Dev Container

The repository ships with a fully configured dev container so you can get a consistent, ready-to-use development environment without installing dependencies on your local machine.

Prerequisites
Getting Started
What’s Included
Post-Create Setup
Volume Mounts
1. Docker-outside-of-Docker
Default Shell & Terminal
Zsh Configuration
1. Powerlevel10k Theme
2. Plugins
File Structure
Rebuilding the Container

Prerequisites

Docker (Desktop or Engine) running on your machine
Visual Studio Code with the Dev Containers extension installed

Getting Started

Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/camalot/vscode-workspace-tasks.git
cd vscode-workspace-tasks

Open the folder in VS Code:
```
code .
```
When prompted, click Reopen in Container, or run the command palette action Dev Containers: Reopen in Container.

VS Code will build the Docker image and start the container. The postCreateCommand runs automatically to install all dependencies.

What’s Included

Base Image

The container is built from mcr.microsoft.com/devcontainers/ruby:3, which provides Ruby 3 and a non-root vscode user as the default working user.

System Packages

The following tools are installed via apt:

Tool	Purpose
`git`	Source control
`curl` / `wget`	HTTP downloads
`zip` / `unzip`	Archive management
`jq`	JSON processing
`yq`	YAML processing
`bat`	Syntax-highlighted file viewer (`bat` alias for `batcat`)
`fzf`	Fuzzy finder
`zoxide`	Smarter `cd`
`nano` / `vim`	Terminal editors
`zsh`	Default shell
`pwsh`	Available Shell with Oh-My-Posh
`bash`	Available Shell with Oh-My-Posh
`copilot cli`	GitHub Copilot CLI

Runtimes & Package Managers

Tool	Version	Purpose
Node.js	25.x	Extension build & test toolchain
npm	11.x	Node package manager
pnpm	latest	Alternative Node package manager
yarn	latest	Alternative Node package manager
nvm	0.40.x	Node version manager
Ruby / Bundler	3.x	Jekyll documentation site
PowerShell	7.4.5	Cross-platform scripting
Java (Temurin 17)	17	Required by `vscode-extension-tester` UI tests

Shell & Terminal

Default shell: zsh
Prompt theme: Powerlevel10k (configured via .p10k.zsh)
Plugin manager: Antigen
Prompt renderer (pwsh & bash): oh-my-posh (installed by install-tools.sh)

Custom aliases are loaded from ~/.zsh/custom/aliases/default.zsh.

VS Code Extensions

The following extensions are automatically installed inside the container:

Extension	Purpose
`shopify.ruby-lsp`	Ruby language support
`dbaeumer.vscode-eslint`	ESLint integration
`esbenp.prettier-vscode`	Code formatting
`darthminos.workspace-tasks`	The extension under development
`DavidAnson.vscode-markdownlint`	Markdown linting
`EditorConfig.EditorConfig`	EditorConfig support
`GitHub.vscode-github-actions`	GitHub Actions workflow support
`mads-hartmann.bash-ide-vscode`	Bash language support
`mkhl.shfmt`	Shell script formatting
`ms-azuretools.vscode-docker`	Docker integration
`ms-vscode.makefile-tools`	Makefile support
`timonwong.shellcheck`	Shell script linting
`mikestead.dotenv`	`.env` file support
`bierner.github-markdown-preview`	GitHub Markdown preview
`igorsbitnev.error-gutters`	Inline error highlighting

Post-Create Setup

After the container is created, the postCreateCommand in devcontainer.json runs the following steps automatically:

Install Ruby gems — Runs bundle install inside docs/ to set up the Jekyll documentation site.
Install Node dependencies — Runs npm install in the workspace root.
Run install-tools.sh — Provisions additional tooling that cannot be installed during the Docker image build:
- Fixes SSH key permissions (copies from ~/_ssh if needed)
- Installs the nektos/act CLI to tools/act/act for running GitHub Actions locally
- Installs oh-my-posh for terminal prompt rendering
- Clones the sample-workspace-tasks repository to sample/sample-workspace-tasks/ for integration testing

Volume Mounts

Source	Container Path	Purpose
`${localWorkspaceFolder}`	`/workspace`	Workspace files
`~/.ssh` (host)	`/home/vscode/_ssh`	SSH keys (permissions are fixed by `install-tools.sh`)
`/var/run/docker.sock`	`/var/run/docker.sock`	Docker-outside-of-Docker
`~/.gitconfig` (host)	`/home/vscode/.gitconfig`	Git configuration
`.devcontainer/mount`	`/home/vscode/.devcontainer`	Container-local configuration overrides

SSH keys are mounted to ~/_ssh rather than ~/.ssh because some host setups (e.g., WSL with a Windows-mounted drive) have permission attributes that Docker cannot preserve. The install-tools.sh script copies the files to ~/.ssh and applies correct permissions.

Docker-outside-of-Docker

The container uses the ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/docker-outside-of-docker:1 feature (with Moby disabled). This mounts the host’s Docker socket into the container, allowing docker commands to control the host daemon without running a second Docker daemon inside the container.

Default Shell & Terminal

The integrated terminal defaults to zsh. The shell is configured with:

Powerlevel10k theme (~/.p10k.zsh)
Custom aliases in ~/.zsh/custom/aliases/default.zsh
A build-docs helper script in ~/bin/ for serving the Jekyll documentation site locally

Zsh Configuration

The Zsh configuration is located in ~/.zshrc and includes:

Sourcing the Powerlevel10k theme (~/.p10k.zsh)
Loading custom aliases from ~/.zsh/custom/aliases/default.zsh
Setting up the build-docs helper script in ~/bin/ for serving the Jekyll documentation site locally

Powerlevel10k Theme

The Powerlevel10k theme is configured in ~/.p10k.zsh and provides a highly customizable prompt for Zsh. It is designed to be fast and informative, displaying information such as the current Git branch, command execution time, and more.

Plugins

The Zsh configuration uses Antigen to manage plugins. The following plugins and theme are loaded:

Plugin	Description
`romkatv/powerlevel10k` (theme)	Highly customizable Zsh prompt with Git status, execution time, and more
`git`	Git aliases and helpers
`vscode`	VS Code integration helpers
`docker`	Docker aliases and completions
zsh-users/zsh-syntax-highlighting	Syntax highlighting for the command line
zsh-users/zsh-autosuggestions	Command suggestions based on history
zsh-users/zsh-history-substring-search	History search by substring (up/down arrow)
rupa/z	Jump to frequently used directories
b4b4r07/emoji-cli	Emoji picker for the command line
`sudo`	Press `Esc` twice to prefix the previous command with `sudo`
`aliases`	Lists defined aliases with `als`
`ant`	Apache Ant completions
`command-not-found`	Suggests packages when a command is not found
`colorize`	Syntax-highlighted `cat` via `ccat`
`common-aliases`	Useful common shell aliases
`debian`	Apt/dpkg aliases for Debian-based systems
`dotenv`	Automatically loads `.env` files in directories
`emoji`	Emoji helper utilities
`fzf`	Fuzzy finder key bindings and completions
`gh`	GitHub CLI completions
`history`	History aliases (`h`, `hsi`, etc.)
`npm`	npm aliases and completions
`nvm`	nvm (Node Version Manager) integration
`ruby`	Ruby and Bundler aliases

File Structure

.devcontainer/
├── devcontainer.json       Container configuration
├── Dockerfile              Image definition
├── install-tools.sh        Post-create tool installer
├── mount/                  Bind-mounted to ~/. devcontainer inside container
└── files/
    └── home/
        └── vscode/
            ├── .bashrc
            ├── .gitconfig
            ├── .p10k.zsh
            ├── .zshrc
            ├── bin/
            │   └── build-docs
            ├── .config/
            │   └── powershell/
            │       ├── Microsoft.PowerShell_profile.ps1
            │       ├── profile.ps1
            │       └── darthminos.omp.json
            ├── .workspace-tasks/
            │   └── logo.txt
            └── .zsh/
                └── custom/
                    └── aliases/
                        └── default.zsh

Rebuilding the Container

If you change the Dockerfile or devcontainer.json, rebuild the container using the command palette:

Dev Containers: Rebuild Container

Or to also clear the Docker layer cache:

Dev Containers: Rebuild Container Without Cache