Allow choosing container setup from another repository

[kaladron]

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When creating a new codespace, if a project has more than one container type defined in its devcontainer.json, you can choose between the different one. Similar to a dotfiles repo, I'd like to specify a devcontainer repo with a series of container types that should be added to that list.

Many Open Source projects so not specify devcontainers (or have out of date ones!), and it's a hassle to either put in my preferred devcontainer by hand and then rebuild. I'd love to be able to just specify my preferred devcontainer to be up and running from the beginning.

[sinavm]

Hi,

This is a fantastic suggestion! I totally get the frustration jumping into an OSS project without a solid devcontainer setup can feel like starting from scratch every time, especially when you're dealing with outdated or missing configs. The ability to point to a personal "devcontainer repo" (mirroring how dotfiles work for user-specific tweaks) would be a game-changer for streamlining workflows across diverse projects. It'd let folks like us boot up a familiar, pre-tuned environment right from the start, without the manual rebuild hassle.

For context, I love how Codespaces already handles multiple configs beautifully: if a repo has several devcontainer.json files in subfolders under .devcontainer/ (e.g., .devcontainer/node-setup/devcontainer.json and .devcontainer/python-setup/devcontainer.json), you get a handy dropdown during creation to pick one. And if there's no repo-specific config at all, it falls back to the solid default universal image with a bunch of common tools pre-installed.

That said, extending this to an external repo reference (like dotfiles: myusername/my-devcontainers) would close the loop perfectly for personalization at the user level, without bloating project repos. Until then, a quick workaround I've been using: Maintain your preferred configs in a private repo, then use a postCreateCommand in the project's devcontainer.json (or the default) to clone and symlink your setup. For example:

{
  "postCreateCommand": "git clone https://github.com/yourusername/my-devcontainers.git /workspaces/.codespaces/custom-dev && ln -s /workspaces/.codespaces/custom-dev/node-setup /workspaces/.devcontainer/node-setup"
}

[sinavm]

This way, on first boot, it pulls in your options and lets you select/rebuild as needed. Not ideal, but it gets you 80% there without hand-editing each time.
Fully upvoting this—let’s make Codespaces even more “just works” for OSS contributors! 🚀
Best,
@sinavm

[kaladron]

IT's useful not just for OSS - but also for enterprise where you might have a collection of vetted containers and could choose from them rather than porting those to each repository.