Skip to main content
Version: Next

Introduction to thresh

AI-powered container environment manager for Windows, Linux, and macOS

What's New in v1.6.0 — Agent Mode & Hub Connectivity

🖧 Agent Mode is here! Connect any thresh node to a centralized Thresh Hub for real-time fleet visibility, live metrics, and centralized management — all over SignalR WebSocket.

# Register and connect to your Thresh Hub in one command
thresh agent start --hub https://hub.example.com --node my-workstation

➡️ Read the full v1.6.0 blog post →  |  Agent CLI reference →

thresh is a .NET 10 Native AOT command-line tool that provisions container-based development environments using AI-generated blueprints. Create development environments in seconds with natural language prompts, and optionally connect nodes to a centralized Thresh Hub for fleet-wide visibility and management.

Architecture Overview​

thresh provides isolated development environments using lightweight containers across multiple platforms:

Key Features​

  • 🌍 Multi-Platform - Windows/WSL2, Linux/Docker/nerdctl, macOS/containerd
  • 🤖 AI-Powered - GitHub Copilot CLI integration for intelligent blueprint generation
  • 🌐 Port Mapping - Automatic port forwarding for network services (v1.5.0)
  • 📦 Persistent Volumes - Data persistence across environment lifecycle (v1.5.0)
  • 🗄️ Database Optimization - WSL configuration profiles fix Plan9 filesystem issues (v1.5.0)
  • 🖧 Agent Mode - Connect nodes to Thresh Hub for fleet management (v1.6.0)
  • ⚡ Parallel Creation - Create multiple environments simultaneously (10x faster)
  • 📦 Built-in Blueprints - Alpine, Ubuntu, Debian, Python, Node.js, and more
  • 🗑️ Blueprint Management - List, generate, and delete blueprints
  • 💬 Interactive AI Chat - Streaming responses for blueprint assistance
  • 🚀 Native Binary - No .NET runtime required (5-13 MB)
  • 📊 System Metrics - Monitor CPU, memory, storage, and container usage
  • 🔧 MCP Server - Model Context Protocol for VS Code, Cursor, Windsurf

Getting Started by Platform​

Choose your platform to get started:

🪟 Windows​

Get started with thresh on Windows 11 using WSL 2

Requirements:

  • Windows 11
  • WSL 2 enabled

Start on Windows →

🐧 Linux​

Get started with thresh on Linux using Docker or nerdctl

Requirements:

  • Docker or nerdctl/containerd

Start on Linux →

🍎 macOS​

Get started with thresh on macOS (Apple Silicon) using containerd

Requirements:

  • macOS (Apple Silicon M1/M2/M3)
  • containerd or Docker Desktop

Beta Support

Start on macOS →

Quick Example​

# Install thresh (platform-specific, see guides above)

# Authenticate with GitHub Copilot CLI
copilot
# Then: /login

# List available blueprints
thresh blueprint list

# Create environment with networking and storage (v1.5.0)
thresh blueprint generate "PostgreSQL with persistent volumes and port mapping"

# Provision with automatic configuration
thresh up postgres-dev

# Access from host
psql -h localhost -p 5432 -U postgres

# Generate custom blueprint with AI
thresh blueprint generate "Python ML environment with Jupyter" --output python-ml

# Start interactive chat
thresh chat

What's New in v1.6.0​

🖧 Agent Mode & Hub Connectivity​

Connect any thresh node to a centralized Thresh Hub instance for real-time fleet-wide visibility and management. Agent Mode is the foundational feature for multi-node workflows.

# Start the agent and connect to your hub
thresh agent start --hub https://hub.example.com --node-name my-workstation

# Check connection health
thresh agent status

# Update hub URL without restarting
thresh agent config set hub-url https://new-hub.example.com

Transport options:

TransportProtocolUse Case
signalrWebSocket (WS/WSS)Default — low-latency bidirectional
httpHTTP Long PollingFallback for restricted networks

What the Hub sees per node:

  • ✅ Live online / offline status
  • 📊 Real-time CPU, memory, storage metrics
  • 🧱 Running environments list
  • 🏷️ Custom node name and region tags
  • 🔗 Agent version and platform info

Coming soon in v1.6.x: remote command dispatch, fleet blueprints, RBAC access control, and node group policies.

Agent CLI reference →  |  Blog post →

What's New in v1.5.0​

🌐 Port Mapping & Networking​

Map host ports to container services with automatic forwarding:

{
  "ports": ["8080:80", "5432:5432"],
  "network": "bridge",
  "hostname": "webapp.local"
}

Features:

  • Automatic port forwarding on Windows (netsh)
  • Multiple port mappings
  • IP binding and protocol selection
  • Exposed ports for inter-container communication

Learn more →

📦 Persistent Volumes​

Never lose data with three types of storage:

{
  "volumes": [
    {"name": "pgdata", "mountPath": "/var/lib/postgresql/data"}
  ],
  "bindMounts": [
    {"source": "C:\\projects", "target": "/app"}
  ],
  "tmpfs": [
    {"mountPath": "/tmp", "size": "512m"}
  ]
}

Features:

  • Named volumes persist across recreation
  • Bind mounts for live code editing
  • Tmpfs for fast temporary storage

Learn more →

🗄️ WSL Configuration Profiles​

Fix database permission errors with built-in profiles:

{
  "wslConfig": "database"  // Fixes Plan9 filesystem issues
}

Built-in profiles:

  • database - PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, Redis
  • docker - Docker daemon auto-start
  • web-server - Nginx/Apache auto-start
  • systemd - Basic systemd enablement
  • minimal - Maximum isolation
  • development - Full development features

Learn more →

🔄 Lifecycle Management​

Start and stop environments with networking:

# Start with automatic port forwarding
thresh start webserver

# Stop and cleanup
thresh stop webserver

Platform Support​

PlatformRuntimeBinary SizeCompressionStatus
Windows 11WSL2~5 MBUPX✅ Supported
LinuxDocker, nerdctl, containerd~5 MBUPX✅ Supported
macOS (M1/M2/M3)containerd, Docker~13 MBNone*✅ Beta

*macOS binaries are uncompressed to preserve Apple code signing and notarization.

Documentation​

Support​

Next Steps​

Choose your platform to get started:

Happy provisioning! 🚀