Problem Walkthrough Architecture Getting Started GitHub →
v0.5.0

An instant devbox for
multiple projects.

Spin up an exe.dev VM, run one command, and get a fully wired devbox where every project gets its own public domain, DNS, and working HMR. No infrastructure yak-shaving.

exedev@nesins-devbox: exebox

You just want a devbox.
Not a infrastructure project.

An exe.dev VM gives you an instant cloud devbox. But the moment you want to work on multiple projects, each with its own public domain, DNS, proxy config, and working HMR, you sink hours into yak-shaving instead of writing code. exebox turns that multi-hour setup into a few seconds.

The manual way

  • 1 Spin up a VM, then spend the next two hours making it usable for more than one project.
  • 2 Install Node.js, portless, and nginx. Then write a Host-rewriting reverse proxy config by hand.
  • 3 For every project: add a DNS CNAME, register the domain with exe.dev, write an nginx server block.
  • 4 Debug Vite HMR: WebSocket connections silently fail through the proxy.
  • 5 Repeat steps 3–4 every time you start a new project. Hours wasted, every time.

With exebox

  • 1 exebox setup: one command turns a fresh VM into a multi-project devbox.
  • 2 exebox new myapp: DNS, exe.dev registration, nginx route. Done in seconds.
  • 3 exebox dev myapp: launches the dev server with HMR that works through the proxy.
  • 4 Add a new project anytime with a single command. No repeating the whole setup.
  • 5 exebox doctor validates the entire stack. Push notifications keep you informed.

Four commands
to production.

Click through each step to watch exebox bring a fresh exe.dev VM online, from installing dependencies to launching a live dev server.

walkthrough: exebox

How traffic flows.

exebox wires a four-layer pipeline. exe.dev terminates TLS; nginx routes by Host header; portless maps .localhost routes to dev servers. Every layer is configured automatically.

🌐
Browser
app.nesin.io
HTTPS
🔒
exe.dev Proxy
TLS terminate
HTTP
⚙️
nginx :8080
Host routing
proxy
🔀
portless :8888
project.localhost
route
Dev Server
Vite / Next

Everything wired up.

Every painful manual step from the multi-project setup: automated, idempotent, and production-tested on a live exe.dev VM.

🔌

Auto DNS

Detects Cloudflare and creates the CNAME automatically via the exe.dev proxy or your API token. Manual instructions with exact records for other providers.

🔥

HMR that works

Sets VITE_HMR_URL to your public domain so hot module replacement flows through exe.dev + nginx without WebSocket errors.

🏠

Smart defaults

Set --default-domain once, then just pass a project name. exebox derives the FQDN and wires the whole chain automatically.

📡

Push notifications

Get notified on your device when a domain is added, a dev server starts, or setup completes. Silent if unavailable.

🩺

Health checks

exebox doctor validates reflection, dependencies, services, and ports, so you know the stack is healthy at a glance.

🔄

Idempotent

Every command is safe to re-run. Setup, new, and dev clean up after themselves and settle into the correct state.

Get running in
60 seconds.

Install exebox, run setup once, then onboard and launch projects with single commands. No Go toolchain required. Just curl the binary.

1

Install exebox

Grab the latest release binary. No Go needed:

# From release binary (recommended) curl -sfL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/AshikNesin/exebox/main/install.sh | bash
2

Set up the VM (one-time, idempotent)

Installs Node.js, portless, and nginx; discovers the VM's identity; sets your default domain so you can just pass project names later.

exebox setup --default-domain example.com
3

Onboard a project

Wires DNS (CNAME → your-vm.exe.xyz), registers with exe.dev, writes the nginx server block, and reloads. All in one command.

# Derives myapp.example.com from your default domain exebox new myapp # Or specify the full domain explicitly exebox new -d myapp.example.com
4

Launch the dev server

Sets VITE_HMR_URL so HMR works through the proxy, registers the portless route, and runs detached with logs.

exebox dev myapp
5

Verify everything is live

Check VM identity, proxy state, domain liveness, and portless routes.

exebox status exebox doctor # full health check

Interactive terminal.

Run any exebox command. Click a chip below: the simulated CLI responds just like the real thing.

exedev@nesins-devbox: interactive