fix: improve openDevContainer support with local workspace folder

[mafredri]

This change allows localWorkspaceFolder and localConfigFile to be
provided which allows us to use dev-container rather than
attached-container to enter enabling all dev container features like
file change detection and rebuilding.

Example open URL:

vscode://coder.coder-remote/openDevContainer?owner=mafredri&workspace=magenta-rat-8&agent=dev&devContainerName=boring_shaw&devContainerFolder=/workspaces/coder&localWorkspaceFolder=/home/coder/coder&localConfigFile=/home/coder/coder/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json

[Copilot]

Pull Request Overview

This PR enhances the /openDevContainer command to accept local paths, enabling full dev-container features when a local workspace folder and config file are provided.

• Add localWorkspaceFolder and localConfigFile query parameters in extension.ts
• Extend Commands to forward new parameters and adjust openDevContainer behavior
• Update CHANGELOG.md to document the new support

Reviewed Changes

Copilot reviewed 3 out of 3 changed files in this pull request and generated 1 comment.

File	Description
src/extension.ts	Read, validate, and forward localWorkspaceFolder & localConfigFile
src/commands.ts	Accept new CLI args, include hostPath/configFile, choose container type
CHANGELOG.md	Document unreleased support for hostPath and configFile

Comments suppressed due to low confidence (1)

src/commands.ts:751

• Add unit or integration tests covering scenarios with and without localWorkspaceFolder and localConfigFile to ensure correct authority strings and request payloads.

async function openDevContainer(

[aslilac]

I really don't know enough about dev containers or this extensions code to feel comfortable approving, but I did have a couple notes

[aslilac]

I know this isn't a new thing you're doing but ???

why does this function not just take named arguments??? I really wish someone had left a justification in a comment.

[aslilac]

Suggested change

	const type = !!localWorkspaceFolder ? "dev-container" : "attached-container";
	const type = localWorkspaceFolder ? "dev-container" : "attached-container";

as the linter is saying, this does nothing

[mafredri]

Haha, I fixed this locally but it didn't get pushed. I know it doesn't matter in the context, but it just feels better you know, some habits die hard. 😄

[aslilac]

tested locally and this diff seems to work fine. could we sneak it in here?

diff --git a/src/commands.ts b/src/commands.ts
index c1d49f9..375bca4 100644
--- a/src/commands.ts
+++ b/src/commands.ts
@@ -620,18 +620,18 @@ export class Commands {
 	 *
 	 * Throw if not logged into a deployment.
 	 */
-	public async openDevContainer(...args: string[]): Promise<void> {
+	public async openDevContainer(
+		workspaceOwner: string,
+		workspaceName: string,
+		workspaceAgent: string,
+		devContainerName: string,
+		devContainerFolder: string,
+	): Promise<void> {
 		const baseUrl = this.restClient.getAxiosInstance().defaults.baseURL;
 		if (!baseUrl) {
 			throw new Error("You are not logged in");
 		}
 
-		const workspaceOwner = args[0] as string;
-		const workspaceName = args[1] as string;
-		const workspaceAgent = args[2] as string;
-		const devContainerName = args[3] as string;
-		const devContainerFolder = args[4] as string;
-
 		await openDevContainer(
 			baseUrl,
 			workspaceOwner,

you can add your new arguments to the end as optional

[mafredri]

@aslilac made the proposed changes 👍🏻

[mafredri]

I really don't know enough about dev containers or this extensions code to feel comfortable approving, but I did have a couple notes

Understandable. 👍🏻

@DanielleMaywood researched this topic in the past and came to the conclusion that dev-container creates a new one, and attached-container works as we want. However, we recently discovered that attached-container is likely meant for attaching to a Docker container that's not necessarily a Dev Container since the VS Code extension disables some features.

These APIs are totally undocumented and have been reverse-engineered. With some additional effort we discovered that dev-container can be used to attach to a running dev container given the right inputs.

More context at: coder/coder#16426 (comment)

[DanielleMaywood]

Works on my machine ™️, LGTM!

[aslilac]

thanks for the context 😄