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devcontainer

CLI for managing development containers

TLDR

Build a dev container
$ devcontainer build --workspace-folder [.]
Start a dev container
$ devcontainer up --workspace-folder [.]
Execute command in container
$ devcontainer exec --workspace-folder [.] [command]
Open shell in container
$ devcontainer exec --workspace-folder [.] bash
Read configuration
$ devcontainer read-configuration --workspace-folder [.]
List features
$ devcontainer features list
Generate templates
$ devcontainer templates apply -t [python]
Show resolved configuration as JSON
$ devcontainer read-configuration --workspace-folder [.] --include-merged-configuration

SYNOPSIS

devcontainer command [options]

DESCRIPTION

devcontainer is the CLI for managing development containers defined by the Dev Container specification. It allows building, running, and interacting with containerized development environments from the command line.Dev containers provide reproducible development environments using Docker containers. Configuration in .devcontainer/devcontainer.json defines the container image, extensions, settings, and features needed for a project.The CLI enables dev container workflows without IDE integration, useful for CI/CD pipelines, remote development, and automation of development environment setup.

PARAMETERS

COMMAND

Operation: build, up, exec, read-configuration, features, templates.
--workspace-folder PATH
Path to workspace with .devcontainer config.
build
Build the dev container image.
up
Create and start the container.
exec COMMAND
Run command in container.
read-configuration
Output resolved configuration.
features list
List available dev container features.
templates apply -t template
Apply a dev container template to the workspace.
run-user-commands
Run user commands (postCreateCommand, etc.) in the container.
--help
Display help information.
--version
Display version information.

CONFIGURATION

.devcontainer/devcontainer.json

Configuration file defining container image, features, extensions, and environment settings.

INSTALL

brew install devcontainer
nix profile install nixpkgs#devcontainer

CAVEATS

Requires Docker or compatible container runtime. Configuration must follow Dev Container spec. Some features require specific base images. Resource-intensive for complex environments.

HISTORY

The Dev Container CLI was released by Microsoft as part of the Dev Containers specification (2022). It extends the VS Code Dev Containers functionality to command-line workflows and other tools.

SEE ALSO

docker(1), docker-compose(1), code(1)