Support devcontainer.json in sub-folder (`.devcontainer/**/devcontainer.json`)

[eitsupi]

Does this CI work with .devcontainer/**/devcontainer.json (where ** is a sub-folder) from the specs?
https://containers.dev/implementors/spec/#devcontainerjson

The subFolder inputs does not seem to be match this case.

[stuartleeks]

Hi @eitsupi - do you have an example of where you tried this? (I had a quick scan down the linked issue but didn't spot it)

I'm curious as to whether the action attempted to call the devcontainer CLI. From a quick look back over the code, I didn't see anything that would stop it calling the CLI. If that is the case then it probably makes sense to open an issue on https://github.com/devcontainers/cli as that is the underpinning of the functionality in the action

[eitsupi]

Thanks for your response.

Hi @eitsupi - do you have an example of where you tried this? (I had a quick scan down the linked issue but didn't spot it)

This commit and
PRQL/prql@f4e25ab

This workflow log.
https://github.com/PRQL/prql/actions/runs/4253869385/jobs/7399324410

🏗️ build container
  About to run devcontainer build --workspace-folder /home/runner/work/prql/prql/.devcontainer/base --image-name ghcr.io/prql/prql-devcontainer:latest --platform linux/amd64) --output type=oci,dest=/tmp/output.tar --cache-from ghcr.io/prql/prql-devcontainer:latest --cache-from ghcr.io/prql/prql-devcontainer
  [2023-02-23T14:57:25.754Z] @devcontainers/cli 0.30.0. Node.js v18.14.1. linux 5.15.0-1033-azure x64.
  
  Error: Dev container config (/home/runner/work/prql/prql/.devcontainer/base/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json) not found.
      at doe (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/@devcontainers/cli/dist/spec-node/devContainersSpecCLI.js:2069:26598)
      at async hoe (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/@devcontainers/cli/dist/spec-node/devContainersSpecCLI.js:2069:25017)

I'm curious as to whether the action attempted to call the devcontainer CLI. From a quick look back over the code, I didn't see anything that would stop it calling the CLI. If that is the case then it probably makes sense to open an issue on devcontainers/cli as that is the underpinning of the functionality in the action

Maybe...

[stuartleeks]

Thanks @eitsupi. Looking at the output you pasted, the error is indeed coming from the CLI so the related issue you created seems like the best way to continue the discussion 👍

[marcusmotill]

@eitsupi i was able to work around this by ditching the CI all together and using just the CLI. here is my example:

      - name: Set up Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v3
        with:
          node-version: 18

      - name: Install devcontainer CLI
        run: npm install -g @devcontainers/cli

      - name: Start dev container
        run: devcontainer up --config .devcontainer/standalone/devcontainer.json --workspace-folder .

      - name: Run tests in dev container
        run: devcontainer exec --config .devcontainer/standalone/devcontainer.json --workspace-folder . make test

where make test is the command i am running in the container

[m-roberts]

The workaround does the job for now, but it seems strange that the CI action does not support the --config behaviour of the CLI.

[Clockwork-Muse]

As an additional reason why this behavior is desired:
Currently in VS Code if the devcontainer.json is in a direct subdirectory of .devcontainer, it will notice the file, and can prompt you if there are multiple. If it's in the required sub-sub directory (ie, .devcontainer/somesubdir/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json) VSCode won't find it.

This is handy to account for things like split build/run images (to account for cases where caching doesn't work as well as would be preferred).

[edward-encoord]

Another workaround is to copy .devcontainer/*/devcontainer.json to a sub-folder before using the devcontainer CI.

Need to pay attention to the values that depend on the location of devcontainer.json, like the value of context of build in devcontainer.json.

[jrhemstad]

I'd like to see this happen as well. In my project we've got numerous devcontainers for various build environment configurations (different compilers, etc.).

[jeffmur]

This is working as expected on v3.0 🎉

Structure

.devcontainer
├── ci
│   └── devcontainer.json
└── prod
    └── devcontainer.json

Github Action

    - name: Run make ci-build in dev container
      uses: devcontainers/ci@v0.3
      with:
        imageName: ghcr.io/NAMESPACE/REPO
        configFile: ./.devcontainer/ci/devcontainer.json
        push: never
        runCmd: make build