ansible/roles/development

Role: development

Description

Installs core development tools and utilities for software development. This role provides a lightweight foundation for coding without heavy data science dependencies.

For data science tools (Anaconda, Jupyter, R), see the datascience role.

Requirements

• Ansible 2.9+
• Debian/Ubuntu systems
• Root or sudo access

Installed Components

Development Tools

• git: Version control system
• build-essential: C/C++ compilation tools (gcc, g++, make)
• python3: Python 3 interpreter
• python3-pip: Python package manager

Node.js

• Node.js 22.x: Latest LTS from NodeSource
• npm: Node package manager (included with Node.js)
• Configured from official NodeSource repository

Code Editors

• Cursor IDE: AI-powered code editor (AppImage)
  • Installed to /usr/local/bin/cursor
  • Latest stable version from cursor.com

Variables

Core Settings

Variable	Default	Description
install_cursor	true	Install Cursor IDE
install_cursor_extensions	false	Install Cursor extensions

Extension Groups

Enable specific extension groups based on your development needs:

Variable	Default	Extensions Included
install_python	false	Python, Pylance, Black, isort, Flake8, Ruff
install_jupyter	false	Jupyter notebooks, keybindings, renderers
install_web	false	Prettier, ESLint, Tailwind, Vue, Svelte
install_playwright	false	Playwright testing framework
install_devops	false	Go, Rust, YAML, Docker, Ansible
install_r	false	R language support and pack development
install_docs	false	Markdown tools and linter

Base Extensions (Always Installed)

When install_cursor_extensions: true, these are always installed:

• ErrorLens (better error highlighting)
• GitLens (Git supercharged)
• Git Graph (visualization)
• Code Spell Checker
• EditorConfig support
• Material Icon Theme
• GitHub Copilot (if licensed)
• Copilot Chat

Dependencies

• base role (for core utilities)

Example Playbook

Basic Installation

- hosts: developers
  roles:
    - role: development

Python Data Science Machine

- hosts: datascience
  roles:
    - role: development
      vars:
        install_cursor_extensions: true
        install_python: true
        install_jupyter: true
        install_docs: true

Web Development Machine

- hosts: webdevs
  roles:
    - role: development
      vars:
        install_cursor_extensions: true
        install_web: true
        install_playwright: true
        install_docs: true

Full Stack with DevOps

- hosts: fullstack
  roles:
    - role: development
      vars:
        install_cursor_extensions: true
        install_python: true
        install_web: true
        install_devops: true
        install_docs: true

Custom Extension List

You can also override the extension list completely in host_vars:

# host_vars/myhost.yml
install_cursor_extensions: true
cursor_extensions:
  - ms-python.python
  - golang.go
  - hashicorp.terraform
  # ... your custom list

With Cursor disabled

- hosts: servers
  roles:
    - role: development
      install_cursor: false

Usage

# Install on specific host
make dev HOST=dev01

# Install only development tools (skip other roles)
ansible-playbook playbooks/development.yml --limit dev01 --tags development

Tags

• development, dev: All development tasks
• cursor, ide: Cursor IDE installation only

Post-Installation

Verify Installations

git --version
node --version
npm --version
python3 --version
cursor --version

Node.js Usage

# Install packages globally
npm install -g <package>

# Check Node.js version
node --version  # Should show v22.x

Cursor IDE Usage

# Launch Cursor (if using X11/Wayland)
cursor

# For root users, use the aliased version from .zshrc:
cursor  # Automatically adds --no-sandbox flags

Performance Notes

Installation Time

• Base packages: 1-2 minutes
• Node.js: 1-2 minutes
• Cursor IDE: 2-5 minutes (~200MB download)
• Total: ~5-10 minutes

Disk Space

• Node.js + npm: ~100MB
• Cursor IDE: ~200MB
• Build tools: ~50MB
• Total: ~350MB

Integration

With Data Science Role

- hosts: datascience_workstation
  roles:
    - role: development      # Core dev tools
    - role: datascience      # Anaconda, Jupyter, R

With Docker

- hosts: fullstack_dev
  roles:
    - role: development
    - role: docker

Troubleshooting

Node.js Version Issues

If Node.js doesn't upgrade to v22:

# Check current version
node --version

# Force reinstall
apt-get remove nodejs
# Re-run playbook

Cursor Won't Launch

For root users, use the alias that adds required flags:

# Check alias in .zshrc
alias cursor="cursor --no-sandbox --disable-gpu-sandbox..."

Notes

• Node.js 22 is the current LTS version
• NodeSource repository is configured for automatic updates
• Cursor IDE is installed as AppImage for easy updates
• Build tools (gcc, make) are essential for npm native modules
• Python 3 is included for development scripts
• All installations are idempotent (safe to re-run)

Comparison with Data Science Role

Component	Development Role	Data Science Role
Git	✅	-
Node.js	✅	-
Build Tools	✅	-
Cursor IDE	✅	-
Anaconda	❌	✅
Jupyter	❌	✅
R Language	❌	✅
Install Time	~10 min	~30-60 min
Disk Space	~350MB	~3GB

Recommendation: Use development role for general coding. Add datascience role only when needed for data analysis/ML work.