Open VS Code Devcontainer From Command Line

code-c.sh

code() {
  # Detect WSL
  __code_is_wsl=0
  if [ -n "$WSL_DISTRO_NAME" ] || grep -qi microsoft /proc/version 2>/dev/null; then
    __code_is_wsl=1
  fi

  # Check for required external commands
  for __code_dep in code realpath xxd; do
    if ! command -v "$__code_dep" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
      echo "Error: '$__code_dep' is required but not installed." >&2
      if [ "$__code_dep" = "xxd" ]; then
        echo "  (usually part of the vim package)" >&2
      fi
      return 127
    fi
  done

  if [ "$__code_is_wsl" -eq 1 ]; then
    if ! command -v wslpath >/dev/null 2>&1; then
      echo "Error: 'wslpath' is required in WSL but not installed." >&2
      return 127
    fi
  fi

  # Initialize variables
  __code_is_dev_container=0
  __code_show_custom_help=0
  __code_target=""
  __code_passthrough_args=()

  # Parse arguments
  for __code_arg in "$@"; do
    case "$__code_arg" in
      -c)
        __code_is_dev_container=1
        ;;
      -h|--help)
        if [ "$__code_is_dev_container" -eq 1 ]; then
          __code_show_custom_help=1
        fi
        # Keep help flag in passthrough in case we aren't in dev container mode
        __code_passthrough_args+=("$__code_arg")
        ;;
      -ch|-hc)
        __code_is_dev_container=1
        __code_show_custom_help=1
        ;;
      -*)
        # It's a flag (e.g. -n, --verbose, --profile), preserve it
        __code_passthrough_args+=("$__code_arg")
        ;;
      *)
        # It's not a flag. If we haven't found a target yet, this is it.
        if [ -z "$__code_target" ]; then
          __code_target="$__code_arg"
        else
          # We already have a target, treat this as an extra arg/path
          __code_passthrough_args+=("$__code_arg")
        fi
        ;;
    esac
  done

  # Show custom help if requested (-c -h)
  if [ "$__code_show_custom_help" -eq 1 ]; then
    cat <<'EOF'
Usage:
  code -c [path] [options]  Open path in VS Code Dev Container mode.
  code [path] -c [options]  (Alternative argument order)

Options:
  -h, --help               Show this help message for Dev Container mode.

Environment:
  CODE_SILENT=1            Suppress informational "Opening..." messages.
  CODE_PRESERVE_SYMLINK=1  Preserve symlink paths instead of resolving them.

Standard VS Code options (like -n, --verbose) are passed through.
EOF
    return 0
  fi

  # Handle Dev Container mode
  if [ "$__code_is_dev_container" -eq 1 ]; then
    
    # Default to current directory if no target found
    if [ -z "$__code_target" ]; then
      __code_target="."
    fi

    # Resolve absolute path (Linux path)
    if [ -n "$CODE_PRESERVE_SYMLINK" ]; then
      __code_absolute_path="$(cd "$__code_target" 2>/dev/null && pwd)" || {
        echo "Error: Cannot resolve path '$__code_target'." >&2
        return 2
      }
    else
      __code_absolute_path="$(realpath "$__code_target" 2>/dev/null)" || {
        echo "Error: Cannot resolve path '$__code_target'." >&2
        return 2
      }
    fi

    # Validate directory existence
    if [ ! -d "$__code_absolute_path" ]; then
      echo "Error: Not a directory: '$__code_absolute_path'." >&2
      return 2
    fi
    if [ ! -r "$__code_absolute_path" ]; then
      echo "Error: Directory not readable: '$__code_absolute_path'." >&2
      return 2
    fi

    # Determine path to encode
    __code_base_name="$(basename "$__code_absolute_path")"
    [ -z "$__code_base_name" ] || [ "$__code_base_name" = "/" ] && __code_base_name="root"
    
    __code_path_to_encode="$__code_absolute_path"

    # Handle WSL path translation
    if [ "$__code_is_wsl" -eq 1 ]; then
      __code_windows_path="$(wslpath -w "$__code_absolute_path")" || {
        echo "Error: Failed to translate WSL path." >&2
        return 3
      }
      __code_path_to_encode="$__code_windows_path"
    fi

    # Hex encode
    __code_encoded_path="$(printf '%s' "$__code_path_to_encode" | tr -d '\n' | xxd -c 256 -p 2>/dev/null)"
    if [ -z "$__code_encoded_path" ]; then
      echo "Error: Failed to encode path." >&2
      return 2
    fi

    if [ -z "$CODE_SILENT" ]; then
      echo "Opening VS Code Dev Container for: $__code_absolute_path" >&2
    fi

    # Launch VS Code with passthrough args (e.g. -n) and the folder URI
    command code "${__code_passthrough_args[@]}" --folder-uri="vscode-remote://dev-container+$__code_encoded_path/workspaces/$__code_base_name"
  else
    # Pass through exactly as is for non-container usage
    command code "$@"
  fi
}

Why?

This script adds a -c flag to your installation of VS Code. It allows you to open any directory in a dev container directly from the command line:

code -c path/to/directory

This means that you no longer have to open the directory locally, wait for a pop-up to appear, and click the button “Reopen in container.” Just open it there directly.

Installation?

Either paste this at the end of your .bashrc file, or create a new file somewhere at path/to/script.sh and source it from .bashrc file (or even your .bash_aliases file). For example, you can put this script at ~/.code-c.sh.

curl -fSsLo ~/.code-c.sh https://gist.githubusercontent.com/KnorpelSenf/f4f65f38c8bb64fef2b7e2cc57e3254c/raw/f9f2efcf8e29571a4f8354ab2f7c2be7c2ec482e/code-c.sh
echo -e '\n# code -c\nsource ~/.code-c.sh' >> .bashrc

Compatibility?

It should work everywhere sh works, i.e. basically Linux, Mac, and WSL2. If there is an issue, feel free to comment below but please note that I am not promising that I will maintain this. It works for me.

Credits?

This SO answer.

Also, various LLMs, so take it with a grain of salt.