This is a short piece on how to set up dev containers in VSCode with Podman and Claude Code.

  • Download and install Podman Desktop
  • bash this to use podman instead of docker:
    echo 'alias docker=podman' >> ~/.bashrc`

  • Install the dev containers extension in VS Code and configure it to use podman as the dockerpath for dev containers:

  • Create a Dockerfile:

FROM mcr.microsoft.com/devcontainers/javascript-node:18
WORKDIR /workspace
  • Create a devcontainer.json file:
{
    "name": "Node.js Dev Container with Claude Code",
    "build": {
        "dockerfile": "Dockerfile"
    },
    "features": {
        "ghcr.io/anthropics/devcontainer-features/claude-code:1.0.5": {}
    },
    "workspaceFolder": "/workspace",
    "customizations": {
        "vscode": {
            "extensions": [
                "ms-vscode.vscode-json"
            ]
        }
    }
}
  • Ensure you have started Podman:
podman machine start
  • In VS Code: ctrl + shift + p and then choose Rebuild and reopen in container
  • Use ctrl + shift + p and choose Reopen folders locally to stop

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10th August 2025