Show HN: Boxes.dev: ditch localhost; run Claude Code and Codex in the cloud

Source: Hacker News

Overview

Hi HN, we’re Nick and Drew, and we’re building boxes.dev – the first cloud‑only agentic dev environment (ADE) that gives every Codex and Claude Code agent its own cloud computer.

We’re two engineers who previously built Gem (co‑founder/CTO and first hire). Over the past year we coded almost exclusively using Codex and Claude Code. The experience has been exhilarating as the models improve, but we eventually realized that developing on localhost was holding us back.

Pain Points with Local Development

• Git worktrees are clunky to set up and use for parallelizing work.
• It’s 2026, yet many developers still rely on laptops cracked open or SSH‑ing into mac minis in their garage so their agents don’t stop working.
• Mobile is treated like an afterthought even though coding is increasingly “just texting.”
• Resource constraints appear when multiple parallel agents test their own work by running the full app locally.

We tried various products but couldn’t find one that solved all of these issues, so we decided to build the ADE we wanted for ourselves.

Solution: boxes.dev

boxes.dev is a desktop and mobile app that lets you run Claude Code, Codex (using your subscription), and the full dev environment for any project, all on remote compute. It’s similar to Conductor or the Codex desktop app, except everything runs in the cloud.

How It Works

1. Coding agents scan your local dev setup and port it to the cloud.
2. Each Claude Code/Codex thread starts from a snapshot of the full setup, with its own filesystem and compute resources.

This eliminates the need for git worktrees, cracked‑open laptops, and allows agents to test their work end‑to‑end in isolation.

Features

• Mirrored UX: Claude Code and Codex interfaces feel natural to power users.
• Fully‑featured mobile app: No handoffs or remote control required.
• Scheduled automations: Run tasks on a defined schedule.
• Slack integration: Receive updates and interact directly from Slack.

Call to Action

We’ve been building boxes.dev with boxes.dev for months, and it’s honestly been a game‑changer. Early beta feedback suggests that cloud is the future of agentic coding.

We’d love for you to experience it yourself! Please share any feedback, and feel free to ask questions on this thread.

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48399358 (47 points, 20 comments)