[thedevbox]

Tools that do not suck. No ads. No accounts. No tracking.

[thedevbox] is a collection of developer tools built by and for developers who got tired of sites that require a login to format JSON, sketchy online converters that probably log your data, and heavy desktop apps just to decode a token.

Every tool runs entirely in your browser unless a tool clearly says otherwise. Your data stays on your machine, and we do not track what you paste.

Philosophy

Developer tools should be fast, honest, and free. Not free as in "we monetized your clipboard", but actually free.

The goal is simple: open the page, use the tool, close the tab. No drama.

What's Inside

The frontend currently includes browser-first tools across a few growing categories:

• Format: JSON, URL, and similar text cleanup tools.
• Convert: timestamps, encoders/ decoders, and file/data conversions.
• Generate: UUIDs and other small developer-safe generators.
• Inspect: user agents, headers, tokens, and debugging helpers.

More tools are intentionally easy to add. The project includes a scaffold command so contributors do not have to memorize the registry shape.

Stack

• Frontend: Next.js 16 App Router, React 19, TypeScript strict, Tailwind CSS, Biome, Vitest
• Backend: planned for tools that genuinely need server-side runtime support

Quick Start

The active app lives in frontend.

cd frontend
pnpm install
pnpm hook:install
pnpm dev

For detailed frontend setup, architecture, and tool conventions, read frontend/README.md. For contribution workflow, read CONTRIBUTING.md.

Git Hooks

This repo uses Lefthook for pre-commit checks. After installing frontend dependencies, install the hooks from frontend:

pnpm hook:install

Before each commit, Lefthook runs formatting, linting, and TypeScript checks for the frontend.

Creating A Tool

From the frontend directory:

pnpm create:tool base64 --category convert --name "Base64 Encode / Decode" --description "Encode and decode Base64 locally."

The scaffold command creates the tool component, shared logic file, unit test, registry entry, and component mapping.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome. The best tools for this project are:

• useful in real developer workflows
• fast enough to feel instant
• private by default
• small, focused, and easy to understand
• built with shared UI patterns so the app feels coherent

If you find a bug, have an idea, or want to add a tool, open an issue or pull request. See CONTRIBUTING.md for setup, checks, and PR expectations.

License

This project is open source and licensed under the MIT License. See LICENSE.