Dev Browser

Create custom browser shortcuts with DNS override rules for seamless local development

MIT License macOS Platform Version 2.2.0
Get Started View on GitHub

🚨 The Problem

When developing web applications, you often need to test against local development environments while maintaining the same hostname as production (e.g., example.com).

Traditional solutions like editing the hosts file affect the entire system and require admin privileges.

✨ The Solution

Dev Browser creates custom browser app bundles with DNS override rules using Chromium's --host-resolver-rules flag.

  • Uses separate browser profiles
  • Applies DNS rules only to specific browser instances
  • Runs alongside regular browsers
  • Appears as native Mac apps

🚀 Quick Install

One-Command Install (Recommended)

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cjflory/dev-browser/main/dev-browser | bash -s install

Downloads the script and icons to ~/.local/share/dev-browser/ and creates a dev-browser command.

Manual Install

git clone https://github.com/cjflory/dev-browser.git
cd dev-browser
chmod +x dev-browser
./dev-browser install

🌟 Key Features

🌐 Multi-Browser Support

Auto-detects Chrome, Brave, Edge, Vivaldi, Opera, Arc

🎯 Smart Defaults

Auto-suggests profile names from app names

📁 Organized Storage

Defaults to ~/dev-browsers directory for easy management

📱 Native Mac Apps

Proper .app bundles with distinctive icons

🔒 Isolated Profiles

Separate from your main browser data

⚡ No Admin Required

No system-wide changes or privileges needed

💻 How to Use

1

Run the Command

dev-browser create
2

Follow Interactive Prompts

  • Browser selection (auto-detected)
  • App name (e.g., "Dev Environment")
  • DNS rules (hostname → IP mappings)
  • Optional custom icon
3

Launch Your Dev Browser

Double-click the created .app bundle or drag it to your Dock

🎯 Use Cases

Frontend Development

  • Test React/Vue/Angular apps against different API environments
  • Switch between local, staging, and production backends
  • Debug cross-origin issues with proper domain names

Full-Stack Development

  • Run multiple microservices locally with production-like URLs
  • Test authentication flows with real domain names
  • Validate SSL certificate handling in development

QA Testing

  • Create dedicated browser profiles for each test environment
  • Isolate test data and browser state
  • Quick switching between different API versions

DevOps/Infrastructure

  • Test load balancer configurations locally
  • Validate DNS changes before going live
  • Debug service discovery issues

📝 Example Commands

Common Commands
# Create a custom browser app with DNS rules
dev-browser create
 
# List all your created browser apps
dev-browser list
 
# Remove a specific app by ID
dev-browser remove <app-id>
 
# Show help and all available commands
dev-browser help

These are the main commands you'll use to create, manage, and remove your custom browser apps.

📋 Requirements

macOS (tested on macOS 10.14+)
Bash 4.0+ (pre-installed on macOS)
At least one Chromium-based browser:
  • Google Chrome
  • Brave Browser
  • Microsoft Edge
  • Chromium
  • Opera
  • Arc Browser