Development Setup

Run the backend and frontend locally for development.

Backend

From the nebula-commander repository root:

python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate   # or .venv\Scripts\activate on Windows
pip install -r backend/requirements.txt
export NEBULA_COMMANDER_DATABASE_URL="sqlite+aiosqlite:///./backend/db.sqlite"
export NEBULA_COMMANDER_CERT_STORE_PATH="./backend/certs"
# Required — the backend refuses to boot without it. Generate one:
# python -c "from cryptography.fernet import Fernet; print(Fernet.generate_key().decode())"
export NEBULA_COMMANDER_ENCRYPTION_KEY="your-fernet-key-here"
export NEBULA_COMMANDER_DEBUG=true
python -m uvicorn backend.main:app --reload --port 8081

Use a real JWT secret in production; for local dev, NEBULA_COMMANDER_DEBUG=true enables the dev-token endpoint. Every backend setting uses the NEBULA_COMMANDER_ prefix — a bare DEBUG=true without it is silently ignored.

Frontend

In another terminal:

cd frontend && npm install && npm run dev

Open http://localhost:5173. When the backend is in debug mode, you can log in via the dev token (no OIDC required).

Configuration

Set at least:

• NEBULA_COMMANDER_DATABASE_URL – SQLite path (e.g. sqlite+aiosqlite:///./backend/db.sqlite)
• NEBULA_COMMANDER_CERT_STORE_PATH – Directory for CA and host certs
• NEBULA_COMMANDER_ENCRYPTION_KEY – Required; the backend won’t start without it
• NEBULA_COMMANDER_DEBUG=true – Enables dev token and hot reload

See Configuration: Environment for all options.