vscli

A CLI/TUI which makes it easy to launch Visual Studio Code (vscode) dev containers. Also supports other editors like Cursor.

Read here about the journey of reverse engineering Microsoft's dev container CLI in order to make this.

Features

• A shorthand for launching vscode projects (to be used like the code command but with dev container support)
• Supports different editors like vscode, vscode-insiders, cursor and other vscode forks
• Detects whether a project is a dev container project, and launches the dev container instead
• Supports multiple dev containers in the same project
• Tracks your projects and allows you to open them using a CLI-based UI

Installation

Cargo

Install vscli using cargo on Windows or Linux:

cargo install vscli

Homebrew

Install vscli using homebrew on Linux or Mac:

brew install michidk/tools/vscli

Chocolatey

Install vscli using Chocolatey on Windows:

choco install vscli

Winget

Install vscli using winget on Windows:

winget install vscli

Additional steps

You can set a shorthand alias for vscli in your shell's configuration file:

alias vs="vscli open"
alias vsr="vscli recent"

Usage

Commands

After installation, the vscli command will be available:

Usage: vscli [OPTIONS] <COMMAND>

Commands:
  open    Opens a dev container
  recent  Opens an interactive list of recently used workspaces
  help    Print this message or the help of the given subcommand(s)

Options:
  -s, --history-path <HISTORY_PATH>  Overwrite the default path to the history file [env: HISTORY_PATH=]
  -d, --dry-run                      Whether to launch in dry-run mode (not actually open vscode) [env: DRY_RUN=]
  -v, --verbose...                   Increase logging verbosity
  -q, --quiet...                     Decrease logging verbosity
  -h, --help                         Print help
  -V, --version                      Print version

Open Dev Containers

Opens a dev container.

Usage: vscli open [OPTIONS] [PATH] [ARGS]...

Arguments:
  [PATH]     The path of the vscode project to open [default: .]
  [ARGS]...  Additional arguments to pass to the editor [env: ARGS=]

Options:
  -c, --command <COMMAND>            The editor command to use (e.g. "code", "code-insiders", "cursor") [env: COMMAND=]
  -s, --history-path <HISTORY_PATH>  Overwrite the default path to the history file [env: HISTORY_PATH=]
  -b, --behavior <BEHAVIOR>          Launch behavior [possible values: detect, force-container, force-classic]
  -d, --dry-run                      Whether to launch in dry-run mode (not actually open vscode) [env: DRY_RUN=]
      --config <CONFIG>              Overwrites the path to the dev container config file [env: CONFIG=]
  -v, --verbose...                   Increase logging verbosity
  -q, --quiet...                     Decrease logging verbosity
  -h, --help                         Print help (see more with '--help')

Recent UI

Opens an interactive list of recently used workspaces.

Usage: vscli recent [OPTIONS] [ARGS]...

Arguments:
  [ARGS]...  Additional arguments to pass to the editor [env: ARGS=]

Options:
      --hide-instructions            Hide the instruction message in the UI
  -s, --history-path <HISTORY_PATH>  Overwrite the default path to the history file [env: HISTORY_PATH=]
  -d, --dry-run                      Whether to launch in dry-run mode (not actually open vscode) [env: DRY_RUN=]
      --hide-info                    Hide additional information like strategy, command, args and dev container path in the UI
  -c, --command <COMMAND>            The editor command to use (e.g. "code", "code-insiders", "cursor") [env: COMMAND=]
  -v, --verbose...                   Increase logging verbosity
  -b, --behavior <BEHAVIOR>          Launch behavior [possible values: detect, force-container, force-classic]
  -q, --quiet...                     Decrease logging verbosity
      --config <CONFIG>              Overwrites the path to the dev container config file [env: CONFIG=]
  -h, --help                         Print help (see more with '--help')

Both the open and recent commands share the same set of launch arguments:

• --command: Specify which editor command to use (e.g., "code", "code-insiders", "cursor")
• --behavior: Set the launch behavior ("detect", "force-container", "force-classic")
• --config: Override the path to the dev container config file
• Additional arguments can be passed to the editor executable by specifying them after --

The recent command additionally supports:

• --hide-instructions: Hide the keybinding instructions from the UI
• --hide-info: Hide additional information like strategy, command, args and dev container path

Keybindings

Note: If an input does not match any of the defined keybindings, it is treated as part of a search input.

Mouse Interactions

Launch Behavior

There are three launch behaviors:

• force-classic: Launch vscode without a dev container
• force-container: Launch vscode with a dev container, error if no dev container is found
• detect: Detect whether the project is a dev container project, and launch the dev container if it is

Detection Algorithm

The detection algorithm determines which dev container config to launch.

• First, check whether a dev container config was specified via the --config flag -> launch it
• Then loads the first dev container it finds
  • If more than one exists -> show a interactive list of dev containers and let the user select one
  • If one exists -> launch it
  • If none exists -> launch vscode normally without a dev container

Examples

Launching a project

You can launch a project using the default behavior:

vscli open                          # open vscode in the current directory
vscli open .                        # open vscode in the current directory
vscli open /path/to/project         # open vscode in the specified directory

The default behavior tries to detect whether the project is a dev container project. If it is, it will launch the dev container instead - if not it will launch vscode normally.

You can change the launch behavior using the --behavior flag:

vscli open --behavior force-container .  # force open vscode dev container (even if vscli did not detect a dev container)
vscli open --behavior force-classic .    # force open vscode without a dev container (even if vscli did detect a dev container)

When you open a project containing more than one dev container config, you will be prompted to select one:

You can specify which editor command to use with the --command flag:

vscli open --command cursor .        # open using cursor editor
vscli open --command code .          # open using vscode (default)
vscli open --command code-insiders . # open using vscode insiders

Additional arguments can be passed to the editor executable, by specifying them after --:

vscli open . -- --disable-gpu        # open the current directory without GPU hardware acceleration

Read more about the editor flags by executing code --help (or cursor --help, etc).

CLI UI

You can open a CLI-based user interface to display a list of recently opened projects using the recent command:

vscli recent                                    # open the CLI-based UI to select a recently opened project to open
vscli recent --command cursor                   # open the selected project with cursor, ignoring the editor stored in history
vscli recent --behavior force-container         # force open the selected project in a dev container
vscli recent --command cursor --behavior detect # open with cursor and detect if dev container should be used
vscli recent --config .devcontainer/custom.json # open with a specific dev container config
vscli recent -- --disable-gpu                   # pass additional arguments to the editor
vscli recent --hide-instructions               # hide the keybinding instructions from the UI
vscli recent --hide-info                       # hide additional information like strategy, command, args and dev container path

The UI mode provides a convenient way to browse and manage your recent workspaces, with customizable display options and full support for all launch configurations.