This is just a simplified example of how to configure a VSCode Development Container for use with Elixir and Phoenix. It's not very comprehensive (see "Limitations" below), but it might serve as a decent place to start your own configuration.

👋 Pull requests making this configuration more comprehensive and flexible are very welcome!

For the most part this is a stock, base Phoenix application. The only additions to the application are:

• The script/bootstrap and script/start scripts, useful for getting the app running once you're in the container.
• The config/dev.exs configuration pointing Ecto at the PostgreSQL instance (using the db hostname available courtesy of the .devcontainer/docker-compose.yml configuration).

Using the VSCode, when editing your working copy of this repository, use the Command Palette to run Remote-Containers: Reopen in Container.

Install the Elixir and JS dependencies:

$ ./script/bootstrap

Start the server:

$ ./script/start

(Both of these scripts are very simple and are included merely as a convenience. You may prefer to run the commands they contain yourself.)

You will likely be prompted that the server is available by VSCode—you should be able to connect to it at http://localhost:4001.

Copy the .devcontainer directory to your own project. You'll likely want to modify it somewhat (see "Limitations," below).

• The PostgreSQL server started does not have a volume mounted for persistence. You'll want to modify the .devcontainer/docker-compose.yml file accordingly (using volumes to mount a directory at /var/lib/postgresql/data, most likely).
• The .devcontainer/Dockerfile currently uses the latest official image (elixir:latest) and installs v15.x of NodeJS (for asset installation). This could be modified to be more flexible.
• The configuration doesn't currently install any useful VSCode extensions for you (such as ElixirLS).
• Uses the container's root user vs vscode or another non-root user.

Pull requests very welcome. Please take care to make any changes general purpose and not tied to your specific application's configuration or version preferences.

MIT; see separate licensing details in .devcontainer/library-scripts boilerplate scripts.