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.

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)

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. Parses the GitHub issue URL
2. Detects the repo's runtime - 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 - 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.

The unified editor experience

• Real editor — VS Code attaches directly into the container, so its built-in terminal is the sandbox shell. No second window to juggle.
• Real persistence — because the folder is bind-mounted, not just cloned inside the container, your work survives after exit. Nothing is lost. 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.

Supported runtimes

The GitHub App

Install repro-sandbox-bot on any repo and it automatically comments the exact repro command on every new issue - so 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.

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