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GitHub Codespaces

Cloud-hosted development environments for GitHub repositories.

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Field note

What it does

GitHub Codespaces provides pre-configured cloud development environments defined by devcontainer.json.

Capabilities

Available capabilities

Editor extension support Rebuild a codespace container GitHub authentication Seamless package pulling Add dev container configuration Export and View Logs Remote SSH access Git Integration Settings Sync Business Continuity TLS encrypted connections Rebuild environment Extensions Regional deployment Shell customization Port Forwarding Stop or Suspend Codespace Dev container configuration Suspend or stop a codespace Cloud development environment Private registry access Codespace prebuilds Machine type selection Secret-based registry authentication Template repository quickstart Regional failover Browser-based VS Code editor Isolated virtual machines Rebuild Container Add Dev Container Configuration Disaster Recovery via ClusterSet Security features GitHub Copilot integration Granular access permissions Export Codespaces logs Cloud development environments Isolated networking VS Code Command Palette Integration Token-based authentication Stable or beta host image selection Dev container configuration Environment Isolation

Adding an item to a project

Authentication

Automatically opening files

Set files to open automatically when a codespace opens in the VS Code web client.

Codespace lifecycle

Develop and maintain your data throughout the entire codespace lifecycle.

Default region setting

Manually set the default region for your codespaces.

devcontainer.json configuration

Define tools, runtimes, frameworks, editor settings, and extensions to restore the environment automatically.

Dev container features

Quickly add tools, runtimes, or libraries to your dev container configuration.

devcontainer.json extensions

Specify GitHub.copilot as an extension in devcontainer.json to include it for all users of a project.

devcontainer.json features

Add tools, runtimes, or libraries to your dev container configuration.

Development environment secrets

Use secrets to access sensitive information within your codespaces.

Disaster recovery

Disaster recovery reference for GitHub Codespaces.

Finding information about items in a project

Finding information about projects

Finding the node ID of a field

Finding the node ID of a user project

Finding the node ID of an organization project

Create a codespace

gh codespace create -r OWNER/REPO_NAME [-b BRANCH] creates a new codespace.

List codespaces

gh codespace list shows your codespaces, including unique names and branch status.

Rebuild a codespace

gh codespace rebuild rebuilds using the saved devcontainer.json; --full performs a full rebuild.

SSH into a codespace

gh codespace ssh -c CODESPACE-NAME runs commands on the remote codespace machine.

GitHub Copilot in Codespaces

Use GitHub Copilot within GitHub Codespaces.

Stable or beta host image

Build codespaces using either the stable or beta host image.

Isolated networking

Each codespace has its own isolated virtual network with firewalls blocking inbound and inter-codespace traffic.

Isolated virtual machines

Each codespace runs on its own newly-built VM; no two codespaces share a VM.

Machine type selection

Change the type of machine running your codespace to match your work.

Private registry access

Allow your codespace to access a private registry.

Registry secrets

Use <*>_CONTAINER_REGISTRY_SERVER, USER, and PASSWORD secrets to access other container registries.

Scoped tokens

Codespaces receive a new GitHub token with automatic expiry and scope based on repository access.

Seamless GitHub Packages pull

Pull packages from GitHub Packages registries with granular permissions without providing credentials.

Security in Codespaces

Reference documentation on security in GitHub Codespaces.

Settings Sync

Enable Settings Sync to include GitHub Copilot or other extensions in all of your codespaces.

Shell selection

Change your shell in a codespace to keep the setup you are used to.

TLS encrypted tunnel

Connections to codespaces use a TLS encrypted tunnel provided by the Codespaces service.