devvm
One VM for every project. An isolated sandbox with your project’s toolchain, ready for you or a coding agent to start coding
Runs with mockssource: GitHubhomepageGoMITcommit eaa170696605
Go, MIT licensed. The project labels itself: coding agent, coding agents, developer tools, development, lima, lima vm, linux and sandbox.
devvm runs, with stand-ins for the services it depends on. An Argusic agent installed it in 3 minutes and hit 5 errors on a clean machine with no GPU, and the whole session was recorded.
devvm builds from source and runs on Linux x86_64 with Go 1.27.3; all 35 Go unit-test packages pass, CLI tests pass, 46 of 48 testscript integration tests pass (2 fail due to missing ssh-keygen and nc); binary reports version 0.0.0 and lists 34 commands via --help; doctor reports expected missing runtime deps (Lima, QEMU, KVM) which require system-package installs outside this container
What the agent ended up with on a clean machine, in its own words. How this is measured
Measured by Argusic on a fresh machine every time. Every number links to its evidence. Argusic Score 72 of 100 (the mean of this project's run scores).
At a glance
Subject data from GitHub, linked at the top of this page, refreshed . Test data by Argusic (CC BY 4.0); every number links to a run page with the full log, the recording, and their sha256 hashes.
What was measured
From the run that decided this verdict. Every line is a recorded value, not an estimate.
What went wrong, in the agent's own words
The agent's own words, worst first, never rewritten into advice.
- desktop script test fails: nc (netcat) not installed (no apt install without root)
- release script test fails: ssh-keygen not installed (needs openssh-client, no root)
- 4 internal/vm move/adopt tests fail: require interactive terminal (non-TTY environment)
- 3 opencode tests skipped: sqlite3 binary not installed (no root)
- Lima, QEMU, KVM not available (no root, no nested virt)
- Install time
- 3 minutes
- Cold machine to finish
- 35 minutes
- Errors hit and fixed
- 5 hit, 0 fixed with no human help
- How the result was proved
- go test -race -timeout 30m passed for all 35 Go unit-test packages (shell, vmname, redact, jsonc, state, msg, fetch, project, gitprotect, hostsafety, sshconfig, sshagent, trust, netpolicy, secrets, from, agents, agentlogin, backend, build, image, daemon, desktop, devcontainer, hostgit, ports, proxy, settings, tools, platform, structure, upgrade, cli: all OK). CLI tests: 13/13 passed. Script tests: 46/48 passed (desktop needs nc, release needs ssh-keygen). build: 'go build -o devvm ./cmd/devvm' succeeded; ./devvm --version returned '0.0.0-20261108022655-eaa170696605'; ./devvm --help displays 34 commands
- Model tokens used
- 119,572
- Exact commit tested
- eaa170696605
- Container image
- sha256:cdd920bce783
What was not measured
The other half, so you can see exactly how far this evidence goes. A gap is printed as a gap and never filled in.
- Peak GPU memory
- this ran on a CPU machine, so there was no GPU to sample
- Behaviour over a long run
- each attempt uses the smallest documented settings and a fixed time budget, so this measures whether it runs, not how it holds up under load
- Behaviour against real services
- this run was verified against stand-in services only
The end of the recording
The last lines of the terminal session that decided this verdict, exactly as they were recorded.
succeeded in 0ms:
1794124222
All core unit tests pass, the CLI tests pass, and most script tests pass. The only failures are due…
exec
/bin/sh -lc "echo \"ARGUSIC_RESULT: {\\\"install_succeeded\\\": true, \\\"launch_succeeded\\\": tru…
succeeded in 0ms:
All verified. Here's the final report:
**ARGUSIC_RESULT: {"install_succeeded": true, "launch_succeeded": true, "install_minutes": 3, "erro…
tokens used
119,572
All verified. Here's the final report:
**ARGUSIC_RESULT: {"install_succeeded": true, "launch_succeeded": true, "install_minutes": 3, "erro…Replay the whole session, every command from a clean machine to this point.
How it was tested
One agent, one container, no human help. It installs the project the way its own documentation says to, runs it, and fixes what breaks. Everything below is recorded as it happened: the terminal session, the log and the exact commit. The full method.
Strengths and limits
Measured facts, not opinions. How this is written.
What went well
- Installed in 3 minutes, faster than the median of the 5 comparable projects Argusic has measured.
- Licensed MIT, as reported by its host.
What did not, or is not known
- Only reached a running state against stand-in services, so nothing here proves it works against the real ones.
- Hit 5 errors during setup, 5 of which were not solved.
- Measured once so far. A single attempt shows it can run, not that it runs reliably.
Of the 6 coding-agent projects Argusic has installed and timed, devvm was the 2nd fastest to reach a running state, and 1 of 6 reached one at all.
Also tested, in the same area
Every one of these was installed and run by Argusic on a clean machine. Nothing appears here that was not tested.
Run history
| tested by | attempt | outcome | score | cost USD | when |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Argusic Runner | 1/3 | Runs with mocks | 72.00 | 0.29 |
Topics (from GitHub)
coding-agentcoding-agentsdeveloper-toolsdevelopmentlimalima-vmlinuxsandboxsandbox-environmentubuntuvirtual-machinevm
Embed the badge
Markdown for the project README. It links back here; terms on the terms page.
[](https://argusic.com/subject/devvm)Questions
- Does devvm run?
- devvm runs, with mocks standing in for external services. Argusic installed and launched it on a clean machine in 3 minutes, hitting 5 errors on the way, and recorded the session.
- How did Argusic test devvm?
- On a fresh, disposable machine, with every command recorded and the repository pinned at commit eaa170696605. One attempt is recorded, and the full method is on the methodology page.
- What did it cost to test devvm?
- The run that produced this verdict cost $0.29: real compute and model cost, not a list price per million tokens. It is recorded on that run's page.
- How long does devvm take to install?
- 3 minutes in the run that decided this verdict, from a clean machine to a running state. That is one measured attempt, not an average.
- Does devvm need a GPU?
- Not to start. Argusic reached a running state on a machine with no GPU.
- What goes wrong when installing devvm?
- 5 things broke in the recorded run. Each one, and the time it cost, is listed on this page.
- How does devvm compare with the alternatives?
- Of the 6 coding-agent projects Argusic has installed and timed, devvm was the 2nd fastest to reach a running state, and 1 of 6 reached one at all.
- Where is the evidence for devvm?
- The recorded run is on this page, each linking to its full log and terminal recording, stored with a sha256 fingerprint so it cannot be quietly altered.