arch-devcontainer

what is this

a devcontainer setup using arch linux as base image, with optional features for different development stacks (node, go, python, dotnet)

requirements

• docker
• a linux-like shell (git-bash is good enough on windows)
• an ssh key for git operations (how to create one)
  • if your key isn't ~/.ssh/id_ed25519, update the path in .devcontainer/devcontainer.json
• one of:
  1. devpod - better than vscode's devcontainer extension, more flexible, works with any editor/ide
  2. vscode's devcontainer extension

setup

curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mkvlrn/arch-devcontainer/main/setup.sh | bash

this downloads the .devcontainer directory with the base configuration and a helper script to start devpod

config

1. create/edit .devcontainer/.env with your git identity:

GIT_NAME=Your Name
GIT_EMAIL=your.email@example.com

2. edit .devcontainer/devcontainer.json to add features you need:

json
{
  "features": {
    "ghcr.io/mkvlrn/arch-devcontainer/node:latest": {},
    "ghcr.io/mkvlrn/arch-devcontainer/go:latest": {},
    "ghcr.io/mkvlrn/arch-devcontainer/python:latest": {},
    "ghcr.io/mkvlrn/arch-devcontainer/dotnet:latest": {},
  }
}

or with options:

json
{
  "features": {
    "ghcr.io/mkvlrn/arch-devcontainer/node:latest": {
      "nodeVersion": "22"
    }
  }
}

available features

Feature	Description
ghcr.io/mkvlrn/arch-devcontainer/node	nvm and pnpm (option: nodeVersion, default: 24)
ghcr.io/mkvlrn/arch-devcontainer/go	go + tools (gopls, delve, golangci-lint, etc.)
ghcr.io/mkvlrn/arch-devcontainer/python	uv package manager + newpy helper function
ghcr.io/mkvlrn/arch-devcontainer/dotnet	dotnet sdk

how it works

• SSH key: mounts ~/.ssh/id_ed25519 (read-only) for git operations and commit signing
• git identity: reads from .devcontainer/.env file for name/email configuration
• container name: automatically named devcontainer_<project-folder-name>

start container

with devpod

# default (vscode)
./.devcontainer/devpod.sh

# specify ide
# to view supported ides run `devpod ide list`
./.devcontainer/devpod.sh --ide zed

# recreate container (to use an updated container image, for example)
./.devcontainer/devpod.sh --recreate

with vscode devcontainer extension

open the project in vscode, click on the devcontainer icon in the bottom left corner (but you'll probably be prompted to reopen the window in the container automatically)