Dev Containers Skill

Set up local development environments with production parity for DigitalOcean App Platform applications.

Primary value: 30-second feedback loops instead of 7-minute deploy cycles.

Quick Decision

What do you need?
├── New project setup → Workflow 1
├── Existing App Platform app → Workflow 2
└── CLI-only testing (no IDE) → See cli-workflow.md

Quick Start: Clone and Copy

# Clone the reference devcontainer
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/bikramkgupta/do-app-devcontainer.git /tmp/devcontainer-ref

# Copy to your project
cp -r /tmp/devcontainer-ref/.devcontainer /path/to/your-project/

# Clean up
rm -rf /tmp/devcontainer-ref

Then customize COMPOSE_PROFILES in .devcontainer/devcontainer.json:

"containerEnv": {
  "COMPOSE_PROFILES": "app,postgres,minio"
}

Available Profiles

Connection Strings

Inside container: Use service names (e.g., postgres:5432) From host: Use docker compose port to find mapped ports

Workflow 1: New Project Setup

Trigger: "I'm building a [language] app with [services]"

1. Copy .devcontainer/ from reference repo (see Quick Start)
2. Set COMPOSE_PROFILES based on required services
3. Create env-devcontainer.example with connection strings
4. Open in VS Code/Cursor → "Reopen in Container"

devcontainer.json template:

{
  "name": "App Platform Dev Environment",
  "dockerComposeFile": "docker-compose.yml",
  "service": "app",
  "workspaceFolder": "/workspaces/app",
  "features": {
    "ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/github-cli:1": {},
    "ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/node:1": {},
    "ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/python:1": {},
    "ghcr.io/devcontainers-extra/features/uv:1": {},
    "ghcr.io/devcontainers-extra/features/digitalocean-cli:1": {},
    "ghcr.io/anthropics/devcontainer-features/claude-code:1": {},
    "ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/docker-outside-of-docker:1": {}
  },
  "containerEnv": {
    "COMPOSE_PROFILES": "app,postgres"
  },
  "initializeCommand": "cd \"${localWorkspaceFolder}\" && bash .devcontainer/init.sh",
  "postCreateCommand": ".devcontainer/post-create.sh",
  "remoteUser": "vscode",
  "shutdownAction": "stopCompose"
}

Workflow 2: Add to Existing App Platform App

Trigger: "I have an App Platform app, help me run it locally"

1. Read .do/app.yaml to detect services
2. Map App Platform → local containers:

1. Generate environment mapping:

# Production (App Platform injects)
# DATABASE_URL=${db.DATABASE_URL}

# Local Development
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://postgres:password@postgres:5432/app

Environment Template

# env-devcontainer.example

# Database
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://postgres:password@postgres:5432/app

# Cache
REDIS_URL=redis://valkey:6379

# S3-compatible storage (RustFS)
SPACES_ENDPOINT=http://minio:9000
SPACES_KEY_ID=rustfsadmin
SPACES_SECRET_KEY=rustfsadmin
SPACES_BUCKET_NAME=my-app-local
SPACES_FORCE_PATH_STYLE=true

What You Get from Reference Repo

.devcontainer/
├── devcontainer.json           # IDE configuration
├── docker-compose.yml          # All 7 backing services
├── init.sh                     # Git worktree support
├── post-create.sh              # Post-creation setup
├── .env                        # Generated (gitignored)
└── tests/                      # Service connectivity tests
    ├── agent-test.sh           # E2E validation
    ├── run-all-tests.sh        # Master test runner
    └── test-*.sh               # Individual service tests

Testing Services

# Test all running services
.devcontainer/tests/run-all-tests.sh --all

# Test specific services
.devcontainer/tests/run-all-tests.sh postgres minio

# List available tests
.devcontainer/tests/run-all-tests.sh --list

Health Check Timing

Quick Troubleshooting

Reference Files

Limitations

This skill does not handle:

• Cloud deployment → use deployment skill
• Production app specs → use designer skill
• Database migrations → bring your own migration tool
• DigitalOcean Functions → not containerizable
• SSL/TLS → local uses HTTP; production handles SSL automatically

Integration with Other Skills

• → designer: Design production app spec after local testing
• → deployment: Set up GitHub Actions CI/CD
• → postgres: Configure managed database permissions
• → troubleshooting: Debug production issues

External References

• VS Code Dev Containers
• Docker Compose
• Reference Implementation