VS Code extension

Dev Containers for Coder in K8S, deepspacecartel.devcontainer-builder. It's on the VS Code Marketplace and Open VSX, and each GitHub Release has it as devcontainer-builder.vsix. The source is vscode-extension/.

It runs in one of two modes, chosen when VS Code starts it (extensionKind: ["workspace", "ui"]):

Mode	When	What it does
Workspace	In a workspace from the Coder template, which installs it and sets DEVCONTAINER_IMAGE_COMMIT/DEVCONTAINER_BRANCH	The rebuild prompt and the Add Dev Container config prompt. The clone command works too.
Local	Anywhere else, e.g. a local VS Code window	The clone command only.

In an untrusted folder (Restricted Mode) only the clone command works. Checking for changes runs git in the folder, and a repository's own git config can run commands, so the status bar shows Dev Container with a shield until you trust the folder; checks start as soon as you do. Virtual workspaces (e.g. vscode.dev on GitHub) aren't supported.

Commands

Command	Mode	What it does
Coder: Clone Repository in Workspace…	both	Pick a repository (VS Code's Git: Clone picker, including GitHub) and a branch. It then opens your workspace on it (starting it if it's stopped or its last build failed, after any stop under way finishes), or creates <repo>-<branch> from the template that asks for a repository and branch, linking a git account first if the template requires one. It follows the build and opens VS Code Desktop on the cloned folder through the Coder extension (coder.coder-remote). A URL with credentials in it (https://user:token@…) is refused: the URL is saved as a workspace parameter, and private repositories use your linked account. Network errors are retried; an agent that stays disconnected for 3 minutes is a failure; after 20 minutes it offers Keep Waiting or Open in Dashboard.
Dev Container: Check for Rebuild	workspace	Fetches the branch and checks now.
Dev Container: Rebuild Workspace	workspace	Rebuilds the workspace now, increasing its Rebuild parameter through the Coder API.

The status bar items and their states are in Working in a workspace.

Settings

Setting	Default	Purpose
devcontainerBuilder.checkIntervalMinutes	5	How often to fetch the branch and check, in minutes, at most 1440 (a day). 0: only on start and on demand.
devcontainerBuilder.coderUrl	""	The Coder deployment for the clone command. Empty: the one the Coder CLI is logged in to, else asked once. User settings only.
devcontainerBuilder.template	""	The template the clone command creates workspaces from. Empty: the only one that asks for a repository and a branch, else asked. User settings only.

coderUrl and template are application-scoped: a folder's .vscode/settings.json can't set them, so a repository you open can't send your Coder session to another server.

Logging in to Coder

The clone command and Rebuild call the Coder API as you. Every call times out after 30 seconds.

• Clone command: a token stored for that deployment, else the Coder CLI's session (coder login) if it's for the same deployment. Otherwise it asks for the URL (unless coderUrl is set) and a token from <coder>/cli-auth, kept in VS Code's secret storage under that deployment's URL, so it's only ever sent there. A token Coder rejects is deleted; a deployment that doesn't answer falls through to the next login, then to asking.
• Rebuild, in a workspace: the session from coder login run in the workspace, stored in its persisted home. Without one, Rebuild opens the workspace's settings instead.

Rebuild uses POST /api/v2/workspaces/{id}/builds with the new rebuild value, because coder restart/start --parameter keep an existing workspace's value (Coder v2.37).

Background checks

The periodic and on-start fetches use the workspace's GIT_ASKPASS, which is how your linked git account reaches a private repository. If one times out on it (e.g. the account isn't linked, so Coder's askpass waits for a browser sign-in), later background fetches skip GIT_ASKPASS and fail fast, until a Dev Container: Check for Rebuild you run succeeds. A git command that times out is killed together with the processes it started.

Adding a configuration

Add Dev Container config runs the Dev Containers extension's own Add Dev Container Configuration Files… (remote-containers.createDevContainerFile), so it needs VS Code Desktop with ms-vscode-remote.remote-containers. In the browser, it offers to install it.

The extension's output channel, Dev Container Rebuild, logs every check and request.