Source: ViewEdit

Recommended Tools

We recommend these tools for a consistent, cross-platform developer workflow.

Platform & Shell

  • Nushell — Required recommendation. Default interactive and scripting shell on Windows, macOS, and Linux. Structured pipelines; display owned by the shell at the end of the pipe. See Why We Recommend Nushell and setup.

  • Windows Terminal — Modern terminal host on Windows; add a profile that launches nu.

  • Warp — Optional modern terminal with strong UX (where you choose it).

  • sudo for Windows — Elevate when the OS requires it.

  • PowerShell 7 — Use only when an OS feature, installer, or legacy script demands it. Not the Dev-Centr default shell.

Languages

What to pick (not a tool install list): Language recommendations. D and Rust for systems/apps, TypeScript for the browser, Julia for numerical work you control.

Package Management

  • UniGetUI — GUI over winget and other managers (Windows).

  • pnpm — Preferred Node package manager in this ecosystem.

  • Bun — Practical OSS Node-shaped runtime + package manager when you want speed in one tool; see npm package managers.

  • Orogene — Catalogued as closed-aspirational (once and future king of node_modules/ installs if it re-open-sources); not a shop default while closed. Same comparison page.

  • uv — Preferred Python environment and package tool.

Editors & Agents

  • Cursor — Primary AI-assisted IDE in this workspace.

  • VS Code — Acceptable when Cursor is unavailable.

  • Composio — Hosted MCP connectors (Gmail, GitHub, Vercel, Cloudflare, …) for cross-app agent work. Prefer for CI mail triage and similar OAuth SaaS loops; still use gh / the shell for PATH-local forge ops. See setup, Cloudflare connection, stack fit, and studio install pattern. Duplicate catalog names: read the form.

  • Bitwarden CLI (bw) — Human vault + custom fields for API keys; pair with hosting CLIs for distribution. Pattern: Secrets distribution hub, how-to. Hosting choice (cloud vs official server vs Vaultwarden): Bitwarden and Vaultwarden.

  • Vercel CLI — Prefer pnpm add -g vercel when winget lacks the package; use team --scope after org moves.

  • Standalone agent shells — Do not treat the IDE as the only control plane. For shopping, hardware fit, and local / network-local / remote-env / three-tier topologies, see Agent control planes and DevCentr’s agent_shell_registry.sdl. Setup surface: AI Workflow Arrangement (icons + diagrams in AI Config — not a wizard). Keep DevCentr’s env-aware repo terminal as the always-on human ops shell; agent-manager PTYs are not a substitute.

  • AI studio tooling map — Master list of MCP/connectors/control-plane docs: AI studio tooling catalog.

Fonts (monospace)

Strong recommendation for terminals, editors, and DevCentr code panels:

  • Cascadia Mono — Default. No ligatures; best for tables/grids (including Nushell table output). Prefer Mono over Cascadia Code.

  • JetBrains Mono — Supported alternate in DevCentr Appearance settings.

DevCentr lets you pick between those two (Appearance in the top bar). Install the font on the OS so editors and Windows Terminal can use it too.

Version Control

  • Git — Required.

  • GitHub CLI (gh) — GitHub operations from the terminal (prefer running under Nushell).

Hosting & Free Tiers

  • free-for.dev — Community-maintained list of SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS offerings with free developer tiers; check it for hosting, CI, databases, and monitoring before paying for a plan.

Documentation

  • AsciiDoc + Antora for Dev-Centr published docs (see org publishing guides).

  • SoloMD — Recommended local-disk Markdown editor for README / project-doc / vault workflows (live edit + split view, Tauri 2, MIT). Dev-Centr keeps AsciiDoc for org docs; many users still author Markdown. See Markdown editors on local disk. For multi-runner local AI without hard-coding Ollama-only detection, pair with Open Provider Registry / UniProvider.

  • MarkView — Recommended local Markdown viewer only (macOS / Windows / Linux): open .md with GitHub-style rendering — no editing, no account, no upload. For end-user machines reading shared READMEs / AI exports. Not a DevCentr in-product viewer: org docs and apps keep rendering inside Antora / in-app components. Same explanation page as SoloMD above.

  • Cloudflare Access for member-only static sister sites (not an app rewrite). GitHub org membership is checked at login (GET /user/orgs), not scraped. GitHub OAuth App is UI-only; Pages tokens are not Access credentials. Pattern · how-to (accounts + IdP + mocks).

Business ops (cross-link)

Founder/ops support systems (scheduling, design hosts, vault servers, team chat) live in Business Bootstrap — not duplicated here:

Creative & Media

  • ArtCraft — Free AI image and video studio (2D canvas, 3D scene staging, character posing) for macOS, Windows, and the web; source is public under a fair-source license (not OSI open source), and model generations use paid credits or your own provider accounts. Its Crafting Apps are separate native Rust apps under Apache-2.0, free to use and mostly early alpha:

    • PhotoCraft — Image editor with layers, masks, adjustment layers, layer styles, type, and brushes.

    • VectorCraft — Vector illustration with the pen, panels, and shortcuts illustrators expect.

    • FilmCraft — Video editor with source and program monitors, a timeline, and trim modes (desktop only).

    • LightCraft — Photo library and non-destructive raw developer that runs on your machine.

    • PdfCraft — PDF workbench to read, organize, combine, split, and secure PDFs.

    • EffectCraft — Motion graphics and visual effects with compositions, keyframes, and 3D cameras and lights.

    • DesignCraft — Page layout and publishing with spreads, threaded stories, styles, and text wrap.

Design & Brand Motion

UI/brand canvas: compare options in Web design tools (Figma as baseline, Penpot and Lunacy as practical defaults, Framer called out as a closed site platform to avoid). Stay on Figma when partners already live there.

No single motion format wins. Choose by job (see Brand and UI Motion Formats for the full matrix):

  • Animated SVG — Default for portable brand motion (org profiles, docs, marketing without a JS player). Prefer a self-contained file that honors prefers-reduced-motion. Best agentic/git fit.

  • Lottie — Use when motion is complex baked timeline work (often After Effects). JSON is text but cumbersome to edit; needs a player. Acceptable in AE pipelines (including CentrMark’s Lottie support); not the automatic default for simple marks.

  • Rive — Option for interactive / theme-driven UI motion (state machines, inputs) when a runtime is justified. Runtimes MIT; editor proprietary; .riv is binary (weak agentic authoring). Prefer lite packages when possible; lazy-load. Do not treat as an open de facto standard.

Watch-only (not endorsed defaults): text-first motion DSLs / CSS-shaped scene formats aimed at LLM workflows — see the explanation page. Popkorn is noted there as a potential future solution; outreach: ayarse/popkorn#7.

New machine? Install Nushell first (how-to), then your terminal host, then package managers.