dev — Project Launcher & Worktree Manager

A thin wrapper around mise for consistent project startup and git worktree management across diverse codebases.

How It Works

Each project defines a mise.toml with:

• [tools] — language versions (replaces .tool-versions / asdf)
• [env] — environment variables (replaces .envrc / direnv)
• [tasks] — lifecycle commands (up, down, deps, db:setup)

The dev script adds worktree management on top: creating isolated worktrees with copied dependencies, cloned databases, and auto-generated mise.local.toml overrides.

Install

# 1. Install mise
brew install mise
echo 'eval "$(mise activate zsh)"' >> ~/.zshrc
source ~/.zshrc

# 2. Install dev
git clone <repo-url> ~/path/to/dev
ln -sf ~/path/to/dev/dev ~/bin/dev

3. Add the shell wrapper to ~/.zshrc so dev wt create automatically cd's into the new worktree:

# dev wrapper — transparently cd into worktree after `dev wt create`
dev() {
  if [[ "$1" == "wt" && "$2" == "create" ]]; then
    local name="$3"
    local project_root
    project_root=$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel 2>/dev/null || pwd)
    command dev "$@"
    local wt_dir="${project_root}/.worktrees/${name}"
    if [[ -d "$wt_dir" ]]; then
      cd "$wt_dir"
    fi
  else
    command dev "$@"
  fi
}

Quick Start

cd ~/my-project
dev up     # Start everything
dev down   # Stop services

Worktree Management

After dev wt create, your shell is automatically cd'd into the new worktree — no manual navigation needed.

dev wt create my-feature   # Create worktree, copy deps, clone DB — lands you inside it
dev up                      # Runs with isolated DB (via mise.local.toml)
dev wt list                 # Show all worktrees
dev wt remove my-feature   # Clean up worktree + drop DB

Commands

Command	Description
dev up	Delegates to mise run up (with worktree context)
dev down	Delegates to mise run down
dev setup	Delegates to mise run setup
dev init	Initialise a new project (generates mise.toml)
dev info	Show project info (tools, tasks, env)
dev wt create NAME	Create git worktree with full setup
dev wt remove NAME	Remove worktree and drop its database
dev wt list	List all worktrees with DB names

Adding a New Project

Run dev init to generate a mise.toml interactively, or write one manually:

[tools]
elixir = "1.19.1-otp-28"
erlang = "28.1"

[env]
PORT = "4000"
DB_NAME = "myapp_dev"

# Worktree config (read by dev wt commands)
WT_COPY_DIRS = "deps _build"
WT_SYMLINK_FILES = ".env.local"

[tasks.deps]
run = "mix deps.get"

[tasks."db:setup"]
run = ["mix ecto.create 2>/dev/null || true", "mix ecto.migrate"]

[tasks.up]
depends = ["deps", "db:setup"]
run = "iex -S mix phx.server"
raw = true

[tasks.down]
run = "echo 'nothing to stop'"

That's it. dev up and dev wt create just work.

Design Opinions

• mise as the foundation: One tool for versions, env, and tasks. No custom config format.
• mise.toml is the source of truth: No auto-detection magic. Each project declares what it needs.
• dev only adds worktrees: The script is ~200 lines. All project logic lives in mise.toml.
• mise.local.toml for worktree overrides: Auto-generated, gitignored. Each worktree gets its own DB.
• Template DB cloning: Copies from the main DB instead of running full setup — much faster for Phoenix projects with seeds.
• Dep copying: Copy compiled deps from main checkout instead of rebuilding from scratch.