We use them via devpod and have a custom image that we shove all our stuff into. Makes onboarding engineers trivial. No more installing 12 CLIs and 3 language toolchains or worrying about Mac vs Windows vs Linux. Devpod environment runs in EKS to allow vertical scaling when needed. Answer from MordecaiOShea on reddit.com
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Visual Studio Code
code.visualstudio.com › docs › devcontainers › containers
Developing inside a Container
November 3, 2021 - It allows you to open any folder inside (or mounted into) a container and take advantage of Visual Studio Code's full feature set. A devcontainer.json file in your project tells VS Code how to access (or create) a development container with ...
Visual Studio Code
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Linux
This can happen when sources.list.d doesn't exist or you don't have access to create the file. To fix this, try manually creating the folder and an empty vscode.list file:
Windows
Once it is downloaded, run the installer (VSCodeUserSetup-{version}.exe)
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Medium
medium.com › versent-tech-blog › introduction-to-dev-containers-4c01cb1752a0
Introduction to Dev Containers. An introduction to Dev Containers in… | by Mathew Hemphill | Versent Tech Blog | Medium
June 19, 2024 - Introduction to Dev Containers An introduction to Dev Containers in Visual Studio Code This article provides an introduction to Dev Containers in Visual Studio Code (VS Code) and demonstrates the …
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Visual Studio Marketplace
marketplace.visualstudio.com › items
Dev Containers - Visual Studio Marketplace
Extension for Visual Studio Code - Open any folder or repository inside a Docker container and take advantage of Visual Studio Code's full feature set.
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Docker Hub
hub.docker.com › r › microsoft › vscode-devcontainers
microsoft/vscode-devcontainers - Docker Image
Workspace files can be mounted into the container from the local file system, or copied or cloned into it once the container is running. A simple devcontainer.json file tells VS Code how to manage the container or you can just attach to one that is already running. Learn more at: https://aka.ms/vscode-remote/download/containers⁠
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GitHub
github.com › microsoft › vscode-dev-containers
GitHub - microsoft/vscode-dev-containers: NOTE: Most of the contents of this repository have been migrated to the new devcontainers GitHub org (https://github.com/devcontainers). See https://github.com/devcontainers/template-starter and https://github.com/devcontainers/feature-starter for information on creating your own! · GitHub
November 30, 2023 - Each provides a container configuration file (devcontainer.json) and other needed files that you can drop into any existing folder as a starting point for containerizing your project. You can use the Add Development Container Configuration Files... command to add one to your project or codespace. The vscode-remote-try-* repositories may also be of interest if you are looking for complete sample projects.
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Development Containers
containers.dev › supporting
Supporting tools and services
A devcontainer.json file in your project tells tools and services that support the dev container spec how to access (or create) a dev container with a well-defined tool and runtime stack.
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Visual Studio Code
code.visualstudio.com › docs › devcontainers › tutorial
Dev Containers tutorial
November 3, 2021 - The Dev Containers extension uses the files in the .devcontainer folder, namely devcontainer.json, and an optional Dockerfile or docker-compose.yml, to create your dev containers.
Find elsewhere
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Visual Studio Code
code.visualstudio.com › docs › devcontainers › create-dev-container
Create a Dev Container
November 3, 2021 - It allows you to open any folder or repository inside a container and take advantage of Visual Studio Code's full feature set. A devcontainer.json file in your project tells VS Code how to access (or create) a development container with a ...
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/devops › are you using dev containers?
r/devops on Reddit: Are you using Dev Containers?
June 10, 2025 -

I was wondering about these today. I have been using them on and off for a few years now for personal stuff, and they work pretty well. Integration with VScode is pretty good too, as a Microsoft backed spec, but I have had some stuff break on me in VScodium.

I was wondering if they have genuine widespread adoption, especially in professional settings, or if they are somewhat relegated to obscurity. The spec has ~4000 github stars, which is a lot but not as much as I would expect for something that could be relevant to every dev, especially if you are bought into the Microsoft development stack (Azure Devops, Github. Visual Studio, etc.)

So do you guys use these? I am always going back and forth on just rolling my own containers, but some of the built in stuff to VScode are great for quickly rolling these. I would be interested to hear what other people do.

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Visual Studio Code
code.visualstudio.com › remote › advancedcontainers › overview
Advanced container configuration
November 3, 2021 - It allows you to open any folder inside (or mounted into) a container and take advantage of Visual Studio Code's full feature set. A devcontainer.json file in your project tells VS Code how to access (or create) a development container with ...
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DEV Community
dev.to › mcastellin › hands-on-with-vscode-dev-containers-33bf
Hands-On with VSCode & "Dev Containers" - DEV Community
October 23, 2020 - VSCode will now create a new development container from the Dockerfile and devcontainer.json you created.
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GitHub
github.com › microsoft › vscode-docs › blob › main › docs › devcontainers › tutorial.md
vscode-docs/docs/devcontainers/tutorial.md at main · microsoft/vscode-docs
The Dev Containers extension uses the files in the .devcontainer folder, namely devcontainer.json, and an optional Dockerfile or docker-compose.yml, to create your dev containers.
Author   microsoft
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Aspire
aspire.dev › get-started › dev-containers
Dev Containers in Visual Studio Code | Aspire
To configure Dev Containers in Visual Studio Code, use the .devcontainer/devcontainer.json file in your repository. The simplest way to get started is by creating a new repository from the Aspire Dev Container template.
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Visual Studio Code
code.visualstudio.com › blogs › 2022 › 09 › 15 › dev-container-features
Custom Dev Container Features
September 15, 2022 - Development containers are a great way to simplify environment set up - they provide a complete coding environment with the tools your project needs. They're configured using an image, Dockerfile, or Docker Compose file and devcontainer.json, ...
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Ben Selby
benmatselby.dev › post › vscode-dev-containers
Setting up a VS Code Dev Container · Ben Selby
March 21, 2021 - This settings file let’s you configure VS Code and the way the container runs. It’s named devcontainer.json and is also dropped into the .devcontainer folder in your project.
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Visual Studio Code
code.visualstudio.com › docs › devcontainers › devcontainer-cli
Dev Container CLI
November 3, 2021 - Development containers are supported in Visual Studio Code via the Dev Containers extension and in GitHub Codespaces. This support is backed by devcontainer.json, a structured JSON with Comments (jsonc) metadata format to configure a containerized ...
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Medium
medium.com › @devopswithyoge › visual-studio-code-devcontainers-how-it-works-and-its-advantages-for-developers-6d0e6d7ce531
Visual Studio Code— DevContainers how it works and its Advantages for Developers | by DevOpsWithYoge | Medium
May 10, 2024 - Similarly now VS Code provides us the facility to run our code in containerized env called devContainers, with that you can focus on development instead of wasting time go through loads of documentation for installing and configuring a software and dealing with installation errors.
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DEV Community
dev.to › rosgluk › using-dev-containers-in-vs-code-2p8a
Using Dev Containers in VS Code - DEV Community
October 13, 2025 - A devcontainer.json file (configuring workspace settings, extensions, ports, etc.).
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Rancher Desktop
docs.rancherdesktop.io › vs code remote containers
VS Code Remote Containers | Rancher Desktop Docs
The [Visual Studio Code Remote - Containers] extension lets you use a Docker container as a full-featured development environment, which helps ensure a consistent environment across developer machines and makes it easy for new team members and contributors to get up and running.