DevCenter

Local-first Python IDE and developer toolkit for Windows, Linux, and macOS. DevCenter combines a PySide6 code editor, AST static analyzer, PyInstaller build helper, icon converter, license collector, full-text SQLite file index, and optional Claude/Anthropic AI assistant in one cohesive desktop suite.

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Note

For AI Agents & LLM Tools: This repository maintains an llms.txt machine-readable index for automated discovery, capability summaries, and CLI interfaces.

Not Azure DevCenter, Microsoft Dev Box, Moderne DevCenter or Devbox. This is dev-bricks/DevCenter — an open-source Python desktop suite.

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Quick Navigation

1. Start Here & Product Boundary
2. System Architecture
3. Data Flow & Privacy Isolation (Zero-Egress)
4. Governance & Runtime Invariants
5. Why DevCenter
6. Quick Start
7. Features & Capabilities
8. Keyboard Shortcuts
9. Sibling Tools & Ecosystem Matrix
10. Third-Party Licenses & Transparency
11. Marketing & Target Personas
12. Installation & Testing
13. Privacy & Security
14. Contributing & Development
15. License & Liability

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Start Here

Need	Tool / Action	Interface
Local Python IDE	Code editor, syntax highlighting, AST analyzer, build helper	python main.py
One-Click EXE Packaging	PyInstaller build wizard (one-file / one-dir)	build_exe.bat / Build Tab
Static Code Analysis	Methods, classes, complexity, unused imports, TODOs	Analyze Tab
Encoding Diagnostics & Repair	BOM/mojibake detection, UTF-8 normalization	Analyze → Encoding Tab
Full-Text File Index	SQLite FTS5 file search, duplicate finder, backup sync	FileManager Tab
Redacted Workspace Export	Sanitized project metadata export for handoff	File → Export Workspace
Windows Quick Launcher	Direct desktop startup script	START_DevCenter.bat

Product Boundary

The PySide6 desktop application is the only shipped product and the authoritative runtime. devcenter-workspace-v1.json is a redacted local export for storage or explicit handoff; the repository contains no Web/PWA companion or hosted importer. See DOCUMENTATION_STATUS.md for documentation hierarchy.

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System Architecture

graph TB
    subgraph UI ["PySide6 Desktop Application (Main Window)"]
        TOP["Menu Bar & Toolbars<br/>• File • Edit • View • Analyze • Build • Tools • Help"]
        STATUS["Status Bar & Diagnostics"]
    end

    subgraph MODULES ["Core Engine Modules"]
        EDITOR["Editor Module<br/>• PythonSyntaxHighlighter<br/>• Indent Folding & Auto-Indent<br/>• Non-modal Search & Replace"]
        ANALYZER["Static Analyzer<br/>• AST Class & Method Parser<br/>• Cyclomatic Complexity<br/>• Unused Import Checker<br/>• EncodingFixer"]
        BUILDER["Builder Module<br/>• PyInstaller Pipeline<br/>• IconConverter (PNG/JPG to ICO)<br/>• License Collector"]
        FILEMGR["FileManager Module<br/>• SQLite FTS5 File Index<br/>• Hash Duplicate Finder<br/>• ProSync Backup Engine"]
        AI["AI Assistant (Opt-in)<br/>• Claude / Anthropic API<br/>• Windows Keyring Vault<br/>• Code Explainer & Reviewer"]
    end

    subgraph STORAGE ["Local Storage & Artifacts"]
        FS[("Local File System<br/>• Project Trees & Python Files")]
        DB[("Local SQLite Database<br/>• %APPDATA%/DevCenter/index.db")]
        KEYRING[("Windows Credential Manager<br/>• System Keyring Secret Store")]
        DIST[("Build Artifacts<br/>• dist/DevCenter.exe<br/>• devcenter-workspace-v1.json")]
    end

    UI --> MODULES
    EDITOR --> FS
    ANALYZER --> FS
    BUILDER --> FS
    BUILDER --> DIST
    FILEMGR --> FS
    FILEMGR --> DB
    AI --> KEYRING
    STATUS --> MODULES

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Data Flow & Privacy Isolation (Zero-Egress)

sequenceDiagram
    autonumber
    actor Dev as Developer / User
    participant App as DevCenter UI (PySide6)
    participant Core as AST & Analysis Engine
    participant Sec as Keyring Security Guard
    participant Disk as Local File System / SQLite
    participant Dist as Build & Export Pipeline
    participant Ext as Anthropic API (Opt-in)

    Dev->>App: Open Python Project / Code File
    App->>Disk: Read local files into memory
    Disk-->>App: Source buffer (UTF-8)

    Dev->>App: Trigger Static Analysis & AST Metrics
    App->>Core: Analyze classes, methods, imports, complexity
    Core-->>App: In-memory diagnostics (0 network calls)

    opt One-Click Build & Package
        Dev->>App: Compile Project to EXE
        App->>Dist: Invoke local PyInstaller with validated local paths
        Dist->>Disk: Generate dist/Executable & license notices
    end

    opt Redacted Workspace Export
        Dev->>App: Export Workspace Snapshot
        App->>Dist: Sanitize paths, strip tokens & format devcenter-workspace-v1.json
        Dist->>Disk: Save redacted JSON (0 network egress)
    end

    opt Optional AI Assistance (Claude)
        Dev->>App: Submit Prompt / Request Code Review
        App->>Sec: Request API Key from Windows Keyring
        Sec-->>App: In-memory decrypted key (never written to JSON)
        App->>Ext: Secure HTTPS API Call (User explicit opt-in only)
        Ext-->>App: Code suggestion / Refactoring response
    end

    App-->>Dev: Display results, metrics & executable ready

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Governance & Runtime Invariants

DevCenter enforces 10 strict architectural, security, and supply chain invariants across its entire lifecycle:

Invariant ID	Name	Operational Scope	Guarantee & Verification
INV-LOCAL-01	Zero-Egress Default	Network & Telemetry	100% offline operation by default; zero telemetry, zero analytics, zero background phone-home calls.
INV-OPTIN-02	Opt-In AI Boundary	External AI Services	Claude/Anthropic API calls execute only upon explicit user prompt submission; prompt text is never transmitted passively.
INV-KEYRING-03	Keyring Secret Vault	Credential Management	API credentials stored exclusively in native OS credential stores (Windows Credential Manager); zero plaintext disk persistence.
INV-EXPORT-04	Redacted Workspace Export	Metadata Serialization	devcenter-workspace-v1.json exports strip API tokens, credentials, and absolute personal paths; safe for team handoff.
INV-STATIC-05	Inert AST Inspection	Static Analysis	Code analysis inspects AST tokens and syntax trees inertly without executing or importing target user code.
INV-SECURITY-06	Vulnerability Floors	Supply Chain Security	Runtime dependencies enforce strict vulnerability floors (Pillow >=12.3.0, keyring >=25.0.0, pytest >=9.1.1).
INV-PERM-07	100% Permissive / Separation	Licensing & Compliance	GPLv3 suite with dynamic LGPL Qt linking and PyInstaller Bootloader Exception; bundled user apps retain freedom.
INV-USER-08	Unprivileged RunAsInvoker	Operating System Security	DevCenter operates strictly in unprivileged user space; no administrative privileges, UAC prompts, or drivers required.
INV-MULTI-09	Multi-Host Sync Discipline	Repository Hygiene	Git repositories strictly follow Plan D standards; .gitignore blocks cloud-sync conflicts, locks, and temporary artifacts.
INV-SLA-10	48h / 5d Security SLA	Vulnerability Disclosure	Dedicated security response channels with guaranteed 48-hour initial response and 5-business-day triage commitment.

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Why DevCenter

• Local-first workflow: projects, indexes, settings and build artifacts stay on your machine by default.
• Python desktop focus: PySide6 interface, syntax highlighting, project explorer, terminal output and settings persistence.
• Static analysis built in: method/class detection, complexity checks, import analysis, TODO/FIXME detection and encoding repair helpers.
• Build and release helpers: PyInstaller wrapper, icon conversion, third-party license collection, release notes and export planning.
• Optional AI assistant: Claude/Anthropic integration is opt-in and uses local settings, keyring or environment variables.
• Redacted workspace export: writes a redacted devcenter-workspace-v1.json (see EXPORTFORMAT.md).

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Quick Start

git clone https://github.com/dev-bricks/DevCenter.git
cd DevCenter
pip install -r requirements.txt
python main.py

Windows batch launchers:

START_DevCenter.bat
build_exe.bat

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Features

Editor

• Python syntax highlighting, line numbers, auto-indent, multi-tab interface.
• Comment toggle (Ctrl+/), drag-and-drop file loading.
• Code folding for indented code blocks (Ctrl+Alt+[ / Ctrl+Alt+] / Ctrl+Alt+0).
• Non-modal search and replace with match navigation, case matching, whole words, and regex support (Ctrl+F).

Static Analysis

• AST-based method and class detection.
• Cyclomatic complexity calculation and unused import detection.
• TODO/FIXME finder, encoding validation and automated UTF-8 repair (ftfy).

Build System

• One-click EXE compilation via PyInstaller (one-file / one-directory modes).
• ICO converter (PNG/JPG to multi-resolution Windows ICO).
• Third-party license collector for distribution compliance.

AI Assistant (Opt-in)

• Claude/Anthropic API integration with secure Windows Keyring storage.
• Code generation, code review, explanation, and interactive refactoring loop.

File Management

• SQLite file index with full-text search (FTS5).
• Hash-based duplicate file detection.
• Smart backup synchronization with automatic SQLite WAL checkpointing.

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Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl+N	New file
Ctrl+O	Open file
Ctrl+S	Save file
Ctrl+Shift+N	New project
Ctrl+Shift+O	Open project
F5	Run active Python script
F6	Build EXE via PyInstaller
Ctrl+/	Toggle comment
Ctrl+F	Open Search & Replace
Ctrl+Alt+[	Fold current code block
Ctrl+Alt+]	Unfold current code block
Ctrl+Alt+0	Unfold all code blocks
Ctrl+Shift+A	Toggle AI assistant
Ctrl+,	Open Settings

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Sibling Tools & Ecosystem Matrix

DevCenter is the flagship Python IDE and build center within the dev-bricks ecosystem under the open-bricks umbrella:

Ecosystem	Tool	Primary Purpose	Interface
dev-bricks	DevCenter	Local Python desktop IDE, static analyzer & PyInstaller build suite	PySide6 / Windows GUI
dev-bricks	MethodenAnalyser	Standalone AST method analyzer, complexity checker & auto-fixer	Tkinter / CLI
dev-bricks	CodeBox	Fast desktop code viewer and editor with syntax highlighting	PySide6 GUI
dev-bricks	pythonbox	Lightweight Python IDE and interactive PDB debugger	PySide6 GUI
dev-bricks	safe-start-for-codex	Preflight validation & secure bootloader for Codex	Python CLI
dev-bricks	automizer-for-claude-desktop	Automation bridge and launcher for Claude Desktop	Python GUI
dev-bricks	automation-master	Fleet-wide automation orchestrator & task scheduler	Python Core
ellmos-ai	ellmos-core	Multi-agent coordination kernel, MCP bridges & task runners	Python Core
ellmos-ai	clutch	Subprocess management & PTY terminal bridge	Python CLI
ellmos-ai	coma	Multi-host conflict resolution & distributed state sync	Python CLI
ellmos-ai	swarm-ai	Distributed agent swarm coordination & consensus engine	Python Core
ellmos-ai	ellmos-controlcenter-mcp	MCP fleet governance, bundle resolution & access control	MCP Server
file-bricks	ProFiler	Multi-tab local desktop file manager and duplicate cleaner	PySide6 GUI
file-bricks	ExplorerPro	High-performance Windows Explorer companion & file indexing	PySide6 GUI
file-bricks	ProSync	SQLite-aware backup engine & multi-target sync manager	PySide6 GUI
doc-bricks	DokuZen	Markdown document manager, PDF converter & search engine	PySide6 GUI
doc-bricks	PDFtoPDFocr	Local OCR text layer injector for scanned PDF documents	PySide6 / CLI
open-bricks	open-bricks	Umbrella index for local-first, privacy-respecting software	Open Source

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Third-Party Licenses & Transparency

DevCenter maintains a full Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) and license transparency audit:

• Detailed breakdown of all 20 direct, transitive, build, and test packages: THIRD_PARTY_LICENSES.md.
• Machine-readable license mapping: THIRD_PARTY_LICENSES.txt.
• All packages are audited under permissive open-source licenses (MIT, Apache-2.0, BSD-3-Clause, BSD-2-Clause, HPND-sell-variant) or standard copyleft with linking/bootloader exceptions (LGPL-3.0, LGPL-2.1, GPL-2.0 with Bootloader exception).

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Marketing & Target Personas

For detailed personas, high-intent search queries, competitive analysis against VS Code and PyCharm, and ecosystem cross-promotion strategy, see MARKETING-LOG.txt.

Key Personas:

1. Windows Python Desktop App Developers & GUI Builders: Need seamless PyInstaller bundling, ICO generation, and encoding repairs.
2. Solo Maintainers & Local-First Engineers: Value lightweight startup, responsive PySide6 UI, and zero background telemetry.
3. Security-Conscious Enterprise & Air-Gapped Developers: Require strict zero-egress, unprivileged user-space execution, and audited CVE floors.
4. AI-Assisted Python Prompt Engineers: Benefit from sanitized workspace export snapshots and native keyring secret isolation.

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Installation & Testing

Requirements: Python 3.11+, Windows 10/11 (primary runtime; also runs on Linux and macOS).

# Clone & install dependencies
git clone https://github.com/dev-bricks/DevCenter.git
cd DevCenter
pip install -r requirements.txt

# Run automated test suite
python -m pytest

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Privacy & Security

DevCenter is a local-first desktop application. Projects, settings, file indexes and build artifacts stay on your machine by default. Network access occurs only when explicitly initiated by the user (such as the optional Claude API integration).

Anthropic API keys are stored exclusively in the system keyring (Windows Credential Manager) and are never written to disk in unencrypted files.

Read the complete SECURITY.md and PRIVACY_POLICY.md.

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Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please follow our guidelines:

• Read CONTRIBUTING.md for code style and commit standards.
• Adhere to the CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md.
• Run ruff check . and pytest before submitting pull requests.

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License & Liability

• License: GPL v3 — see LICENSE. PySide6 is LGPL v3.
• Liability: This project is an unpaid open-source donation. Liability is limited to intent and gross negligence (§ 521 German Civil Code / BGB). Use at your own risk.