In addition to running Open edX in production, you can use the docker containers for local development. This means you can hack on Open edX without setting up a Virtual Machine. Essentially, this replaces the devstack provided by edX.
If you have one, you can point to a local version of `edx-platform <https://github.com/edx/edx-platform/>`_ on your host machine. To do so, pass a ``-P/--edx-platform-path`` option to the commands. For instance::
tutor dev shell lms --edx-platform-path=/path/to/edx-platform
All development commands will then automatically mount your local repo. For instance, you can add a ``import pdb; pdb.set_trace()`` breakpoint anywhere in your code and run::
With a customised edx-platform repo, you must be careful to have settings that are compatible with the docker environment. You are encouraged to copy the ``tutor.development`` settings files to our own repo::
You can then run your platform with the ``tutor.development`` settings. See :ref:`the custom settings section <custom_edx_platform_settings>` for settings that are named differently.
**Note:** containers are built on the Hawthorn release. If you are working on a different version of Open edX, you will have to rebuild the ``openedx`` docker images with the version. See the ":ref:`fork edx-platform <edx_platform_fork>`.
With Tutor, it's pretty easy to develop your own themes. Start by placing your files inside the ``env/build/openedx/themes`` directory. For instance, you could start from the ``edx.org`` theme present inside the ``edx-platform`` repository::
Then, follow the `Open edX documentation to apply your themes <https://edx.readthedocs.io/projects/edx-installing-configuring-and-running/en/latest/configuration/changing_appearance/theming/enable_themes.html#apply-a-theme-to-a-site>`_. You will not have to modify the ``lms.env.json``/``cms.env.json`` files; just follow the instructions to add a site theme in http://localhost:8000/admin (starting from step 3).
Make changes to some of the files inside your theme directory: the theme assets should be automatically recompiled and visible at http://localhost:8000.
Assets building and collecting is made more difficult by the fact that development settings are `incorrectly loaded in Hawthorn <https://github.com/edx/edx-platform/pull/18430/files>`_. This should be fixed in the next Open edX release. Meanwhile, do not run ``paver update_assets`` while in development mode. When working locally on a theme, build assets by running in the container::
openedx-assets build
This command will take quite some time to run. You can speed up this process by running only part of the full build. Run ``openedx-assets -h`` for more information.
In the various ``dev`` commands, the default ``edx-platform`` settings module is ``tutor.development``. If, for some reason, you want to use different settings, you will need to pass the ``-S/--edx-platform-settings`` option to each command. Alternatively, you can define the ``TUTOR_EDX_PLATFORM_SETTINGS`` environment variable.
