Dev Dashboard
Web-based dashboard for managing Windmill development worktrees. Lets you create, monitor, and interact with multiple isolated development environments, each running its own AI coding agent (Claude or Codex), backend, and frontend.
Quick start
# 1. Install dependencies
cargo install workmux # worktree orchestrator
sudo apt install tmux socat # (or brew install tmux socat)
curl -fsSL https://bun.sh/install | bash # bun >1.3.5 required
# 2. Create the workmux global config
mkdir -p ~/.config/workmux
cat > ~/.config/workmux/config.yaml << 'EOF'
nerdfont: false
sandbox:
image: windmill-sandbox
extra_mounts:
- host_path: ~/.codex
guest_path: /tmp/.codex
writable: true
EOF
# 3. (Optional) Build sandbox image — only needed for agent-yolo profile
docker build -f Dockerfile.sandbox -t windmill-sandbox .
# 4. Install frontend deps
cd dev-dashboard/frontend && bun install && cd ..
# 5. Start the dashboard
./dev.sh # dev mode (hot reload), UI on :5112
# or
./run.sh # production mode (build + serve), UI on :4173
# 6. Open http://localhost:5112
Architecture
Browser (localhost:5112)
│
├── REST API (/api/*) ──┐
└── WebSocket (/ws/*) ──┤
│
Vite dev proxy
│
Backend (localhost:5111)
│
┌──────────────┼──────────────┐
│ │ │
workmux CLI tmux sessions socat
(worktree (terminal (port forwarding
lifecycle) access) for sandboxes)
Backend — Bun/TypeScript HTTP + WebSocket server (backend/src/server.ts). Wraps the workmux CLI to create/remove worktrees, manages tmux terminal sessions streamed to the browser via WebSocket, and runs socat port forwarding for Docker sandbox containers.
Frontend — Svelte 5 SPA with Tailwind CSS and xterm.js (frontend/src/). Provides a two-panel UI: worktree list sidebar + embedded terminal. Polls the backend every 5 seconds for status updates.
Worktree Profiles
When creating a worktree, you pick a profile that determines what runs inside it:
| Profile | What it does |
|---|---|
full |
Agent + Cargo backend + Vite frontend (uses pane layout from .workmux.yaml) |
agent-yolo |
Agent runs inside a Docker sandbox container with --dangerously-skip-permissions. Socat forwards the container's ports to the host so they're reachable from your browser. |
Prerequisites
Required tools
| Tool | Min version | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| bun | >1.3.5 | Runtime for both backend and frontend dev server |
| workmux | latest | Worktree + tmux orchestration (cargo install workmux or see its repo) |
| tmux | 3.x | Terminal multiplexer — workmux manages sessions/windows through it |
| socat | 1.7+ | TCP port forwarding for sandbox containers (only needed for agent-yolo profile) |
| git | 2.x | Worktree management |
| docker | 28+ | Only needed for agent-yolo sandbox profile |
Workmux global config
Workmux reads a global config from ~/.config/workmux/config.yaml. Create it if it doesn't exist:
nerdfont: false
sandbox:
image: windmill-sandbox
extra_mounts:
- host_path: ~/.codex
guest_path: /tmp/.codex
writable: true
Fields:
nerdfont— Set totrueif your terminal uses a Nerd Font (adds icons toworkmux listoutput). Defaultfalse.sandbox.image— Docker image used foragent-yolosandboxed worktrees. Must be pre-built withworkmux sandbox buildor pulled withworkmux sandbox pull.sandbox.extra_mounts— Additional bind mounts into sandbox containers. The example above mounts Codex credentials so the Codex agent can authenticate from inside the container.
To build the sandbox image (from the Windmill repo root):
docker build -f Dockerfile.sandbox -t windmill-sandbox .
Workmux project config
The repo-level .workmux.yaml at the Windmill root configures how worktrees are created. Key settings:
post_create— Runs./scripts/worktree-envafter creating a worktree, which generates a.env.localfile with uniqueBACKEND_PORTandFRONTEND_PORTassignments so multiple worktrees don't collide.panes— Defines the tmux pane layout forfullprofile: agent pane (focused), backend pane (cargo watch), and frontend pane (npm run dev).files.copy— Copiesbackend/.envandscripts/into each new worktree.
Running
From the dev-dashboard/ directory:
./dev.sh
This starts both backend and frontend, with logs prefixed [BE] / [FE]. Ctrl+C stops both.
You can also start them separately:
# Terminal 1: backend (auto-reloads on save)
cd backend && bun run dev
# Terminal 2: frontend (Vite dev server)
cd frontend && bun run dev
Open http://localhost:5112 in your browser.
Keyboard shortcuts
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
Cmd+Up/Down |
Navigate between worktrees |
Cmd+K |
Create new worktree |
Cmd+D |
Remove selected worktree |
Environment variables
| Variable | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
DASHBOARD_PORT |
5111 |
Backend API port |
The frontend dev server is hardcoded to port 5112 and proxies /api/* and /ws/* to the backend.
API
| Method | Endpoint | Description |
|---|---|---|
GET |
/api/worktrees |
List all worktrees with status, ports, and service health |
POST |
/api/worktrees |
Create a worktree ({ branch, profile?, agent?, prompt? }) |
DELETE |
/api/worktrees/:name |
Remove a worktree |
POST |
/api/worktrees/:name/open |
Open/focus a worktree's tmux window |
POST |
/api/worktrees/:name/close |
Close a worktree's tmux window (keeps the worktree) |
POST |
/api/worktrees/:name/send |
Send a prompt to the worktree's agent ({ prompt }) |
GET |
/api/worktrees/:name/status |
Get agent status for a worktree |
WS |
/ws/:worktree |
Terminal WebSocket (xterm.js ↔ tmux) |