What is Codify?

Codify is a configuration-as-code tool for managing developer environments. You define your setup in a simple config file — which tools to install, which versions to use, how they should be configured — and Codify handles the rest. It compares the config to what's already installed on your machine, shows you what needs to change, and applies it.

Codify is also AI-powered: the built-in Codify Agent can generate that config file for you from a plain English description, so you don't have to write JSON if you don't want to.

How does it work

Codify has a few main parts that work together:

1. CLI: Reads codify.jsonc configuration files, generates a plan of what needs to change, and applies those changes to your system. This is the core of Codify — everything else builds on it.

2. Desktop App: The recommended way to use Codify. It includes a visual config editor with auto-complete, the Codify Agent for AI-assisted config generation, and one-click apply. Available for macOS, Linux, and Windows.

3. codify.jsonc: The configuration file that describes your desired environment — a list of resources (tools, apps, settings) and how they should be configured.

4. Codify Agent: An AI assistant built into the Desktop App. Describe what you need in plain English, and the agent generates a valid codify.jsonc for you. Learn more →

Workflow

The typical Codify workflow:

• Write or generate a config: Create a codify.jsonc file listing the tools you want. You can write it by hand, start from a template, generate it with codify init, or use the Codify Agent to describe what you need in plain English.
• Plan: Run codify plan (or codify apply) to see what Codify will do. This compares your config against what's currently installed and generates a list of changes.
• Apply: Run codify apply, review the plan, and confirm. Codify installs, updates, or configures each resource as needed.

You always see a plan before anything changes. Codify never makes changes without your approval.

Usage Scenarios

Setting up a new computer

Codify is great for setting up a new machine from scratch. Instead of spending hours reading wikis, installing tools one by one, and debugging strange errors — apply a codify.jsonc file and you're done. Teams can maintain a shared config file, or generate a new one from scratch with codify init or the Codify Agent.

Project Integration

You can commit a codify.jsonc file directly into a project repository. Anyone who clones the project can run codify apply to get all the required tools installed automatically — no setup docs needed.