Container Desktop

Developer workflow automation tool for initializing, building, testing, and deploying projects from the command line.

Commands

| Command | Description | |------------|------------------------------------| | init | Initialize a new project in the current directory | | check | Run lint, type check, and tests | | build | Build the project | | test | Run the full test suite | | deploy | Show deploy pipeline guide (build → test → stage → prod) | | config | View or edit configuration | | status | Check overall project health | | template | Generate a code template for a given type | | docs | Generate project documentation | | clean | Remove build artifacts | | help | Show help and list all commands | | version | Print current version |

Usage

container-desktop <command> [args]

All actions are logged to $DATA_DIR/history.log for auditing.

Data Storage

Default directory: ~/.local/share/container-desktop/
Override: Set the CONTAINER_DESKTOP_DIR environment variable to change the data directory.
Files:
- history.log — timestamped log of every command executed
- config.json — project-level configuration (created by config)
- data.log — general data log

Requirements

Bash 4+ (uses set -euo pipefail)
No external dependencies or API keys required
Works on Linux, macOS, and WSL

When to Use

Starting a new project — Run container-desktop init to scaffold and initialize your workspace before writing any code.
Pre-commit quality checks — Use container-desktop check to run lint, type checking, and tests in a single command before pushing code.
Building for deployment — Execute container-desktop build as part of your CI/CD pipeline or local build workflow.
Running tests — Use container-desktop test to run your full test suite during development or in automated pipelines.
Cleaning up after builds — Run container-desktop clean to remove generated artifacts and free disk space between builds.

Examples

# Initialize a project in the current directory
container-desktop init

# Run all quality checks (lint + type check + tests)
container-desktop check

# Build the project
container-desktop build

# Run the test suite
container-desktop test

# View the deployment pipeline guide
container-desktop deploy

# Check project health status
container-desktop status

# Generate a code template
container-desktop template component

# Generate project documentation
container-desktop docs

# Clean build artifacts
container-desktop clean

# Show version
container-desktop version

Output

All command output goes to stdout. Redirect to a file if needed:

container-desktop status > report.txt

Configuration

Set CONTAINER_DESKTOP_DIR to customize where data is stored:

export CONTAINER_DESKTOP_DIR=/path/to/custom/dir