Isolaite v2 - CLI Tool

AI-Powered Codebase Isolation Tool - Create isolated environments for safe testing and experimentation with Claude Code-like UX.

🚀 Quick Start

# Install globally
npm install -g @isolaitev2/cli

# Or install using the shorter alias (when available)
npm install -g isolaite

# Verify installation
isolaite --help

✨ Features

• 🔒 Safe Isolation: Create isolated copies of your codebase for experimentation
• 🤖 AI Chat: Interactive chat with workspace context and easy switching
• ⚡ Smart Transformations: Automatically handles ports, environment variables, and database configs
• 📋 Claude Code UX: Plan-then-execute workflow with todo tracking and rich output
• 🎯 Easy Switching: Seamlessly switch between original and isolated versions
• 💾 Auto-Backup: Automatic backups when merging changes back

📖 Usage

Isolate Your Project

# Basic isolation (smart mode)
isolaite isolate ./my-app

# Full isolation with all files
isolaite isolate ./my-app -d ./my-app-isolated -m full

# Minimal isolation (config files only)
isolaite isolate ./my-app -m minimal --db isolate

Isolation Modes:

• full - Copy all files (excluding node_modules, .git)
• smart - Copy project files + config files (default)
• minimal - Config files only

Database Strategies:

• isolate - Transform database names for isolation (default)
• share - Use same database (careful!)
• remove - Remove database references

Interactive Chat

# Start AI chat with workspace context
isolaite chat

# Switch between original/isolated before starting
isolaite chat --switch

Chat Commands:

• /switch or /sw - Toggle between original/isolated
• /workspace or /ws - Show workspace info
• /open - Get IDE open command
• exit or quit - Exit chat

Merge Changes Back

# Merge isolated version back to original
isolaite merge ./my-app-isolated

# Skip backup creation (not recommended)
isolaite merge ./my-app-isolated --no-backup

# Skip verification
isolaite merge ./my-app-isolated --no-verify

Workspace Management

# Show current mode
isolaite mode --status

# Toggle Isolaite mode (auto-isolation)
isolaite mode --isolaite

# Switch interaction mode
isolaite mode --plan          # Plan mode (read-only)
isolaite mode --accept-edits  # Accept edits mode
isolaite mode --accept-all    # Accept all mode

🎨 Workflow Example

# 1. Isolate your project
isolaite isolate ./my-api
# → Creates ./my-api-isolated with transformed configs

# 2. Start interactive chat
isolaite chat
# → Shows workspace context
# → Suggests switching to isolated directory

# 3. Switch to isolated version (in chat)
You> /switch
# → Switched to ISOLATED
# → Path: ./my-api-isolated

# 4. Make changes in isolated version
# → Edit files, test safely
# → No risk to original codebase

# 5. Merge back when satisfied
isolaite merge ./my-api-isolated
# → Creates backup of original
# → Reverts transformations
# → Merges all changes
# → Original updated safely

🔧 What Gets Transformed?

When you isolate a project, Isolaite automatically transforms:

• Ports: 3000 → 4000 (configurable offset)
• Environment Variables: DB_NAME → DB_NAME_ISOLATED
• Database Names: myapp_db → myapp_db_isolated
• File Paths: Updates references in config files

Example .env transformation:

Before:

PORT=3000
DB_NAME=myapp_db
DB_HOST=localhost

After (in isolated version):

PORT_ISOLATED=4000
DB_NAME_ISOLATED=myapp_db_isolated
DB_HOST_ISOLATED=localhost

📂 Workspace Context

Isolaite tracks your workspace state in ~/.isolaite/workspace-context.json:

{
  "currentPath": "/path/to/isolated",
  "originalPath": "/path/to/original",
  "isolatedPath": "/path/to/isolated",
  "isolationActive": true,
  "lastSwitchedAt": "2026-01-04T21:24:17.159Z"
}

This enables:

• Easy switching between original/isolated
• Persistent workspace state across CLI invocations
• Smart suggestions in chat mode

⌨️ Keyboard Shortcuts

• alt+i - Toggle Isolaite mode (global auto-isolation)
• alt+shift+p - Plan mode (read-only exploration)
• alt+shift+e - Accept edits mode (approve each change)
• alt+shift+a - Accept all mode (full autonomy)

🌐 Cloud Integration (Coming Soon)

The CLI will integrate with Isolaite Cloud (isolaite.com) for:

• Cloud backups of isolated versions
• Sync across devices
• Team collaboration
• AI conversation memory persistence

📦 Installation

Prerequisites

• Node.js >= 18.0.0
• npm or pnpm

Install

# Using npm
npm install -g @isolaitev2/cli

# Using pnpm
pnpm add -g @isolaitev2/cli

# Using yarn
yarn global add @isolaitev2/cli

Verify Installation

isolaite --version
isolaite --help

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please see our Contributing Guide.

📝 License

MIT © Isolaite Team

🔗 Links

• GitHub
• Documentation
• Website (coming soon)

🐛 Troubleshooting

Issue: isolaite: command not found

Solution:

• Make sure you installed globally: npm install -g @isolaitev2/cli
• Check npm global bin path: npm config get prefix
• Add npm bin to your PATH:

# macOS/Linux
export PATH=$(npm config get prefix)/bin:$PATH

# Windows (PowerShell)
$env:Path = (npm config get prefix) + "\bin;" + $env:Path

Issue: Permission errors

Solution:

• macOS/Linux: Use sudo npm install -g @isolaitev2/cli
• Or fix npm permissions: npm docs

💡 Tips

1. Start with smart mode: It copies project files + configs, excluding build artifacts
2. Always test in isolated first: Never modify original directly
3. Use chat for complex workflows: Interactive mode is powerful
4. Check workspace status: Use isolaite mode --status to see current mode
5. Keyboard shortcuts are faster: Use alt+i to toggle Isolaite mode

🎯 Use Cases

• Feature Development: Isolate, develop new features, test, merge
• Bug Fixing: Create isolated environment to safely fix bugs
• Experimentation: Try new libraries or patterns without risk
• Code Reviews: Isolate and review changes safely
• Testing: Run tests in isolated environment with different configs
• Learning: Experiment with codebases without breaking anything

Made with ❤️ by the Isolaite Team