/devcontainer

Devcontainer Setup Command

Generate a .devcontainer/devcontainer.json in the current project using the standard development container configuration.

Process

Step 1: Gather Project Info

1. Determine project name from the current working directory basename
2. Detect the project's primary language/stack by checking for the presence of:
   • go.mod or *.go files → Go project
   • package.json → Node/TypeScript project
   • requirements.txt, pyproject.toml, setup.py → Python project
   • Cargo.toml → Rust project
   • Multiple languages detected → fullstack
3. Ask the user to confirm the detected stack, or specify if detection is wrong
4. Ask: "Include gcloud config mount? (y/n)"
5. Ask: "Any ports to forward? (comma-separated, or 'none')"
6. Ask: "Any project-specific environment variables to add to containerEnv? (or 'none')"

Step 2: Determine VS Code Extensions

Based on the detected stack, select extensions:

Always include:

• esbenp.prettier-vscode
• eamodio.gitlens
• GitHub.copilot

Go projects — add:

• golang.go

TypeScript/Node projects — add:

• dbaeumer.vscode-eslint
• biomejs.biome
• bradlc.vscode-tailwindcss

Python projects — add:

• ms-python.python
• ms-python.vscode-pylance

Rust projects — add:

• rust-lang.rust-analyzer

Fullstack (Go + TS) — add both Go and TypeScript sets.

Step 3: Generate devcontainer.json

Create .devcontainer/devcontainer.json with this structure. Use the gathered info to fill in the template:

{
  "name": "<project-name>",
  "image": "pilotso11/fullstack-devc:latest",

  "hostRequirements": {
    "cpus": 2,
    "memory": "4gb"
  },

  "customizations": {
    "vscode": {
      "settings": {
        "editor.formatOnSave": true
      },
      "extensions": [
        "<detected extensions from Step 2>"
      ]
    }
  },

  "mounts": [
    "source=${localEnv:HOME}/.claude,target=/home/developer/.claude,type=bind",
    "source=${localEnv:HOME}/.config/gh,target=/home/developer/.config/gh,type=bind",
    "source=/run/host-services/ssh-auth.sock,target=/ssh-agent,type=bind"
  ],

  "features": {
    "ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/common-utils:2": {
      "installZsh": true,
      "installOhMyZsh": true,
      "upgradePackages": true
    }
  },

  "containerEnv": {
    "TZ": "Europe/London"
  },

  "remoteEnv": {
    "SSH_AUTH_SOCK": "/ssh-agent",
    "CLAUDE_CODE_EXPERIMENTAL_AGENT_TEAMS": "true"
  },

  "overrideCommand": false,

  "postCreateCommand": "sudo mkdir -p /home/developer/.ssh && sudo chown developer:developer /home/developer/.ssh && ssh-keyscan github.com >> /home/developer/.ssh/known_hosts 2>/dev/null; true",
  "postStartCommand": "sudo chown -R developer:developer /home/developer/.claude /home/developer/.config/gh /home/developer/.ssh 2>/dev/null; true",

  "remoteUser": "developer"
}

Customization rules:

• If the user opted yes to gcloud, add this mount to the "mounts" array:

  "source=${localEnv:HOME}/.config/gcloud,target=/home/developer/.config/gcloud,type=bind"
  

  and append /home/developer/.config/gcloud to the postStartCommand chown list
• If the user specified forwarded ports, add a "forwardPorts": [...] field
• If the user specified containerEnv vars, merge them into the "containerEnv" object alongside "TZ"
• For Go projects, add these VS Code settings:

  "go.useLanguageServer": true,
  "go.toolsManagement.autoUpdate": true,
  "go.lintTool": "golangci-lint",
  "go.lintOnSave": "package",
  "go.formatTool": "goimports",
  "[go]": { "editor.defaultFormatter": "golang.go" }
  

• For TypeScript projects, add:

  "[typescript]": { "editor.defaultFormatter": "esbenp.prettier-vscode" }
  

Step 4: Write the File

1. Create the .devcontainer/ directory if it doesn't exist
2. Write the devcontainer.json file
3. If a .gitignore exists, verify it does NOT ignore .devcontainer/ — if it does, warn the user

Step 5: Optional Push to Main

If the user passed the push argument OR answers yes when asked "Commit and push to main?":

1. Verify the project is a git repository (if not, run git init)
2. Stage only the .devcontainer/devcontainer.json file
3. Commit with message: chore: add devcontainer configuration
4. Push to main: git push origin main
5. If push fails (e.g., no remote), inform the user and suggest setting up a remote

If the user did not pass push and declines, just confirm the file was created.

Step 6: Summary

Print a summary of what was created:

• Image used
• Mounts configured (Claude, GH CLI, SSH agent forwarding)
• Extensions added
• Ports forwarded (if any)
• Environment variables set (if any)
• Whether it was pushed to main

Then print a First use note:

**First use:** On macOS, Claude Code and GitHub CLI credentials are stored in the
system Keychain and don't transfer into the container. The first time you open
the devcontainer, run:

  claude login
  gh auth login

These write credentials to the bind-mounted ~/.claude and ~/.config/gh directories,
so you only need to do this once per machine.