James Montemagno from Visual Studio Code demonstrates how to set up Dev Containers and run AI coding agents within them, utilizing GitHub Codespaces for portable development. This guide is perfect for developers seeking efficiency and portability using Microsoft technologies.

Run Your AI Coding Agent in Containers: Complete Beginner’s Guide

Featuring: James Montemagno (@JamesMontemagno)

Explore how to bundle your entire development environment—including SDKs, runtimes, extensions, and tools—into a secure, portable container. This approach allows developers to create consistent dev setups across different machines and projects.

Why Dev Containers?

  • Encapsulate all development dependencies in a single container
  • Achieve consistent, reproducible development environments
  • Enhance security and portability for your workflows

Step-by-Step Guide

1. Introduction

  • Learn the challenges of managing dependencies and setups across projects
  • Understand how Dev Containers solve environment drift and setup time

2. Setting Up Your First Dev Container

  • Walkthrough on initializing a Dev Container using Visual Studio Code
  • Instructions on bundling SDKs, runtimes, and extensions
  • Demonstration of best practices in container configuration

3. Running AI Coding Agents Inside Dev Containers

  • Explanation of AI coding agents and why they benefit from containerized environments
  • Practical steps to install and run coding agents within a container

4. Leveraging GitHub Codespaces

  • Demonstration of how Dev Containers enable cloud-based development with GitHub Codespaces
  • Seamless transition from local to remote development environments

Key Takeaways

  • Utilizing Dev Containers and Codespaces dramatically improves developer productivity
  • Secure, consistent dev setups accelerate onboarding and offer flexibility
  • Best suited for developers working across multiple projects or teams

Additional Resources

Presented by: James Montemagno, Visual Studio Code team.

Discover how portable, container-based development using Microsoft tools and AI coding agents can streamline your workflow.