases

gpf # git push --force-with-lease
dca-alias # Apply and source all aliases
gcda # Stage, amend and push with preserved author date
gcda # Restore original author date

dc init — Repository Initialisation

Populate a repo with docs, licence, workflows, and GitHub templates.

dc init # Interactive mode
dc init --defaults # Skip repo owner/slug and bot credentials (envVars) prompts
dc init -f docs/SECURITY.md # Update a specific file
dc init --batch /projects/*# Initialise multiple repos

dc repo — Create GitHub Repository

Push your local project to a new GitHub repo in one step. Defaults to repo config generated by dc-init.

dc repo # Interactive prompts
dc repo --private --topics cli,bash

dc pr — Pull Request Creator

Open a PR from your current branch with auto-detected metadata.

dc pr # Interactive
dc pr --draft --label bug

dc fix — History Rewriting

Safely rewrite commits—edit messages, sign, fix dates, drop commits.

dc fix # Interactive (last 10 commits)
dc fix --sign --range HEAD=all # GPG-sign entire branch
dc fix --dry-run --range main..HEAD # Preview changes
dc fix --restore # Recover from backup bundle
dc fix --drop hash# Surgically drop commit by hash
dc fix --sign --atomic-preserve --auto-resolve --range HEAD=5 # Preserve merge topology and autoresolve merge conflicts

dc modules — Submodule Management

Auto-generate .gitmodules for nested repos; consolidate temp folders.

dc modules /path/to/monorepo
dc modules --aggressive --dry-run # Preview symlink + .gitignore changes

dc licences — Licence Auditor

Detect, check compatibility, and apply licences across repos.

dc licences # Scan current repo
dc licences --deep # Include submodules
dc licences --check GPL-3.0 # Verify compatibility
dc licences --apply MIT # Apply licence template

dc mcp — MCP Server Setup

Configure Model Context Protocol servers for AI coding assistants.

dc mcp # Interactive server selection
dc mcp --test # Verify GitHub MCP connection
dc mcp --create-pat # Interactive Github PAT creation
dc mcp --config # Only generate .vscode/mcp.json

dc container — Devcontainer Generator

Generate a complete .devcontainer/ setup for VS Code.

dc contain # Interactive
dc contain --image mcr.microsoft.com/devcontainers/base:ubuntu dc contain --base --dev-tools --defaults && \
cd subfolder && dc contain --img --dev-tools # Use the previous container image (tag=dev-tools) as a base
dc contain --nest <<<y# Discover, update and rebuild all containers recursively
dc contain --nest --regen # Agressively do same (remove config files and containers)
dc contain --nest --regen .# Include root in same
dc contain --nest --regen --dev-tools # Filter rebuild to one category; multiple categories supported (--web-dev --streaming)

Git identity (user.name / user.email) is sourced from ~/.config/dev-control/container.yaml if present, falling back to the host's global git config — so git config --global user.email on the host is both the simplest and most resilient setup, with the YAML file as an optional explicit override.

dc package — Multi-Platform Packaging

Build distribution packages with a single command.

dc package --init # Create .dc-package.yaml
dc package --all # Build everything
dc package --docker --theme cyber # Docker image with ttyd + theme

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🔌 Plugin System

Extend Dev-Control with custom commands.

plugins/
└── my-plugin/
├── plugin.yaml # name, version, description, commands
└── commands/
└── greet.sh # becomes `dc greet`

dc plugin list # Show installed plugins
dc plugin install gh:user/repo # Install from GitHub
dc plugin remove my-plugin

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⚙️ Configuration

Dev-Control uses a layered config system (highest priority first):

1. Environment variables (DC_*)
2. Project config (.dc-init.yaml in repo root)
3. Global config (~/.config/dev-control/config.yaml)
4. Built-in defaults

Example .dc-init.yaml:

project-name: my-projectdefault-licence: MITdefault-branch: mainauto-sign-commits: truegithub-org: my-org

See config/example.dc-init.yaml for all options.

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📚 Documentation

Document	Description
Installation Guide	Detailed install & upgrade instructions
Contributing	How to contribute
Code of Conduct	Community guidelines
Security Policy	Reporting vulnerabilities
Testing Guide	Running and writing tests

Script Reference

Script	Purpose
dev-control.sh	Interactive main menu
template-loading.sh	Template init logic
fix-history.sh	History rewriting engine
module-nesting.sh	Submodule management
licences.sh	Licence auditing
containerise.sh	Devcontainer generator
packaging.sh	Multi-platform packaging
mcp-setup.sh	MCP server configuration

Shared Libraries

Located in scripts/lib/:

Library	Purpose
colours.sh	ANSI terminal colours
print.sh	Formatted output (headers, boxes, spinners)
config.sh	YAML config parsing
tui.sh	Gum/fzf interactive prompts
validation.sh	Input validation
git/*.sh	Git utilities (dates, topology, worktrees, etc.)

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🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome. Please read CONTRIBUTING.md first.

# Fork → Clone → Branch → Commit → PR
git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature
git commit -m "Add amazing feature"
git push origin feature/amazing-feature

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🗺️ Roadmap

• Unified dc CLI with command registry
• Plugin system with GitHub install support
• Multi-platform packaging (tarball, Homebrew, Snap, Deb, Nix, Docker)
• MCP server configuration for AI assistants
• Licence auditing with SPDX detection
• Devcontainer generator
• Zsh compatibility layer
• Fish shell support
• GUI wrapper (Bubble Tea / Tauri)
• Remote plugin registry

See open issues for more.

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📄 Licence

GPL-3.0. See LICENCE.

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