This privacy policy describes how Capsule (“the Software”, “the wizard”) handles information when you run it. Capsule is free software developed by Oisin McGrath (“I”, “me”, “the developer”) under the MIT License.
Plain summary: Capsule collects nothing. It is a shell script you run on your own machine. There is no Capsule account, no Capsule server, no telemetry, and no analytics. I never receive any information about your computer, your repos, or how you use the Software.
This document is not legal advice. For the “use at your own risk” rules, see
the Terms of use and the LICENSE file
shipped with the Software.
1. What Capsule is
Capsule is a host-side shell script (wizard.sh)
that scaffolds a sandboxed DevPod + Podman + VSCodium development container in
a folder you choose. It runs interactively in your terminal, asks you
configuration questions, and writes files to your own disk. It is not a hosted
service, not a SaaS product, and has no login of any kind.
I operate no Capsule backend server. There is nowhere for data to go, because the Software never sends anything anywhere on its own initiative.
2. What the Software processes, and where it stays
Everything Capsule reads or writes stays on your machine (and inside the containers it builds for you):
- answers you give the wizard's interactive prompts (paths, ports, names, timezone, git author identity);
- a one-time machine profile at
~/.config/capsule/machine.confso you are not asked twice; - the generated
.devcontainer/config, decision log, and task board files written into the target repo; - local GPU/NPU/iGPU device detection used only to decide what to pass through to the container.
None of this is transmitted to me. I have no visibility into which machines run Capsule, what repos it scaffolds, or what those repos contain.
3. Network activity
Capsule itself makes no calls to any server I control. The Software does invoke, or help you invoke, third-party tools that talk to their own infrastructure at your direction — for example:
devpod, which the wizard can download from its official GitHub release if not already installed;podman,git,ssh, and package managers you already have configured.
Those tools are not mine, are not modified by me to add tracking, and are governed by their own respective privacy practices. Any network request they make (for example, cloning a git remote you specify, or fetching a released binary) is a request you configured, from your machine.
4. No accounts, no cloud storage
There is no Capsule account to create, no cloud database, and no cloud backup. Nothing about your identity is collected, because nothing is collected.
5. Security
Capsule builds rootless containers and, where relevant, wires up SSH/GPU device access as you request. You remain responsible for your host's security (OS updates, SSH keys, who has local access, and the containers you choose to run inside). I cannot secure a machine I do not control.
6. Retention and deletion
Because nothing leaves your machine, there is nothing for me to retain or delete on your behalf. Deleting the machine profile file, the scaffolded repo, or the containers Capsule built removes that data completely — that is entirely under your control.
7. Children
Capsule is a developer tool intended for adults aged 18 and over. It is not directed at children.
8. Free software and honesty about risk
Capsule is free software, provided in the hope that it is useful. I do not sell a paid privacy “service” and do not promise perfection. This page describes how the Software is designed to behave. Bugs, misuse, or issues with third-party tools it invokes can still cause problems — that risk sits with you under the MIT License and the Terms of use.
9. This website
Public pages on this site are static. They use no tracking, no analytics, and no advertising cookies that I configure. Your browser and host may still produce ordinary server or TLS logs outside my product design; I do not run ad trackers on these pages.
10. Changes
If Capsule's behaviour changes in a way that affects this policy, I will update this page and the “Last updated” date.
11. Contact
Privacy questions about Capsule: [email protected]
Developer: Oisin McGrath · github.com/oisinmcgrath