The problem

You clone a repo. npm install explodes. The README says "Node 20", your machine has 16, and the error message says nothing useful. Multiply by every new hire, student, CI runner and AI agent that burns tokens guessing why a build failed.

The fix

$ devready check

DevReady - Environment Check

[PASS ] Python       3.15.0 found
[PASS ] Git          2.52.0 found
[PASS ] Node.js      23.5.0 found
[PASS ] npm          11.14.1 found
[FAIL ] Node engines 23.5.0 does not satisfy package.json engines (>=99)
[WARN ] Python pin   3.15.0 does not satisfy .python-version (3.99)

No changes were made to your system.

Output above is from a real run (pins deliberately set to impossible values to show failures). Exit code 1 when a requirement is unmet, so it drops straight into CI.

Why DevReady

Who it's for

• 🧑‍🎓 Students & bootcamp learners: plain-language results instead of cryptic stack traces.
• 🧑‍💻 Developers switching projects: one command tells you what's off before you lose an hour.
• 👩‍🏫 Maintainers & educators: put devready check in your README's setup steps and cut "it doesn't work" issues.
• 🏗️ CI & platform teams: fail fast with a clear preflight step.
• 🤖 AI-agent users: give Claude Code / Codex a ground-truth environment check.

Install

Install from PyPI:

pipx install devready-cli
# or run without installing:
uvx --from devready-cli devready check

From a clone (for development):

git clone https://github.com/Evalogical-Inc/devReady && cd devReady
python -m venv .venv
# Windows: .venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1    macOS/Linux: source .venv/bin/activate
python -m pip install -e ".[dev]"

Usage

devready check                    # human-readable report for the current directory
devready check --project ../app   # inspect another project's pins
devready check --format json      # machine-readable (see docs/schema.json)
devready explain docker.daemon    # what a check means and how to fix it
devready check --format junit     # or sarif, for CI
devready check --only project --skip project.ports   # filter by id or prefix
devready fix --plan               # suggested steps only; never runs them
devready check --format json > baseline.json   # save a snapshot (commit it for a team baseline)
devready check --baseline baseline.json          # show only what changed; fail only on new/worse failures
devready init > .devready.json    # optional config: skip ids, require node/python, required env names
devready mcp                      # run as an MCP server over stdio
devready --version

JSON output

{
  "schema_version": 1,
  "results": [
    {
      "check_id": "project.node.engines",
      "title": "Node engines",
      "status": "fail",
      "summary": "23.5.0 does not satisfy package.json engines (>=99)",
      "suggestion": "Switch versions with your version manager (nvm, pyenv, mise, ...) or update the requirement.",
      "docs_url": ""
    }
  ]
}

Use it in CI (GitHub Actions)

- uses: Evalogical-Inc/devReady@main   # pin a release tag once published
  with:
    skip: project.ports                  # optional; also: only, format, project, version

The job fails when a declared requirement is unmet (fail). It installs devready-cli from PyPI, so flags added after your installed release (--only, --skip, junit/sarif) need a release that includes them; set version: to pin one.

Use it with AI coding agents

DevReady ships the same engine three ways, so your agent can verify the environment before it installs, builds or tests.

Claude Code - plugin with a skill, a /devready:doctor command and an MCP server (the MCP server needs uv; the rest works without it once devready-cli is installed):

/plugin marketplace add Evalogical-Inc/devReady
/plugin install devready --marketplace Evalogical-Inc/devReady

Any MCP client (Codex, Cursor, ...) - one read-only tool, check_environment:

# ~/.codex/config.toml (verify keys against your Codex version)
[mcp_servers.devready]
command = "uvx"
args = ["--from", "devready-cli", "devready", "mcp"]

Anything else - drop AGENTS.md in your repo, or copy skills/devready. Details in docs/agents.md.

Safety & privacy

• Fixed command lists with timeouts; no shell, no user-built commands.
• Project files are read only if regular files ≤ 1 MB (symlinks skipped) and are never executed.
• Environment variable values are never read into output. Nothing leaves your machine.
• A passing report does not guarantee your project builds.

See docs/security.md for the model, docs/versioning.md for what stays stable, docs/checks.md for every check, and SECURITY.md to report a vulnerability.

Limitations (alpha)

• Checks today: Python, Git (+ identity set), Node.js, npm, project pins (.nvmrc, .node-version, .python-version, .tool-versions, package.json engines, pyproject.toml requires-python), .env.example vs .env key names, Docker CLI + daemon (only when the project has a Dockerfile/compose file), free disk space, and (only when the project declares them) Go, Ruby, Java, Rust, .NET, pnpm, Yarn and Bun pins, .env not git-ignored, node_modules vs lockfile, and declared ports already in use.
• The version-range matcher covers common npm/PEP 440 syntax; pre-releases and exotic ranges report skip rather than guess.
• The Python version compared is the interpreter running DevReady, not necessarily your project's virtualenv.

Roadmap

• Docker CLI + daemon reachability, .tool-versions, .env key-name diff, disk space, git identity, devready explain
• Port-in-use checks, more ecosystems (Go, Rust, Java, Ruby, .NET, pnpm/yarn/bun), JUnit/SARIF output, fix --plan, GitHub Action
• .devready.json config, --baseline snapshots
• Platform-specific checks (see ROADMAP.md)
• Standalone binaries

Have a setup problem DevReady should catch? Open an issue. Early feedback shapes the roadmap.

Contributing

PRs welcome, especially new read-only checks and platform fixes. Start with CONTRIBUTING.md and the technical plan; background research is in docs/research.md. Please follow the Code of Conduct.

ruff check . && pytest

About Evalogical

DevReady is built and maintained by Evalogical, a software company offering AI-enabled product engineering, custom software and IT services. Need help with a product or an engineering team? Talk to us.

License

MIT © Evalogical Inc