REPRO

Disposable Docker environments for any GitHub issue. One command. No setup.

pip install repro-cli
repro https://github.com/org/repo/issues/42

That's it, your terminal boots an isolated sandbox - repo cloned, dependencies installed and IF you have VS Code, it opens automatically attached directly to the container so you get a real editor and a single unified terminal, not just a shell. Type exit and the container disappears. Your files stay on disk, exactly where they were.

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Install

pip install repro-cli

Requirements:

• Python 3.9+
• Docker (INSTALLED AND RUNNING)
• VS Code (optional, but recommended - enables the unified editor/terminal experience below)

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Usage

# Open a sandbox for any publish GitHub issue
repro https://github.com/org/repo/issues/123

#Forward a port (e.g. to view a web app running inside the sandbox)
repro https://github.com/org/repo/issues/123 -p 3000

# Map a different host port to a container port
repro https://github.com/org/repo/issues/123 -p 8080:3000

# Private repos - pass a GitHub token
repro https://github.com/org/private-repo/issues/7 --token ghp_xxx

#Or set it once as an env var instead of typing it every single time!
export DEVSANDBOX_GITHUB_TOKEN=ghp_xxx
repro https://github.com/org/private-repo/issues/7

# Skip auto-opening an editor
repro https://github.com/org/repo/issues/123 --no-editor

#Help
repro --help

What it does

1. Processes the GitHub issue URL
2. Detects the repo's runtime i.e Node, Python, Go, Rust, Ruby, PHP, Java, or a devcontainer based on whats actually in the repo.
3. Spins up a disposable, isolated Docker container with the right base image.
4. Bind-mounts a real folder on your machine into the container, so nothing is trapped and files persist after you exit
5. Clones the repo directly into that shared folder and install dependencies
6. Attaches VS Code directly to the running container (auto-installing the Dev Containers extension if needed) - one window, one terminal, running inside the sandbox.
7. Destroys the container the moment you exit. Your edited files remain exactly where they were.

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The unified editor experience

• Real editor: VS Code attaches directly into the container, so its built-in terminal is the sandbox shell
• Real persistence: because the folder is bind-mounted, not just cloned inside the container, your work survives after exit. If VS Code isn't installed, repro falls back gracefully, you still get a real folder path printed at the end, ready to open in whatever editor you use.

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Supported runtimes

File detected	Runtime	Base image
package.json	Node.js	node:20-alpine
yarn.lock	Node.js (yarn)	node:20-alpine
pnpm-lock.yaml	Node.js (pnpm)	node:20-alpine
requirements.txt	Python	python:3.12-slim
pyproject.toml	Python	python:3.12-slim
Pipfile	Python (pipenv)	python:3.12-slim
go.mod	Go	golang:1.21-alpine
Cargo.toml	Rust	rust:1.75-slim
Gemfile	Ruby	ruby:3.3-slim
composer.json	PHP	php:8.3-cli
pom.xml	Java (Maven)	maven:3.9-eclipse-temurin-21
build.gradle	Java (Gradle)	gradle:8-jdk21
.devcontainer	devcontainer	MS universal image
(none matched)	Universal fallback	ubuntu:22.04

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The GitHub App

Install repro-sandbox-bot on any repo and it automatically comments the exact repro command on every new issue, so that contributors never have to think about setup.

🏖 Open this issue in DevSandbox
 
Spin up a disposable Docker environment with this repo already checked out:
 
    repro https://github.com/org/repo/issues/42
 
Don't have repro yet? Install it here.
 
Comment /sandbox on any issue to get this again.

You can also trigger it on demand by commenting /sandbox on any issue. The bot runs 24/7, independent of your machine.

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Contributing

PRs welcome. Open an issue first for anything beyond small fixes - and yes, you can use repro itself to work on repro.

License

MIT