____             ____                        _           _
 |  _ \  _____   _/ ___| _ __   __ _ _ __  ___| |__   ___ | |_
 | | | |/ _ \ \ / \___ \| '_ \ / _` | '_ \/ __| '_ \ / _ \| __|
 | |_| |  __/\ V /  ___) | | | | (_| | |_) \__ \ | | | (_) | |_
 |____/ \___| \_/  |____/|_| |_|\__,_| .__/|___/_| |_|\___/ \__|
                                     |_|

DevSnapshot 📸

The "Polaroid" of Development Environments.

Share a fully reproducible development sandbox for a repo, issue, or code review in a single file.

📖 Table of Contents

• Why DevSnapshot?
• Installation
• Quick Start
• Usage (Create, Inspect, Start)
• Multi-Language Support (Polyglot)
• Security (EnvGuard)
• Supported Environments
• How it Works
• Contributing

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DevSnapshot is a tiny, portable, open-source tool that works on Windows, macOS, and Linux. It makes onboarding as simple as "download + run". Instead of telling contributors to "install dependencies" and hope they match, you share a single .devsnap file.

No heavy VMs. No account setup. Just code.

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🚀 Why DevSnapshot?

• Cross-Platform: Runs natively on Windows, Mac (Intel/M1), and Linux.
• Zero-Config Onboarding: devsnap start my-repo.devsnap and you're coding in seconds.
• Sherlock Detection: Automatically detects project type (Node, Python, Go) even if manifests like package.json are missing.
• Reproducible Bug Reports: Attach a snapshot to a GitHub issue. Maintainers see exactly what you see.
• Lightweight & Portable: Archives only your code and a "brain" (metadata). No massive Docker images.

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📦 Installation

DevSnapshot is a single binary file. Run it from anywhere.

1. Build from Source

Windows:

go build -o devsnap.exe

Mac (Apple Silicon):

GOOS=darwin GOARCH=arm64 go build -o devsnap-mac-arm64
chmod +x devsnap-mac-arm64

Linux:

GOOS=linux GOARCH=amd64 go build -o devsnap-linux
chmod +x devsnap-linux

2. Add to PATH (Global Access)

Run this in PowerShell to access devsnap from any folder:

[System.Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("Path", $env:Path + ";C:\path\to\devsnap_folder", [System.EnvironmentVariableTarget]::User)

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🏁 Quick Start: Choose Your OS

Since this is a standalone binary (no installation needed), how you run it depends on your OS:

🪟 Windows

1. Open PowerShell in the folder with devsnap.exe.
2. Run with .\:

.\devsnap.exe create

🍎 Mac (macOS)

1. Open Terminal.
2. Make it executable first: chmod +x devsnap-mac-arm64
3. Run with ./:

./devsnap-mac-arm64 create

🐧 Linux

1. Open Terminal.
2. Make it executable: chmod +x devsnap-linux
3. Run with ./:

./devsnap-linux create

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🛠️ Usage

1. Create a Snapshot (create)

Scan your current project and package it into a .devsnap file.

cd my-project
devsnap create
# 📸 Snapping my-project...
# ✅ Snapshot ready: my-project.devsnap

🕵️ Sherlock Mode (Advanced Detection) DevSnapshot features an intelligent "Sherlock" engine that works even when package.json or go.mod is missing:

1. Recursively Scans for code files (.js, .ts, .go, etc.).
2. Identifies Dependencies by reading import and require statements.
3. Resolves Versions using a Hybrid Strategy:
   • Source Truth: Checks node_modules or go.mod for exact versions.
   • CLI Check: If missing, runs npm list or go list.
   • Fallback: Defaults to latest.
4. Generates .devpack: Creates a dependencies.devpack file to lock this environment.

2. Inspect a Snapshot (inspect)

See exactly what's inside before you unzip it.

devsnap inspect my-project.devsnap
# 🔍 Snapshot Metadata
# Name:        taskassignly
# Environment: node >=18.0.0
# Setup Cmd:   [#DEVPACK_INSTALL]
# Run Cmd:     npx vite

3. Start the Sandbox (start)

Unpacks to a safe sandbox (.devsnap_sandbox) and launches the environment.

Auto Mode (Default)

automatically installs dependencies and starts the app.

devsnap start my-project.devsnap
# 🚀 Starting sandbox...
# 📦 Installing imports from devpack...
# ▶️ Running: npx vite

Manual Control Mode (--manual)

Gives you full control over every step.

devsnap start my-project.devsnap --manual
# [?] Install Node dependencies (15 packages)? (Y/n):

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🧙‍♂️ Polyglot & Wizard Mode

DevSnapshot now supports Multi-Language Projects (e.g., a Python backend with a Node.js frontend).

1. Unified Detection

It scans your entire project and detects ALL supported environments simultaneously:

Detected polyglot-project [node (>=18.0.0), python (3.10)]

2. Interactive Wizard 🪄

When running devsnap start (especially with --manual), the Interactive Wizard guides you through the setup for each environment sequentially:

1. Runtime Check: Verifies you have the necessary tools (e.g., checks for python and node).
2. Sequential Install: Prompts to install Node dependencies, then Python dependencies.
3. Controlled Launch: Allows you to start services one by one.

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🔐 EnvGuard (Secrets Management)

Never accidentally leak API keys again. DevSnapshot automatically scans your code for environment variable usage (e.g., process.env.API_KEY, os.getenv("SECRET")).

1. Detection: Finds all required keys during create.
2. Exclusion: Ignoring local .env files to prevent leaks.
3. Restoration:
   • Generates a template .env in the sandbox.
   • Prompts you to enter missing secrets securely at runtime.
   • Loads them into the process for that session only.

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🌍 Supported Environments

Language	Manifest	Status	Notes
Node.js	package.json	✅ Stable	Works for all frameworks (React, Vue, Next, etc.)
Angular	angular.json	✅ Stable	Auto-detects Angular & resolves core version
Go	go.mod	✅ Stable	Parses go.mod or scans imports + go list restoration
Python	requirements.txt	✅ Stable	Standard pip install & run
Sherlock (Generic)	Missing	🚀 Live	Smart detection for Node, Python & Go projects without manifests
Polyglot	Mixed	✨ New	Supports Node + Python + Go in the same repo

Note: Sherlock Mode is currently in a Testing Phase. While it often works like magic, always verify the generated .devpack for complex projects.

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🧩 How it Works

DevSnapshot isn't magic—it's just smart archiving.

1. Analysis (The "Brain"):
   • It scans your code to identify languages, frameworks, and dependencies.
   • It ignores heavy folders like node_modules, .venv, or target to keep the file small (kB/MBs, not GBs).
2. Snapshotting:
   • It bundles your source code + a snapshot.json metadata file into a compressed .devsnap archive.
   • It generates a dependencies.devpack (a lockfile of lockfiles) to ensure identical versions.
3. Sandboxing:
   • When you run start, it unpacks into a .devsnap_sandbox folder.
   • It reconstructs the environment by extracting code and freshly installing dependencies using the native package manager (npm, pip, go, cargo).

This ensures Zero Pollution on your main machine and 100% Reproducibility.

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🛣️ Roadmap & Vision

We are building the future of Portable Development Environments. Our goal is to make "it works on my machine" a phrase of the past.

🌟 The "Why" (Philosophy)

Modern development is too fragmented. Docker is heavy. Nix is complex. DevSnapshot bridges the gap: Native performance with Container-like reproducibility.

📍 Current Focus (v1.0)

• ✅ Core Polyglot support (Node, Go, Python, Rust, PHP, Java)
• ✅ Intelligent "Sherlock" detection
• ✅ Cross-platform binaries

🔭 Future Horizons (v2.0+)

• Cloud Snapshots: devsnap push/pull to S3 or GitHub Packages.
• IDE Integration: VS Code extension to auto-load snapshots.
• Deep Containerization: Optional lightweight isolation using OS-native features (verify/jail).
• Plugin System: Allow community to write detectors for new languages (Ruby, Haskell, Swift).
• GUI Wizard: A desktop app for visual snapshot management.

📊 Performance Goals

• Startup Time: < 500ms for cached snapshots.
• Archive Size: < 10MB for typical microservices (code-only).

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🤝 Contributing

This is a completely Open Source project. We welcome contributions from the community!

• Fork the repo
• Submit Pull Requests
• Report Issues

� Other Innovative Products from SafarNow

• BEMP (Browser Enabled Model Protocol): A local, open-source bridge that turns web-based AI interfaces (Gemini, ChatGPT, DeepSeek, Qwen, Kimi, Venice, Blackbox, and others) into an API-like protocol you can call from your own code.

�👨‍💻 Author & Credits

Author: Asish Kumar Sharma Role: Founder & CEO @ SafarNow

A SafarNow Innovation Product

Contact: 📧 asishkksharma@gmail.com

📄 License & Usage Policy

DevSnapshot is proudly Open Source under the MIT License.

🔓 Why MIT? (The "Openness" Philosophy)

We believe developer tools should be foundational infrastructure, accessible to everyone. By choosing MIT, we ensure:

1. Zero Friction: You can use this tool in personal, academic, or commercial projects without asking for permission.
2. Freedom to Fork: If you need a custom version for your enterprise, you are free to modify the source code.
3. Community Ownership: No vendor lock-in. If we stop maintaining it, the community can take over.

✅ What You CAN Do

• Use this tool for Commercial purposes (e.g., inside your startup).
• Modify the source code to fit your needs.
• Distribute copies of the tool to your team.
• Charge for services that use this tool (e.g., "DevOps consulting using DevSnapshot").

❌ What You CANNOT Do

• Hold the authors liable for any damages (software is provided "as is").
• Remove the original copyright notice and license text from the source code.

In summary: As long as you keep the copyright header, you can do whatever you want with this code. Build, break, and scale. 🚀

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⚠️ Digital Signatures & Liability Disclaimer

Please note that the provided binaries are currently NOT digitally signed.

• Why? Code signing certificates are costly for early-stage open-source projects. We plan to implement them in future releases.
• Implication: Your OS (Windows SmartScreen, macOS Gatekeeper) might warn you that the "Publisher is unknown." using the binaries.
• Liability: The author (Asish Kumar Sharma) and SafarNow are NOT responsible for any damages caused by the use of this software. You use it entirely at your own risk.

Paranoid? That's good! Since this is open source, you don't have to trust our binaries. You can consistently audit the code and Build from Source (see Installation).

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💌 A Message from the Team

"We hope DevSnapshot becomes the most credible tool in your workflow. We believe that the more problems we face, the better we get."

This tool is designed to be super easy. If you face any issues or have needs, please contact the author. We are building this for you.

All the best, The SafarNow Team