Development Container¶

Instead of manually configuring your development environment, Dev Containers offer a seamless containerized development experience right out of the box.

Prerequisites¶

Before you can use a Dev Container, you will need to install a few components.

Docker Desktop or an alternative Docker option.
Visual Studio Code.
The Dev Containers extension within VSCode.

Usage¶

After installing the prerequisites, you have two main approaches to use a Dev Container. Using a locally cloned repository leverages your existing local source code, while an isolated container volume creates a separate copy of the repository, which is particularly useful for PR reviews or exploring branches without altering your local environment.

Open a locally cloned repository in a container¶

When you open a repository that includes a Dev Container configuration in VS Code, you will receive a prompt to reopen it in the container.

If you missed the prompt, you can use the Dev Containers: Reopen in Container command from the Command Palette to initiate the containerized environment. Here are some frequently used commands:

Dev Containers: Reopen in Container: Triggers the containerized environment setup upon opening a repository configured for Dev Containers.
Dev Containers: Rebuild Without Cache and Reopen in Container: Useful for refreshing your environment in case of issues or to update to a newer version.
Dev Containers: Clean Up Dev Containers…: Deletes stopped Dev Container instances and removes unused volumes, helping maintain a clean development environment.

Open the repository in an isolated container volume¶

You may already notice the badge in the Overview page. You can click the badge or this link to get started. Clicking these links will cause VS Code to automatically install the Dev Containers extension if needed, clone the source code into a container volume, and spin up a dev container for use.

Reference¶

For more detailed guidance and advanced usage, explore the following resources: