Examples

You can find some working denver environments under examples/ in the repository. Each has its own README explaining what it does, why it exists and what it is meant to teach. They are not illustrative snippets — every examples/*/denver.yml has its --show-config-full output pinned as a golden-file fixture under tests/golden/, so an example that drifted out of sync with the code fails the build.

Overview

Example	Stages	What it is for
`simple-env`	3 × `custom`	The whole model at minimum size. Also the `cmd:` vs `source:` demo
`zephyr-uv`	`uv`	A virtualenv and nothing else — proof that no container or toolchain is required
`nix-devshell`	`nix` → `custom`	A nix flake’s `devShell` as the environment. What sourcing `nix print-dev-env` buys over wrapping `nix develop --command`, and what the evaluation cache is keyed on
`raspberry-pico`	`custom` → `download` → `git` → `download`	A cross-compilation toolchain without Docker, and without Conan. `git`/`download` instead of hand-vendored archives; `unpack-cmd:` that builds, not just unpacks
`zephyr-docker`	`docker`	The container layer on its own — a wrapper stage, and a `hooks: pre-docker:` script
`firmware-env`	`docker` → `uv` → `custom` → `download` → `conan` → `custom`	Five providers in one small env — run end to end and built from scratch in denver in 30 minutes. Also: the same job (a pinned prebuilt binary on `PATH`) done three ways — by hand, by `download`, by conan
`zephyr-devshell`	(base — not runnable)	The shared base: `import:`, layering, `runnable: false`
`zephyr-devshell-4.3.1`	`docker` → `uv` → `conan` → `zephyr` → `custom`	A full Zephyr RTOS setup — the extreme case, and what `import:` layering looks like at full size
`doc-env`	`uv` → `custom`	Builds this documentation with Sphinx — denver used on itself

Running the bundled examples

./src/denver.py examples/simple-env                 # start it (opens a shell)
./src/denver.py examples/simple-env -- echo hi      # run one command in it instead
./src/denver.py examples/simple-env --show-config   # print the resulting config

--show-config is the fastest way to understand an example env you didn’t write: it resolves the whole import: chain and prints what denver actually ended up with. It needs no toolchain, no network and no Docker, so it works for every env.

[!NOTE] Next: the reference half of this documentation — the denver command for every flag, the full denver.toml schema for every key, and one page per provider for the keys a given stage type accepts.