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Vagrant Development Environment for MCP

packages/computeruse/vagrant/README-VAGRANT.md

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Vagrant Development Environment for MCP

This directory contains a complete Vagrant setup for local MCP development with hot reload capabilities.

Features

  • Hot Reload: MCP server automatically restarts when binary is rebuilt on host
  • Browser Extension Hot Reload: Chrome extensions auto-reload on file changes
  • Windows 10 VM: Full Windows environment for UI automation testing
  • Performance Optimized: 8GB RAM, 4 CPUs, VirtualBox optimizations
  • Port Forwarding: Access MCP and Chrome debugging from host
  • Development Tools: Pre-installed Rust, Node.js, Python, Chrome, Git

Quick Start

  1. Prerequisites

  2. Start the VM

    bash
    cd vagrant
vagrant up  # First time will take ~20 minutes

  3. Build MCP on Host

    bash
    cd /c/Users/louis/Documents/computeruse
cargo build --release

  4. Access Services

Hot Reload Setup

MCP Server Hot Reload

The scripts/mcp-watcher.ps1 script monitors the MCP binary and automatically restarts it when updated:

  • Watches: C:\Users\vagrant\computeruse\target\release\computeruse-mcp-agent.exe
  • Port: 8080
  • Auto-starts on VM login via scheduled task

Browser Extension Hot Reload

The scripts/extension-watcher.ps1 script monitors browser extension files:

  • Watches: C:\Users\vagrant\computeruse\browser-extension\*
  • Auto-reloads Chrome extensions when files change
  • Supports build step if package.json exists

Directory Structure

vagrant/
├── Vagrantfile           # Main VM configuration
├── Vagrantfile-enhanced  # Enhanced version with all features
├── scripts/
│   ├── mcp-watcher.ps1        # MCP hot reload watcher
│   ├── extension-watcher.ps1  # Browser extension hot reload
│   ├── install-openssh.ps1    # SSH setup script
│   └── gui-shell/              # GUI automation shell
└── README-VAGRANT.md     # This file

Development Workflow

  1. Edit code on host in your favorite IDE
  2. Build on host: cargo build --release
  3. MCP auto-restarts in VM (watch the console)
  4. Test via API: curl http://localhost:8080/health
  5. Run workflows: computeruse mcp run workflow.yml --url http://localhost:8080/mcp

VM Commands

bash
# SSH into VM
vagrant ssh

# Restart VM
vagrant reload

# Suspend VM (saves state)
vagrant suspend

# Resume suspended VM
vagrant resume

# Destroy VM (clean slate)
vagrant destroy

# Re-provision (run setup scripts again)
vagrant provision

Shared Folders

The computeruse repo is synced to the VM:

  • Host: ../ (parent of vagrant folder)
  • Guest: C:\Users\vagrant\computeruse
  • Type: VirtualBox shared folder

Installed Software

  • Development

    • Rust & Cargo
    • Node.js & npm
    • Python 3
    • Git

  • Browsers

    • Google Chrome (with remote debugging)

  • Utilities

    • Scoop package manager
    • PSTools (PSExec for session management)
    • OpenSSH server

Configuration

VM Resources (Vagrantfile)

ruby
vb.memory = 8192  # 8GB RAM
vb.cpus = 4       # 4 CPU cores

Port Forwarding

ruby
config.vm.network "forwarded_port", guest: 8080, host: 8080  # MCP
config.vm.network "forwarded_port", guest: 9222, host: 9222  # Chrome
config.vm.network "forwarded_port", guest: 22, host: 2222    # SSH

Troubleshooting

MCP not starting

powershell
# Check if MCP is running
Get-Process computeruse* -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

# Manually start MCP
C:\Users\vagrant\computeruse\target\release\computeruse-mcp-agent.exe -t http --host 0.0.0.0 -p 8080

# Check logs
Get-Content C:\MCP\logs\mcp-startup.log

Hot reload not working

powershell
# Check if watcher is running
Get-ScheduledTask MCPWatcher

# Manually run watcher
powershell C:\Users\vagrant\computeruse\vagrant\scripts\mcp-watcher.ps1

Port already in use

bash
# On host, check what's using port 8080
netstat -ano | findstr :8080

Performance Tips

  1. Build on host, run in VM - Much faster than building in VM
  2. Use suspend/resume instead of shutdown/up
  3. Allocate more resources if needed in Vagrantfile
  4. Disable Windows Defender in VM for better performance

Browser Extension Development

The extension watcher supports:

  • Auto-reload on file changes
  • npm build step if package.json exists
  • Chrome DevTools Protocol integration
  • Manual reload via Ctrl+R on chrome://extensions

Start Chrome with debugging:

powershell
chrome.exe --remote-debugging-port=9222 --load-extension="C:\Users\vagrant\computeruse\browser-extension"

Notes

  • VM uses Windows 10 for full UIAutomation API support
  • Auto-logon configured for unattended operation
  • Power settings prevent sleep/hibernate
  • Scheduled tasks run watchers on login