Setting up developer environments is surprisingly manual. Most teams rely on a mix of docs, shell scripts, and tribal knowledge. We built Codify to make the process reproducible with a Terraform-like workflow.

The project consists of an open-source CLI, a JSON5 based configuration language, a library of 50+ resources, a web/desktop editor, and an AI assistant. The workflow mirrors Terraform: plan + apply to make changes, and import + refresh to synchronize an existing configuration with the current system. Codify manages both installation and configuration, supporting tools like Git, SSH keys, VS Code, WebStorm, Python, JavaScript, Docker, cloning git repositories and even managing macOS system settings.

Compared to existing tools like Nix, our goal is to make Codify more approachable. We chose JSON5 instead of a dedicated DSL to reduce the learning curve, and Codify installs and configures packages the same way a human would, allowing it to coexist with existing installations. The tradeoff is that it's less robust than Nix, but it doesn't require you to build your environment around it.

Codify has an ecosystem of 50+ supported applications, tools and settings. This includes standard package managers such as Homebrew, apt, and dnf so the actual number of installable packages is much higher. New resources can be requested by creating an issue on GitHub, which triggers our Claude action to pick it up. We review and test the code manually before merging (aiming for a turnaround time of 7 days) and we run daily integration tests on all resources to catch drift + bugs. Private custom plugins are supported and documented but we’re holding off on a plugin marketplace until we figure out the security aspect of it.

Codify is available on macOS, Linux and Windows (WSL). The CLI and plugin library are free and open source. The web and desktop apps are paid with a generous free tier. Use the code HACKERNEWS2026JULY for 1 month free on any tier!

Github: https://github.com/codifycli/codify Website: https://codifycli.com/ Editor: https://dashboard.codifycli.com/ Documentation: https://codifycli.com/docs

Hope you get a chance to try out. Cheers - Kevin & Edmund

An American Mosaic