Every config your stack needs. Already written.
35+ product capabilities, all driven by one service.json — which also generates 12-17 files per service and 40+ stack-wide artifacts. Powered by Tilt and Starlark, running on plain Docker. Zero Kubernetes knowledge required.
The two weeks nobody budgets for
Setup friction is a workflow problem. This illustrative scenario shows how a local service contract could help; onboarding time has not been measured on a hiring cohort.
Illustrative setup scenario — 5 developers start together
Example scenario: 5 developers start together. Adjust the assumptions to match your team; this is not a measured hiring cohort.
5 salaries · day 1Day two — "how do I run this?"
Nobody can start. The business analyst hasn't finished the specs. The .env files live in someone's inbox. The setup wiki was last edited eight months ago and describes a stack that no longer exists.
5 salaries · waitingWeek one — the environment lottery
One developer gets the backend running but not the database. Another has the database but not the events queue. Two are still installing tooling. None of them can see the whole system.
5 salaries · still waitingExample delay before the first commit
By the time everyone can run the project, two weeks of 5 salaries are gone — burned on waiting, not on building. This is the most expensive line item nobody put in the budget.
Example scenario · assumptions are user-setWith TDK — an illustrative setup flow
TDK is designed so tdk doctor and tdk up replace a setup wiki. Onboarding time has not been measured on a hiring cohort.
Designed workflow · not a cohort measurementConfiguration generation
One service.json becomes 12-17 production-grade files per service - written correctly and kept in sync.
TypeScript config
tsconfig.json with proper paths, includes and compiler options for backend, frontend and libraries.
Vite configuration
vite.config.ts for local, Docker and production builds. React by default, or Vue 3 with "framework": "vue".
Docker and Compose
Multi-stage Dockerfile with golden image layering. Compose orchestration per service.
nginx proxy
Reverse proxy rules with Traefik integration for pretty local URLs.
Environment files
.env files with service-specific variables, database URLs and internal dependencies.
Package manager
.npmrc and bunfig.toml wired to the local Verdaccio registry and npm.
AGENTS.md guard (Premium)
Generated AGENTS.md keeps AI coding assistants from editing autogenerated files.
Development experience
Built on Tilt — 9.4k GitHub stars — for a feedback loop measured in seconds.
Hot reload
Instant code sync with Tilt live_update. No container rebuilds while you type.
Selective startup
Run 5 services instead of 100. Start only what your task touches.
Auto-discovery
Finds every service.json in your directory tree. Zero manual registration.
Manifest synthesis
Services without manifests auto-configure from directory structure.
Config-gen resources
Every manifest gets a visible Tilt resource with its own status, logs and errors.
Dependency graph
dependsOn resolved automatically. Services start in the correct order.
Stack grouping
Boot entire feature sets with one command: tdk up api.
Infrastructure
Production-grade Docker architecture without a production-grade ops team.
Golden images
Four cached layers — L1 OS, L2 runtime, L3 builder, L4 app — shared across all services.
Docker only
Pure Docker + Tilt. No cluster, no control plane, no YAML maze.
Traefik integration
Pretty URLs like user.backend.localhost, configured automatically.
API gateway
Routing between services with path-based rules, generated from manifests.
Local registry (Premium)
Verdaccio npm registry for sharing libraries between services.
Playwright testing (Premium)
E2E configuration per service, ready to run against the live stack.
C4 diagrams (Premium)
Architecture diagrams generated from your actual service topology.
Database and state
Per-service PostgreSQL, migrations, cache and events — provisioned, not documented.
Database provisioning
Isolated PostgreSQL database per service with proper naming.
Prisma integration
Prisma config with DATABASE_URL generated. Migrations built in.
Readiness checks
Services wait for the database. No connection errors on boot.
Migration scripts
prisma migrate runs on service startup, automatically.
Persistent volumes
Data survives container restarts during development.
NATS JetStream
Event-driven pub/sub wired between services out of the box.
Redis support
Shared Redis for caching and sessions, auto-configured.
Security and operations
The boring, expensive parts — validated before they can break your morning.
Infisical secrets
Machine identities, paths and dynamic secrets per service.
Pre-flight validators
Manifests validated before build. Misconfigurations caught early, in plain language.
Dependency manifest
A full service graph for complex trees, resolved automatically.
Path safety
Docker-safe path handling. No more works-on-my-machine builds.
Health checks
Tilt monitors every service and restarts on failure.
Library autodiscovery
Local @tdk/* packages auto-linked from package.json.
Resource aliases
Reference services by name in dependencies and commands.
A setup wiki should lead to a running local stack
TDK is designed so tdk doctor and tdk up replace a setup wiki. The onboarding time has not been measured on a hiring cohort.