Dev-Control

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TL;DR

Dev-Control is a modular CLI toolkit that automates the tedious parts of your Git workflow—so you can focus on code, not config.

# Install
git clone https://github.com/xaoscience/dev-control.git && cd dev-control && ./install.sh

# Use
dc init          # Set up a repo with templates, license, 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 licenses      # Audit license compliance across repos
dc mcp           # Configure AI coding assistants (MCP servers)
dc container     # Generate devcontainer.json for VS Code
dc package       # Build tarballs, Homebrew, Snap, Deb, Nix, Docker

If you've ever spent more time wrestling Git or setting up yet another repo than actually writing code—this is for you.

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📋 Table of Contents

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

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💡 Why Dev-Control?

Managing modern software projects involves a lot of repetitive housekeeping:

• Initialising repos with consistent templates, licenses, and docs
• Keeping submodules in sync across complex monorepos
• Rewriting commit history to fix author dates or add GPG signatures
• Auditing license compliance when you have dozens of dependencies
• Spinning up devcontainers with the right mounts and settings
• 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, license 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/xaoscience/dev-control.git
cd dev-control
./install.sh          # Adds `dc` to your PATH and installs aliases
source ~/.bashrc      # Or restart your shell

Verify

dc --version          # Should print v2.x.x
dc --help             # List all commands

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🔧 Core Commands

Below is a quick reference. Run dc <command> --help for full options.

dc init — Repository Initialisation

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

dc init                     # Interactive mode
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.

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 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 licenses — License Auditor

Detect, check compatibility, and apply licenses across repos.

dc licenses                         # Scan current repo
dc licenses --deep                  # Include submodules
dc licenses --check GPL-3.0         # Verify compatibility
dc licenses --apply MIT             # Apply license 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 container — Devcontainer Generator

Generate a complete .devcontainer/ setup for VS Code.

dc container                        # Interactive
dc container --image mcr.microsoft.com/devcontainers/base:ubuntu

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

dc aliases — Shell Alias Installer

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

dc aliases                          # Interactive category selection
source ~/.bashrc

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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-project
default-license: MIT
default-branch: main
auto-sign-commits: true
github-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
licenses.sh	License auditing
containerise.sh	Devcontainer generator
packaging.sh	Multi-platform packaging
mcp-setup.sh	MCP server configuration

Shared Libraries

Located in scripts/lib/:

Library	Purpose
colors.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
• License 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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📄 License

GPL-3.0. See LICENSE.

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