GitHub Clone & Dev Environment Setup

Clone repositories and set up development environments in Daytona sandboxes.

Configuration

bash

export CONVEX_SITE_URL="https://calculating-hummingbird-542.convex.site"

Clone Repository

bash

curl -X POST "$CONVEX_SITE_URL/api/sandbox/git/clone" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "sandboxId": "SANDBOX_ID",
    "repoUrl": "https://github.com/owner/repo.git",
    "branch": "main",
    "targetPath": "/home/user/projects/repo"
  }'

Parameters:

•sandboxId (required): The Daytona sandbox ID
•repoUrl (required): Full Git URL (HTTPS)
•branch (optional): Branch to checkout (default: default branch)
•targetPath (optional): Clone destination (default: /home/daytona/projects/{repo-name})

Returns: {"success": true, "path": "/home/daytona/projects/repo", "output": "..."}

Complete Development Setup Workflow

1. Clone the Repository

bash

curl -X POST "$CONVEX_SITE_URL/api/sandbox/git/clone" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"sandboxId": "abc123", "repoUrl": "https://github.com/BraelinC/planner"}'

2. Check Repository Structure

bash

curl -X POST "$CONVEX_SITE_URL/api/sandbox/execute" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"sandboxId": "abc123", "command": "ls -la /home/daytona/projects/planner"}'

3. Install Dependencies

For Node.js projects:

bash

curl -X POST "$CONVEX_SITE_URL/api/sandbox/execute" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"sandboxId": "abc123", "command": "cd /home/daytona/projects/planner && npm install", "timeout": 120}'

For Python projects:

bash

curl -X POST "$CONVEX_SITE_URL/api/sandbox/execute" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"sandboxId": "abc123", "command": "cd /home/daytona/projects/planner && pip install -r requirements.txt", "timeout": 120}'

4. Start Development Server

Run in background:

bash

curl -X POST "$CONVEX_SITE_URL/api/sandbox/execute" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"sandboxId": "abc123", "command": "cd /home/daytona/projects/planner && npm run dev &"}'

5. Open Browser to View App

Option A: Use terminal to open browser

bash

curl -X POST "$CONVEX_SITE_URL/api/sandbox/execute" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"sandboxId": "abc123", "command": "firefox http://localhost:3000 &"}'

Option B: Click on browser icon in taskbar First take screenshot to see the desktop, then click on browser icon.

6. Take Screenshot to Verify

bash

curl -X POST "$CONVEX_SITE_URL/api/sandbox/screenshot" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"sandboxId": "abc123", "compressed": true, "quality": 80}'

Common Project Types

Next.js / React

bash

# Install
npm install
# Dev server
npm run dev
# Default port: 3000

Vite

bash

# Install
npm install
# Dev server
npm run dev
# Default port: 5173

Python Flask/Django

bash

# Install
pip install -r requirements.txt
# Flask
flask run
# Django
python manage.py runserver
# Default port: 5000 (Flask) or 8000 (Django)

Editing Code

Read a file

bash

curl -X POST "$CONVEX_SITE_URL/api/sandbox/fs/read" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"sandboxId": "abc123", "path": "/home/daytona/projects/planner/src/App.tsx"}'

Write changes

bash

curl -X POST "$CONVEX_SITE_URL/api/sandbox/fs/write" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"sandboxId": "abc123", "path": "/home/daytona/projects/planner/src/App.tsx", "content": "..."}'

Hot reload

Most dev servers auto-reload on file changes. Take a screenshot to verify.

Tips

•Clone timeout is 120 seconds by default for large repos
•Public repos work without authentication
•Check package.json or requirements.txt to understand the project
•Use cat package.json to see available npm scripts
•Start dev servers with & to run in background
•Take screenshots after starting server to verify it's running

Known Constraints

⚠️ CONSTRAINT: Default sandbox has only 1GB RAM - large npm/bun installs will be killed (OOM).

•Monorepos with many dependencies need 2-4GB RAM
•Install bun via npm: npm install -g bun

⚠️ CONSTRAINT: The sandbox user is daytona, not user.

•Clone to /home/daytona/projects/ not /home/user/projects/

⚠️ CONSTRAINT: Tier 1-2 sandboxes cannot curl arbitrary URLs.

•Connection reset errors for non-whitelisted domains
•npm/pip registries work fine

✅ BEST PRACTICE: For workspace:* dependencies, use bun or pnpm (npm doesn't support workspace protocol).