DarDevLab v2.4 is operational on dardevlab.com: new signups, paid enrollments, browser-based lab workspaces, and human mentorship queues run every business day. This guide is for learners finishing a track, mentors grading submissions, and university or enterprise admins running a cohort—not a marketing changelog. We describe how the platform behaves today so you can plan onboarding, support, and lab schedules without guessing.
Operational means learners complete modules, receive review feedback, and ship portfolio artifacts on production-like Kubernetes and GitLab stacks. Feature updates go to product news subscribers; this page documents v2.4 baseline behavior.
What v2.4 operational status includes
- Account creation and enrollment checkout on dardevlab.com
- Provisioned lab workspaces with reset between modules or cohort cycles
- Structured tracks aligned with the cloud-native learning 90-day plan and individual lab syllabi such as Kubernetes fundamentals
- AI-assisted code review plus human mentor escalation when rubrics require it
- Product news opt-in routed through Twenty CRM tags—not duplicate marketing unless the learner chooses both
v2.4 does not replace employer SSO or billing. Enterprise cohorts coordinate seats and dates with DarDev; the platform supplies lab images and grading hooks, not a full university LMS.
Lab workspace behavior
Each learner gets a browser environment sized for the module—kubectl for Kubernetes labs, GitLab templates for GitOps, Prometheus targets for observability. Workspaces persist for the enrollment period; idle sessions may sleep. Save work by pushing to the provided Git remote before a scheduled reset.
Lab resets between cohorts wipe local uncommitted state by design. Instructors should point students to the GitOps lab pattern—commit early, push often—so graded work survives a reset window. DarDevLab teaches open standards; skills port to any employer cluster that runs CNCF-friendly tooling.
Mentorship and review queues
Submissions enter a review queue when a module rubric requires human sign-off. AI mentorship provides first-pass feedback on YAML structure, test failures, and common misconfigurations; mentors focus on architecture choices and portfolio narrative. Turnaround targets are business-day scoped, not instant—plan assignment deadlines accordingly. Detailed mechanics appear in our AI mentorship in labs guide.
- Submit artifact
Push repo link or lab checklist completion from the module page.
- Automated checks
CI-style validators run where the syllabus defines them (manifest syntax, required labels).
- Mentor review
Human mentor comments in-platform; resubmit once if rubric marks needs revision.
- Module complete
Progress unlocks the next lab; certification-track modules aggregate scores separately.
Signup, news, and CRM touchpoints
Product account signup stays on dardevlab.com. Optional product news checkbox creates or updates a Twenty CRM person with customer:dardevlab and product:dardevlab:news tags; the sync worker adds the private DarDevLab News list in Listmonk. Marketing interest without an account uses mail.dardev.net subscribe forms—do not conflate the two lists when planning campaigns.
Cohort admin checklist
- Confirm seat count and module list with DarDev before term start
- Share prerequisites—container basics before Kubernetes fundamentals lab, for example
- Run a 30-minute pilot with two students on campus network
- Assign an internal TA for deadline reminders; DarDev mentors grade, not chase attendance
- Schedule office hours after Week 2 when Git and YAML friction peaks
- Collect portfolio repos for employer demo day using the certification prep rubric
Prospects comparing bootcamps should evaluate shipped projects and lab access time, not slide volume. DarDev publishes under Deployed Realities: we label beta and waitlist products explicitly elsewhere on news.dardev.net.
How DarDevLab fits the product line
DarDevLab is the learning surface; DarDevCDE supplies cloud development environment patterns that influence how workspaces are provisioned and reset. Graduates often continue into Workspace or DarDevOps engagements with employers—lab skills are entry points, not isolated credentials. Explore tracks at dardevlab.com and the product overview at dardev.net/products.
Is DarDevLab v2.4 accepting new learners?
Yes. dardevlab.com accepts new signups and paid enrollments with daily lab runs and mentorship queues. Full enterprise cohorts are communicated during sales intake.
What should I do before my first lab session?
Create your account, complete any prerequisite reading listed on the module page, and open the workspace from a network that allows HTTPS to dardevlab.com. Install no local cluster unless the syllabus requires kind or k3s on your laptop for homework; in-browser labs provision tools for you.
Will my workspace files survive overnight?
Git remotes and submitted checkpoints persist. Ephemeral workspace disks may reset on idle timeout or between cohort cycles. Treat the provided Git repository as source of truth—the same habit as production GitOps.
How do product updates reach me?
Opt in to product news at signup or via your account preferences. That flow tags you for DarDevLab News—a private Listmonk list synced from CRM. General marketing lists are separate; subscribing to one does not automatically enroll you in the other.
Who do I contact for cohort billing or SSO roadmap questions?
Use the news.dardev.net contact form or dardev.net; inquiries route to Twenty CRM. Workspace SSO is on the public roadmap—ask for the current integration brief rather than assuming SAML is enabled in v2.4.
Does v2.4 include Hesabi or EscaHire training?
No. DarDevLab focuses on cloud-native and DevOps labs. Hesabi fiscal training and EscaHire hiring workflows are separate products with their own release channels. EscaHire is waitlist-only; do not expect hiring-lab modules in v2.4.
