Skip to main content

Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.niteshift.dev/llms.txt

Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

Niteshift environments are composed of three primary components:
  • Niteshift setup script (niteshift-setup.sh): bash script that bootstraps your dev environment. Installs dependencies, runs migrations, and starts any services your dev environment needs.
  • Environment variables: secrets and configuration injected into the environment, scoped to either the Niteshift setup script or the agent.
  • Preview ports & tunnels: HTTP services exposed to a browser (preview ports) and non-HTTP services like databases (tunnels).

​
Niteshift setup script

niteshift-setup.sh runs at the start of every task, before the agent gets control. It’s the cloud equivalent of a fresh-clone bootstrap script your developers run locally: pnpm install && pnpm db:migrate && pnpm dev. The setup agent drafts and iterates on it for you, and you can edit it inline from settings.

​
Where it’s stored

By default, your setup configuration is stored in Niteshift. We generally recommend this so the setup agent can iterate on your configuration. However, if your repo has a niteshift-setup.sh stored at its root, Niteshift uses that instead. Once a niteshift-setup.sh is detected in your repo, the settings page exposes a toggle allowing you to swap between the version stored in Niteshift and your git-versioned niteshift-setup.sh.

​
Environment variables

Environment variables have two scopes:
  • Setup script scope: available while niteshift-setup.sh runs (database URLs, build credentials, anything install steps need)
  • Agent scope: available to the agent process and the dev server it spawns (API keys for runtime services, feature flags)
Values are encrypted at rest and never shown back in plaintext after save.

​
Preview ports & tunnels

​
Preview ports

You can open up to 5 HTTP ports. This commonly includes port 3000 (for web apps) along with any ports for services that need to be accessible by your web app (e.g. your API). Each port your Niteshift setup script binds gets a secure URL: 
https://ns-{port}-{previewId}.preview.niteshift.dev
These URLs are scoped to your organization and require an authenticated Niteshift session to view.

​
Tunnels

For non-HTTP services (Postgres, Redis, custom TCP protocols), configure a tunnel. Tunnels expose a port from the environment to a stable external address you can connect to from outside.

​
Going deeper

  • Niteshift setup script: what the script can do, the environment it runs in, image caching, lifecycle env vars.
  • Setup agent: how the agent writes and iterates on niteshift-setup.sh.
  • Docker support: Docker-in-Docker, Docker image caching, persistent storage options.
  • Database branches: per-task isolated Postgres branches via Neon.