DevContainer for Sublime Text 4

A Sublime Text 4 plugin that brings VS Code's devcontainer functionality to Sublime Text, with full LSP (Language Server Protocol) support for intelligent code editing inside containers.

Features

• 📦 Full devcontainer.json Support - Compatible with VS Code's devcontainer specification
• 🐳 Docker & Podman Support - Works with both Docker and Podman container runtimes
• 🔌 LSP Integration - Automatic LSP server configuration and management in containers
• 🚀 Quick Start - Start, stop, and attach to containers with simple commands
• 🔄 Auto-configuration - Automatically detects and configures development environments
• 📝 Template Support - Create new devcontainer.json files with templates
• 🔧 Docker Compose Support - Works with multi-container setups

Requirements

• Sublime Text 4 (build 4000+)
• Docker or Podman installed and running
• LSP package (for language server support)

Installation

Via Package Control (Recommended)

1. Open Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P)
2. Select Package Control: Install Package
3. Search for DevContainer
4. Press Enter to install

Manual Installation

1. Clone this repository to your Sublime Text Packages directory:

   cd ~/.config/sublime-text/Packages
   git clone https://github.com/yourusername/sublime-devcontainer DevContainer

2. Restart Sublime Text

Quick Start

1. Open a Project with devcontainer.json

If your project already has a .devcontainer/devcontainer.json or .devcontainer.json file:

1. Open the project folder in Sublime Text
2. Open Command Palette
3. Run DevContainer: Start
4. Wait for the container to build and start
5. Run DevContainer: Attach to connect to the container

2. Create a New devcontainer.json

For projects without devcontainer configuration:

1. Open Command Palette
2. Run DevContainer: Edit Config
3. Select where to create the file (.devcontainer/devcontainer.json or .devcontainer.json)
4. Edit the generated configuration
5. Run DevContainer: Start

Configuration

Plugin Settings

Access settings via Preferences > Package Settings > DevContainer > Settings

{
  // Container runtime: "docker", "podman", or null for auto-detect
  "container_runtime": null,
  
  // Compose command: "docker-compose", "podman-compose", or null
  "compose_command": null,
  
  // Auto-start containers when opening projects
  "auto_start": false,
  
  // Clean up containers on exit
  "clean_on_exit": false,
  
  // LSP integration
  "lsp": {
    "auto_configure": true,
    "default_servers": {
      "python": ["pyright", "ruff"],
      "javascript": ["typescript-language-server"],
      "rust": ["rust-analyzer"]
    }
  }
}

Example devcontainer.json

Simple Python Development:

{
  "name": "Python Dev Container",
  "image": "mcr.microsoft.com/devcontainers/python:3.11",
  "customizations": {
    "sublimetext": {
      "extensions": ["LSP-pyright", "LSP-ruff"],
      "settings": {}
    }
  },
  "forwardPorts": [8000],
  "postCreateCommand": "pip install -r requirements.txt"
}

Node.js with Docker Compose:

{
  "name": "Node.js App",
  "dockerComposeFile": "docker-compose.yml",
  "service": "app",
  "workspaceFolder": "/workspace",
  "customizations": {
    "sublimetext": {
      "extensions": ["LSP-typescript"]
    }
  },
  "forwardPorts": [3000],
  "postCreateCommand": "npm install"
}

Custom Dockerfile:

{
  "name": "Custom Dev Environment",
  "build": {
    "dockerfile": "Dockerfile",
    "context": ".",
    "args": {
      "NODE_VERSION": "18"
    }
  },
  "customizations": {
    "sublimetext": {
      "extensions": []
    }
  },
  "forwardPorts": [8080],
  "remoteUser": "developer"
}

Available Commands

Access via Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P):

• DevContainer: Start - Start the development container
• DevContainer: Stop - Stop the running container
• DevContainer: Attach - Attach to a running container with LSP support
• DevContainer: Edit Config - Create or edit devcontainer.json
• DevContainer: Exec - Execute a command in the container
• DevContainer: Logs - View plugin logs
• DevContainer: Stop All - Stop all containers started by this plugin
• DevContainer: Remove All - Remove all containers and cleanup

LSP Integration

Automatic LSP Configuration

The plugin automatically:

1. Installs LSP servers in containers based on detected languages
2. Configures the LSP package to communicate with containerized servers
3. Maps file paths between your local workspace and container

Supported Language Servers

• Python: pyright, pylsp, ruff-lsp
• JavaScript/TypeScript: typescript-language-server
• Rust: rust-analyzer
• Go: gopls
• C/C++: clangd
• Ruby: solargraph
• Java: jdtls

Custom LSP Configuration

In devcontainer.json:

{
  "customizations": {
    "sublimetext": {
      "extensions": ["LSP-pyright", "LSP-ruff"],
      "settings": {
        "LSP": {
          "pyright": {
            "settings": {
              "python.analysis.typeCheckingMode": "strict"
            }
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Advanced Features

Port Forwarding

Automatically forward ports from container to host:

{
  "forwardPorts": [3000, 8080],
  "portsAttributes": {
    "3000": {
      "label": "Frontend"
    },
    "8080": {
      "label": "Backend API"
    }
  }
}

Environment Variables

Set environment variables in the container:

{
  "containerEnv": {
    "DATABASE_URL": "postgresql://localhost/devdb",
    "DEBUG": "true"
  },
  "remoteEnv": {
    "PATH": "${containerEnv:PATH}:/custom/bin"
  }
}

Features

Install additional tools using devcontainer features:

{
  "features": {
    "ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/git:1": {
      "version": "latest"
    },
    "ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/node:1": {
      "version": "18"
    }
  }
}

Lifecycle Scripts

Run commands at different stages:

{
  "postCreateCommand": "npm install && npm run build",
  "postStartCommand": "npm run dev",
  "postAttachCommand": "git status"
}

Comparison with nvim-dev-container

This plugin is inspired by nvim-dev-container but adapted for Sublime Text:

Feature	nvim-dev-container	sublime-devcontainer
Container Support	✅ Docker/Podman	✅ Docker/Podman
devcontainer.json	✅ Full support	✅ Full support
LSP Integration	✅ Native nvim LSP	✅ Via LSP package
Auto-start	✅	✅
Compose Support	✅	✅
Features Support	⚠️ Partial	⚠️ Partial
UI Integration	Neovim terminal	Sublime terminal

Troubleshooting

Container Won't Start

1. Check Docker/Podman is running: docker ps or podman ps
2. View plugin logs: Run DevContainer: Logs
3. Verify devcontainer.json syntax
4. Check container runtime in settings

LSP Not Working

1. Ensure LSP package is installed
2. Check container is running: DevContainer: Attach
3. Verify LSP servers are installed in container
4. Check LSP logs: Tools > LSP > Troubleshoot Server

Path Mapping Issues

The plugin automatically maps paths between local workspace and container. If you encounter issues:

1. Check workspaceMount in devcontainer.json
2. Verify workspaceFolder is correct
3. Ensure workspace folder is mounted correctly

Development

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Make your changes
4. Add tests if applicable
5. Submit a pull request

Project Structure

sublime-devcontainer/
├── devcontainer.py          # Main plugin code
├── lsp_helper.py            # LSP integration
├── DevContainer.sublime-settings  # Default settings
├── package-metadata.json    # Package Control metadata
└── README.md               # This file

Testing

Test the plugin with various devcontainer configurations:

# Python project
cd test-projects/python
subl .

# Node.js project
cd test-projects/nodejs
subl .

# Multi-container project
cd test-projects/fullstack
subl .

Resources

• Dev Container Specification
• VS Code DevContainers Documentation
• Sublime LSP Package
• nvim-dev-container - Inspiration for this plugin

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details

Acknowledgments

• Inspired by nvim-dev-container
• Built on the Dev Container Specification
• Uses Sublime LSP for language server support

Support

• 📝 Report Issues
• 💬 Discussions
• 📧 Email: your.email@example.com