f3aa0dea36
The provision script relied on LIMA_CIDATA_USER being set in the environment, but during cloud-init this variable is not exported — it only exists in /mnt/lima-cidata/lima.env. The file cannot be sourced directly because values like LIMA_CIDATA_COMMENT contain unquoted spaces, so we extract LIMA_CIDATA_USER with sed instead. Also ensure HOME is set for root's go install commands and explicitly set PATH when running make as the Lima user via su, since profile.d scripts may not be loaded during cloud-init provisioning. Signed-off-by: Bryan Frimin <bryan@getprobo.com>
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 and the console dev server
./contrib/lima/sandbox.sh exec -- sudo systemctl start probod probo-console
# Access services from your host browser using the VM IP
# e.g. http://192.168.105.2:5173 (console)
# e.g. http://192.168.105.2:8080 (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
/workspacevia 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.