Developer tools are often judged by the number of commands they support. I think a better measure is how much uncertainty they remove. A good tool answers: what is running, what changed, what failed, and what should I do next?
Locality is an experiment in making local workflows easier to operate. The goal is not to replace the terminal. It is to reduce the repeated setup and context switching around the terminal.
State should be visible
Local development involves hidden state everywhere: environment variables, ports, background processes, database versions, generated files, and cached credentials. When that state is invisible, debugging begins with guessing.
A useful workflow surfaces the active project, services, ports, and health in one place. It should make destructive actions explicit and distinguish between a service that stopped, a service that never started, and a service that is running but unhealthy.
Defaults matter
The fastest command is one you do not need to configure. Good defaults should cover the common path while preserving an escape hatch for unusual projects. Configuration should be readable, local to the project, and safe to commit when it contains no secrets.
I also prefer tools that show the underlying command. Abstraction is helpful, but developers should be able to understand what the tool will execute and reproduce it manually when necessary.
Calm software
Developer experience is not decoration. Every unclear error, forgotten process, or inconsistent command consumes attention that should be spent on the product.
The direction for Locality is intentionally focused: make common local operations visible and repeatable, keep the interface fast, and avoid turning a small convenience tool into another platform that needs constant management. The best developer tool often feels quiet because it removes friction without demanding a new mental model.