refactor: Replace custom Dockerfile with feature-based devcontainer

[tablackburn]

Summary

• Replace custom Dockerfile with official devcontainer features (Claude Code, GitHub CLI, common-utils)
• Switch from Windows-only ${localEnv:USERPROFILE} bind mounts to a cross-platform Docker Compose approach using a generated .env file
• Update base image from non-existent 7-ubuntu-24.04 tag to floating ubuntu-24.04
• Remove OTBS formatting preset and unused recommended extensions (GitLens, EditorConfig)

Changes

• Deleted: .devcontainer/Dockerfile (custom build)
• Added: .devcontainer/docker-compose.yml — service definition with cross-platform volume mounts using ${CLAUDE_HOST_HOME} from .env
• Added: .devcontainer/setup-host.ps1 — initializeCommand script that detects USERPROFILE (Windows) or HOME (macOS/Linux) and writes .devcontainer/.env
• Updated: .devcontainer/devcontainer.json — switched from image/mounts to dockerComposeFile/service with initializeCommand; added git safe.directory for bind-mounted workspace; removed OTBS formatting preset
• Updated: .vscode/extensions.json — removed GitLens and EditorConfig recommendations
• Updated: .gitignore — added .devcontainer/.env

How cross-platform mounts work

1. initializeCommand runs setup-host.ps1 on the host before container creation
2. Script detects home directory and workspace path, writes quoted values to .devcontainer/.env
3. Docker Compose reads .env and substitutes ${CLAUDE_HOST_HOME} in volume mount paths
4. Container starts with correct bind mounts regardless of host OS

Test plan

• setup-host.ps1 generates correct .env on Windows
• docker compose config resolves all volume paths correctly
• devcontainer build --workspace-folder . succeeds
• devcontainer up --workspace-folder . succeeds (workspace mount, features, postCreateCommand)

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

[coderabbitai]

📝 Walkthrough

Walkthrough

Devcontainer switched from a custom build Dockerfile to an image-plus-docker-compose setup: .devcontainer/Dockerfile was removed, .devcontainer/devcontainer.json now references docker-compose and features, .devcontainer/docker-compose.yml was added, and .devcontainer/setup-host.ps1 generates .devcontainer/.env for bind mounts and volumes. (50 words)

Changes

Cohort / File(s)	Summary
Removed Dockerfile .devcontainer/Dockerfile	Removed custom image build and all build-time setup: package installs (git, curl, jq, sudo, ca-certificates, gnupg, less), Node/GitHub/Claude CLI installs, non-root user creation and sudo setup, PowerShell module/history mounts, git safe.directory config, and DEVCONTAINER env vars.
Devcontainer configuration .devcontainer/devcontainer.json	Switched from build/Dockerfile to docker-compose (dockerComposeFile + service), added features (common-utils, github.cli, claude-code), removed containerEnv and legacy mounts, updated postCreateCommand to set git safe.directory, restricted extensions to ms-vscode.powershell, adjusted PowerShell settings path and removed Linux terminal profiles.
Docker Compose service .devcontainer/docker-compose.yml	Added devcontainer service using mcr.microsoft.com/powershell:ubuntu-24.04, declared workspace and Claude/GH bind mounts, defined a persistent gh-cli-config volume, and runs a long-lived command (sleep infinity) so VS Code can attach.
Host setup script .devcontainer/setup-host.ps1	Added host-side initializer that detects host home and workspace paths, normalizes path separators for cross-platform mounts, writes .devcontainer/.env with CLAUDE_HOST_HOME, LOCAL_WORKSPACE_FOLDER, and LOCAL_WORKSPACE_FOLDER_BASENAME for docker-compose interpolation.
Gitignore update .gitignore	Added .devcontainer/.env to ignore the host-generated env file.

Sequence Diagram(s)

mermaid
sequenceDiagram
participant Host as Host (dev machine)
participant Setup as setup-host.ps1
participant Compose as docker-compose
participant Container as devcontainer (image)
participant VSCode as VS Code
Host->>Setup: run .devcontainer/setup-host.ps1
Setup-->>Host: write .devcontainer/.env
Host->>Compose: docker compose up (uses .env)
Compose->>Container: start mcr.microsoft.com/powershell:ubuntu-24.04
Container->>Container: mount workspace, gh-cli-config, claude paths
Container-->>Compose: container running (sleep infinity)
VSCode->>Container: attach to devcontainer

Estimated code review effort

🎯 3 (Moderate) | ⏱️ ~20 minutes

Poem

🐇 I nudged the Dockerfile out of sight,
Wrote envs on the host by morning light.
An image hums, volumes tucked in tight,
VS Code hops in — everything's right.
Small paws, big changes, and a joyful bite.

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 3

✅ Passed checks (3 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Docstring Coverage	✅ Passed	No functions found in the changed files to evaluate docstring coverage. Skipping docstring coverage check.
Description Check	✅ Passed	Check skipped - CodeRabbit’s high-level summary is enabled.
Title check	✅ Passed	The title clearly describes the main change: replacing a custom Dockerfile with feature-based devcontainer configuration, which is reflected across all modified files (Dockerfile removal, devcontainer.json updates with features, docker-compose addition).

_{✏️ Tip: You can configure your own custom pre-merge checks in the settings.}

✨ Finishing touches

• 📝 Generate docstrings

🧪 Generate unit tests (beta)

• Create PR with unit tests
• Post copyable unit tests in a comment
• Commit unit tests in branch devcontainer-cleanup

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[coderabbitai]

Actionable comments posted: 2

🤖 Fix all issues with AI agents

In @.devcontainer/devcontainer.json:
- Line 17: The mount in the devcontainer bind string uses ${localEnv:APPDATA}/gh
which is the wrong Windows folder; update the source portion of the bind entry
(the string shown in the diff) to point to the GitHub CLI default folder by
replacing "${localEnv:APPDATA}/gh" with "${localEnv:APPDATA}/GitHub CLI" so the
container mounts the correct Windows config directory and commands like `gh auth
status` work inside the container.
- Line 21: The postCreateCommand currently runs "Install-Module -Name Pester
-Force -SkipPublisherCheck" which relies on implicit scope resolution; update
the command referenced by postCreateCommand to explicitly add "-Scope
CurrentUser" to the Install-Module invocation so Pester is installed for the
vscode/non-elevated user reliably across PowerShellGet versions.

[Copilot]

Pull request overview

This PR refactors the devcontainer configuration to use official devcontainer features instead of a custom Dockerfile, aiming to simplify the setup for Claude Code and PowerShell development.

Changes:

• Replaced custom 58-line Dockerfile with official devcontainer features (common-utils, github-cli, claude-code)
• Switched from PowerShell LTS Ubuntu 22.04 to PowerShell 7.5 Ubuntu 24.04 base image
• Added host config mounts for GitHub CLI and Claude authentication

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 2 out of 2 changed files in this pull request and generated 6 comments.

File	Description
.devcontainer/devcontainer.json	Complete refactor to use features-based configuration with simplified setup and new host config mounts
.devcontainer/Dockerfile	Removed custom Dockerfile in favor of devcontainer features

---

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[coderabbitai]

Actionable comments posted: 1

🤖 Fix all issues with AI agents

In @.devcontainer/devcontainer.json:
- Around line 18-19: The devcontainer mount uses the Windows-only environment
variable ${localEnv:USERPROFILE}, which will be empty on macOS/Linux and cause
Docker mount failures; update .devcontainer/devcontainer.json to avoid directly
concatenating HOME and USERPROFILE and instead implement a cross-platform
approach: either document this as Windows-only, or replace the static mount
entries with a conditional solution such as adding an initializeCommand that
detects the host OS and sets a DEV_CONTAINER_CLAUDE_PATH (or similar) env var
before mounts are evaluated, or move the bind logic into a devcontainer feature
or init script that only creates the bind/mount when the resolved host path is
non-empty; reference the existing mount lines using ${localEnv:USERPROFILE} and
${localEnv:HOME} when making the conditional logic so the change targets those
exact variables.

[coderabbitai]

Actionable comments posted: 1

🤖 Fix all issues with AI agents

In @.devcontainer/devcontainer.json:
- Around line 2-3: The devcontainer "image" entry currently uses the
non-existent tag "mcr.microsoft.com/powershell:7-ubuntu-24.04"; update the
"image" property value to a valid PowerShell tag such as
"mcr.microsoft.com/powershell:7-ubuntu-22.04" or
"mcr.microsoft.com/powershell:latest" so the container can be pulled
successfully, leaving the rest of .devcontainer/devcontainer.json unchanged.

[coderabbitai]

Actionable comments posted: 2

🤖 Fix all issues with AI agents

In @.devcontainer/docker-compose.yml:
- Line 8: The docker-compose entry uses the named volume gh-cli-config which
prevents host GitHub CLI credentials from being shared into the container;
either replace the named volume gh-cli-config with a bind mount of the host GH
CLI config (e.g. host ~/.config/gh -> container /home/vscode/.config/gh) if you
want host auth available, or keep the named volume but update docs/README to
state users must run gh auth login inside the devcontainer; locate the volume
reference gh-cli-config in the .devcontainer docker-compose service and change
to a bind mount or add documentation accordingly.

In @.devcontainer/setup-host.ps1:
- Around line 21-28: The .env values written via the $envContent here-string are
unquoted which breaks docker-compose when paths contain spaces; update the
$envContent generation (the here-string assigned to $envContent) to wrap each
variable value in quotes (e.g., CLAUDE_HOST_HOME="...") and ensure any internal
double quotes in $claudeHome/$workspace/$workspaceName are escaped before
writing, then continue to write to $envPath with Set-Content as before.

🧹 Nitpick comments (1)

.devcontainer/devcontainer.json (1)

6-6: initializeCommand requires pwsh on the host machine.

This command runs before the container is created, so the host must have PowerShell 7+ (pwsh) installed. Since this is a PowerShell module template, that's a reasonable assumption — but contributors on a Linux/macOS machine without pwsh will get an opaque error. Consider adding a note in the repo README or a fallback.