Manage CDE

Configure on-demand Cloud Development Environments with workspace templates, auto-hibernation, and cost controls in Harness.

Instructions

Step 1: Establish Scope

Confirm the user's org, project, team, and technology stack.

Call MCP tool: harness_list
Parameters:
  resource_type: "project"
  org_id: "<organization>"

Step 2: Identify the CDE Task

Determine which workflow the user needs:

1. On-Demand Environment Setup -- Environment templates with resource allocation and lifecycle
2. Workspace Standardization -- Pre-configured templates per team/stack with consistent tooling

Step 3: Configure On-Demand Environments

Gather from the user:

• Technology stack and runtime version
• Cloud provider (AWS, GCP, Azure)
• IDE preference (VS Code browser, VS Code SSH, JetBrains Gateway)
• Git provider for auto-clone on start

Design the environment template:

Resource allocation:

• Default size (e.g., 4 vCPU, 8GB RAM) with upgrade options
• Persistent storage for workspace files
• Ephemeral storage that clears on stop

Lifecycle configuration:

• Provisioning trigger: developer request, PR creation, or branch push
• Start time target (under 30 seconds recommended)
• Auto-stop after idle timeout (default 30 minutes)
• Persistent mode option for long-running work

Integrations:

• Secret injection from Harness Secrets, Vault, or cloud secret managers
• Supporting services (databases, caches, message queues) via Docker Compose or Kubernetes
• Custom access URL pattern (e.g., {user}-{env}.dev.company.com)

Cost controls:

• Daily cost cap per environment
• Team-level monthly budget
• Auto-hibernation for idle environments

Step 4: Create Workspace Templates

When standardizing across teams, create templates per role/stack:

Backend Service Developer:

• Runtime, build tools, testing frameworks
• Database clients, API testing tools
• Pre-configured debugger and linter

Frontend Developer:

• Node.js runtime, package manager
• Browser dev tools, component library
• Hot-reload and preview server

Full-Stack Developer:

• Combined backend + frontend tooling
• Docker Compose for local service mesh
• API mocking tools

Platform / DevOps Engineer:

• kubectl, Helm, Terraform, cloud CLIs
• Monitoring and observability tools
• Infrastructure testing frameworks

Each template should include:

• Base image and pre-installed tools
• IDE extensions/plugins list
• Git hooks and code formatting config
• Environment variables and secrets

Examples

• "Set up cloud dev environments for our backend team" -- Configure on-demand CDEs with Java/Go tooling and auto-hibernation
• "Create workspace templates for frontend and backend developers" -- Standardized templates with stack-specific tooling
• "Configure auto-hibernation to reduce CDE costs" -- Set idle timeout and daily cost caps
• "Provision a dev environment when a PR is created" -- Configure PR-triggered ephemeral environments

Performance Notes

• Start time under 30 seconds requires pre-built images -- avoid installing tools at startup.
• Auto-hibernation timeout should balance developer productivity (too short = friction) with cost (too long = waste).
• Persistent storage should be sized for the repo plus build artifacts -- undersizing causes build failures.
• Pre-pull common base images to reduce cold start times.

Troubleshooting

Environment Slow to Start

• Check if the base image is being pulled from a remote registry -- use a local cache or pre-pull
• Reduce the number of tools installed at startup -- bake them into the base image
• Verify network connectivity to the Git provider for auto-clone

Environment Auto-Stopping Too Aggressively

• Increase the idle timeout for developers doing research or design work
• Enable persistent mode for long-running tasks
• Check that IDE keepalive signals are reaching the CDE controller

Cost Overruns

• Review environments that have been running for more than 24 hours
• Check for orphaned environments from deleted branches
• Verify auto-hibernation is enabled for all non-production environments