GPU devbox Docker image with coding agents on Runpod

Melvin Vivas · X post · 2026-09-03 · Open on X

Topics: AI Dev Tools & Productivity, LLMOps, Deployment & Monitoring, Fine-tuning & Model Customization · Level: intermediate

Summary

Melvin Vivas shares a GPU-ready Docker 'devbox' image for ML work that he runs on Runpod. It is based on the official Runpod PyTorch 2.8 + CUDA 12.8 template and comes with coding agents (Codex, Claude Code, Pi, Grok, Cursor, Herdr) and tools such as the Hugging Face CLI and nvtop. With it you can use agentic coding tools directly on a rented GPU.

Key points

• Base image: the official Runpod PyTorch 2.8 + CUDA 12.8 template.
• Pre-installed coding agents: Codex, Claude Code, Pi (@pidotdev), Grok, Cursor and Herdr (@herdrdev).
• Also includes the Hugging Face CLI for models and datasets, and nvtop for GPU monitoring.
• Lets you run Codex and other coding agents for ML work inside a GPU cloud pod.
• The creator built it for his own use and shared it publicly.
• The excerpt doesn't include the image link. It is in the quoted post.

Resources mentioned

• melvindave/runpod-pytorch Docker image · tool · hub.docker.com · free
  Docker image for GPU ML development with coding agents, the Hugging Face CLI and nvtop pre-installed.
  Also in: Ready-made Docker image for running coding agents on ML/fine-tuning jobs (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Reusable GPU devbox: PyTorch/CUDA plus six coding agents (Melvin Vivas on X · notes)
• Runpod · tool · x.com · paid
  GPU cloud platform for running, training and serving AI models; Flash deploys workloads to it.
  Also in: AI DevBox v1.3.0: a GPU-ready Docker image with coding-agent CLIs (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Why LLM data agents need solid data foundations (Runpod) (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Docker image with coding agents pre-installed on a CUDA + PyTorch base (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), GPU-Ready AI Devbox Docker Image on Runpod (PyTorch 2.8 + CUDA 12.8) (Melvin Vivas on X · notes) and 5 more
• Runpod PyTorch 2.8 + CUDA 12.8 template · tool · runpod.io · check price
  Official Runpod pod template with PyTorch 2.8 and CUDA 12.8.
• OpenAI Codex · tool · openai.com · paid
  OpenAI's coding agent. In the diagram it writes code, fixes review findings and drives the build loop. The creator also used it to make this video.
  Also in: An agent bot that installs and drives Codex on its own (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Asking a Coder bot to install Codex (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Sign in with ChatGPT: Setting Usage Limits for Each App (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Codex Cloud Environments Must Be Saved & Published Before Use (Melvin Vivas on X · notes) and 240 more
• Claude Code · tool · code.claude.com · paid · recommended by both Bashiri Smith & Melvin Vivas
  Build agents and pipelines from the terminal; the guide's main agentic coding tool.
  Also in: Create Claude Code Plugins with /plugin-authoring (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Claude Code mods: customize behavior and UI with plugins (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), AI Engineer Roadmap Overview: From ML Foundations to RAG, Agents & Ops (Bashiri Smith on Facebook · notes), SkillsBento: Free Plugin Marketplace for Codex and Claude Code (Melvin Vivas on X · notes) and 101 more
• Pi · tool · x.com · free
  A customizable coding agent that can be extended through its Extensions API and connected to several model providers.
  Also in: Sign in with ChatGPT: Setting Usage Limits for Each App (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Pi reaches v1.0 (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Claude Code mods: customize behavior and UI with plugins (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Customizing Your Coding Setup with Pi Coding Agent Extensions (Melvin Vivas on X · notes) and 39 more
• Grok · tool · x.com · free
  xAI's AI assistant. Here it is used as a terminal coding agent that also runs with the 'agent' alias.
  Also in: OpenAI Dots: Agents Inside ChatGPT That Debug, Fix, and Open PRs (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Grok Team Bots: Shared AI Teammates in Slack and Grok (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Cue by Manus: A New Rival to the Grok Bot on X (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), How to Grow an X (Twitter) Account: 9 Practical Tips from Melvin Vivas (Melvin Vivas on X · notes) and 14 more
• Cursor · tool · x.com · free · recommended by both Bashiri Smith & Melvin Vivas
  AI-native code editor (VS Code with AI built in).
  Also in: GLM 5.3 and GLM 5.3 Flash now in Cursor (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Grok Bot Can Now Hand Off Coding Tasks to Cursor (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Why Plan Mode Still Matters in AI Coding Assistants (Codex, Claude, Cursor) (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Why Plan Mode Still Matters in AI Coding Agents (Codex, Claude, Cursor) (Melvin Vivas on X · notes) and 121 more
• herdr · tool · x.com · check price
  A runtime that keeps real terminals open for coding agents on a local or rented machine, so agent sessions keep running when you disconnect.
  Also in: Terminal Tool Recommendation: herdr (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), herdr 0.9.0: Control Agents Across Multiple Machines (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), GPU-Ready AI Devbox Docker Image on Runpod (PyTorch 2.8 + CUDA 12.8) (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Running Codex Inside a Runpod GPU Instance (Melvin Vivas on X · notes) and 7 more
• Hugging Face · website · x.com · free · recommended by both Bashiri Smith & Melvin Vivas
  Platform for hosting and finding ML models, datasets and papers. The quoted post says LocateAnything was trending there.
  Also in: Using an ML agent to train an open-source TTS model on your voice (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Deploy Open-Source Models with Hugging Face Inference Endpoints (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Deploying Qwen3.8 27B on Hugging Face Inference Endpoints (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Using Hugging Face credits: Jobs, Inference Endpoints and Open Models (Melvin Vivas on X · notes) and 38 more
• nvtop · tool · github.com · free
  An open-source, top-style monitor for GPU usage in the terminal.
  Also in: GPU-Ready AI Devbox Docker Image on Runpod (PyTorch 2.8 + CUDA 12.8) (Melvin Vivas on X · notes), Monitor GPU Usage With nvtop Instead of nvidia-smi (Melvin Vivas on X · notes)

Try this

• Run the devbox image on a Runpod GPU pod to use Codex or other coding agents for ML work.
• Build your own GPU dev container on a PyTorch/CUDA base with your preferred coding agents and monitoring tools pre-installed.