probo/contrib/lima

Lima Sandbox Environments

Run isolated dev environments using Lima VMs. Each git worktree gets its own VM with Docker, standard ports, and a unique IP — no port conflicts between sandboxes.

Prerequisites

brew install lima jq

Quickstart

# Create and start a sandbox for the current worktree
./contrib/lima/sandbox.sh create

# Check status and get the VM IP
./contrib/lima/sandbox.sh status

# Build the backend binary (probo-stack starts automatically on boot)
./contrib/lima/sandbox.sh exec -- make build

# Start probod, the console, and the trust dev servers
./contrib/lima/sandbox.sh exec -- sudo systemctl start probod probo-console probo-trust

# Access services from your host browser using the VM IP
# e.g. http://192.168.105.2:5173 (console)
# e.g. http://192.168.105.2:5174 (trust)
# e.g. http://192.168.105.2:8080 (API)

Commands

Command	Description
./contrib/lima/sandbox.sh create [--cpus C] [--memory M] [--disk D]	Create and start a new VM
./contrib/lima/sandbox.sh start	Start a stopped VM
./contrib/lima/sandbox.sh stop	Shut down the VM (preserves disk and Docker images)
./contrib/lima/sandbox.sh restart	Stop + start
./contrib/lima/sandbox.sh delete	Remove the VM entirely
./contrib/lima/sandbox.sh ssh	Interactive shell at /workspace
./contrib/lima/sandbox.sh exec -- CMD	Run a command in the VM
./contrib/lima/sandbox.sh status	Show VM state, IP, and service URLs
./contrib/lima/sandbox.sh list	List all probo-* VMs

Architecture

Host (macOS)
├── worktree: ~/Developer/probo/delhi      → VM "probo-delhi"      (192.168.105.x)
├── worktree: ~/Developer/probo/feature-a  → VM "probo-feature-a"  (192.168.105.y)
└── worktree: ~/Developer/probo/feature-b  → VM "probo-feature-b"  (192.168.105.z)

Each VM:

• Mounts the worktree at /workspace via virtiofs (read-write)
• Runs Docker + docker-compose inside the VM
• Forwards the host SSH agent
• Gets its own IP via vzNAT — all services on standard ports

Makefile targets

Convenience wrappers are available:

make sandbox-create
make sandbox-start
make sandbox-stop
make sandbox-delete
make sandbox-ssh
make sandbox-status

Troubleshooting

VM won't start: Check limactl list for stale entries. Delete with ./contrib/lima/sandbox.sh delete and recreate.

Slow file I/O: The worktree is mounted via virtiofs which is fast for most operations. If node_modules is slow, consider symlinking it to VM-local disk.

Docker permission denied: The provision script adds the lima user to the docker group. If you see permission errors, restart the VM with ./contrib/lima/sandbox.sh restart.

Can't reach VM IP from host: Ensure vzNAT networking is working. Run ./contrib/lima/sandbox.sh status to verify the IP is assigned.