KyleBarton
fb6b3ff533
Self-Review Checklist: - [x] I've reviewed my own diff for quality, security, and reliability - [x] Unsafe blocks (if any) have justifying comments - [x] The content is consistent with the [UI/UX checklist](https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md#uiux-checklist) - [x] Tests cover the new/changed behavior - [x] Performance impact has been considered and is acceptable Closes N/A Release Notes: - Improved docs for dev containers
77 lines
2.8 KiB
Markdown
77 lines
2.8 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: Dev Containers - Zed
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description: Open projects in dev containers with Zed. Reproducible development environments using devcontainer.json configuration.
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---
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# Dev Containers
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Dev Containers provide a consistent, reproducible development environment by defining your project's dependencies, tools, and settings in a container configuration.
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If your repository includes a `.devcontainer/devcontainer.json` file, Zed can open a project inside a development container.
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## Requirements
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- Docker or Podman must be installed and available in your `PATH`. If you use `podman`, you must set the `use_podman` setting in your Zed settings.json to true.
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- Your project must contain a `.devcontainer/devcontainer.json` directory/file.
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## Using Dev Containers in Zed
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### Automatic prompt
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When you open a project that contains the `.devcontainer/devcontainer.json` directory/file, Zed will display a prompt asking whether to open the project inside the dev container. Choosing "Open in Container" will:
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1. Build the dev container image (if needed).
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2. Launch the container.
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3. Reopen the project connected to the container environment.
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### Manual open
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If you dismiss the prompt or want to reopen the project inside a container later, you can use Zed's command palette to run the "Project: Open Remote" command and select the option to open the project in a dev container.
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Alternatively, you can reach for the Remote Projects modal (through the {#kb projects::OpenRemote} binding) and choose the "Connect Dev Container" option.
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## Editing the dev container configuration
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If you modify `.devcontainer/devcontainer.json`, Zed does not currently rebuild or reload the container automatically. After changing configuration:
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- Stop or kill the existing container manually (e.g., via `docker kill <container>`).
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- Reopen the project in the container.
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## Working in a Dev Container
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Once connected, Zed operates inside the container environment for tasks, terminals, and language servers.
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Files are linked from your workspace into the container according to the dev container specification.
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## Extensions
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You can specify extensions in `.devcontainer/devcontainer.json` under the "customizations" field like so:
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```json
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{
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...
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"customizations": {
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"zed": {
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"extensions": ["vue", "ruby"],
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},
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"vscode": {
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...
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},
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"codespaces": {
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...
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},
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}
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}
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```
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Note that extensions load for the Zed session, so these extensions will exist on your local Zed instances as well.
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## Known Limitations
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> **Note:** This feature is still in development.
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- **Configuration changes:** Updates to `devcontainer.json` do not trigger automatic rebuilds or reloads; containers must be manually restarted.
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## See also
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- [Remote Development](./remote-development.md) for connecting to remote servers over SSH.
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- [Tasks](./tasks.md) for running commands in the integrated terminal.
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