Dev Containers

Overview

Dev containers define reproducible development environments using a devcontainer.json file. They are the foundation of GitHub Codespaces and work with VS Code Dev Containers, the devcontainer CLI, and DevPod.

File Location

Place devcontainer.json in one of:

• .devcontainer/devcontainer.json (preferred)
• .devcontainer.json (repo root)
• .devcontainer/<folder>/devcontainer.json (multiple configs)

Minimal Configuration

{
  "name": "My Project",
  "image": "mcr.microsoft.com/devcontainers/base:ubuntu",
  "forwardPorts": [3000],
  "postCreateCommand": "npm install"
}