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Install VS Code

We develop inside Visual Studio Code because it can open a project inside a container transparently — you edit, build, and debug as if the toolchain were local, but it all runs in the devcontainer.

Install

  1. Download VS Code from code.visualstudio.com and install it on Windows (not inside WSL — the Windows app connects into WSL and containers for you).
  2. Launch it.

Install the Dev Containers extension

  1. Open the Extensions panel (Ctrl+Shift+X).
  2. Search for and install Dev Containers (publisher: Microsoft, id ms-vscode-remote.remote-containers).
  3. While you're there, the WSL extension (ms-vscode-remote.remote-wsl) is also handy.

You don't install the project extensions yourself

The devcontainers declare the extensions they need (ESP-IDF, C/C++, CMake, Go, Prettier, GitHub Pull Requests, …). VS Code installs those into the container automatically when it opens. You only need the Dev Containers extension on the host.

Verify

Press F1 (or Ctrl+Shift+P) to open the command palette and type Dev Containers. If you see commands like "Dev Containers: Reopen in Container", the extension is ready.

  • Sign in to your GitHub account in VS Code (Accounts icon, bottom-left). This makes cloning private repos and using the Pull Requests panel painless.
  • Set your git identity once (covered in Git basics).

Next: Open the devcontainer →