overmind-dev_skill

Overview

This skill sets up Overmind as an agent-friendly process manager for development environments so multiple services can be started, monitored, and controlled from a single command. It provides a simple Procfile.dev pattern, a bin/dev launcher that daemonizes Overmind, and guidance for non-interactive log access. The goal is to prevent dev servers from blocking automated agents while keeping per-process control and readable logs.

How this skill works

Create a root Procfile.dev listing each service as name: command, optionally using cd prefixes for subdirectories. A bin/dev wrapper runs overmind start -f Procfile.dev -D to daemonize the session and create a .overmind.sock tmux socket. Agents can restart individual processes, stop services, or capture tmux panes to read logs non-interactively without attaching a terminal.

When to use it

• Setting up a new project dev environment with multiple services (web, CSS watcher, docs, workers)
• Migrating an existing Procfile.dev located in a subdirectory to a root-level orchestration
• Adding or removing services from a Procfile so an agent can control them individually
• Automating test or CI tasks where daemons must run without blocking a shell
• When you need programmatic, non-interactive access to service logs for agents or scripts

Best practices

• Keep a single Procfile.dev at the project root; use cd prefixes for services in subfolders
• Make bin/dev executable and use overmind -D so the command returns immediately
• Add .overmind.sock to .gitignore to avoid committing local tmux sockets
• Use overmind restart <service> after making server-affecting changes instead of restarting everything
• Capture tmux panes via tmux -S <sock> capture-pane for non-interactive log reads

Example use cases

• Start frontend, backend, and worker processes with bin/dev so an agent can run tests while servers run in background
• Restart only the web process after a config change using overmind restart web to speed iteration
• Tail recent output of a failing service from an automated debugger by capturing the tmux pane
• Run a docs site, CSS watcher, and Rails test app together for engine development using cd-prefixed Procfile entries
• Migrate a team to a consistent local workflow so every machine uses the same bin/dev entrypoint