Show Linux GUI applications running in a Dev Container in a VS Code editor tab, using Xpra's official HTML5 client and a self-contained Xpra/Xvfb runtime that the extension downloads into its own storage. No Dockerfile changes, no root, nothing installed on the host.
Installation
Launch VS Code Quick Open (Ctrl+P), paste the following command, and press enter.
Shows Linux GUI (X11) applications running in a Dev Container in a VS Code editor tab.
No Dockerfile or devcontainer.json changes, no root, nothing installed on the host. On first use the extension downloads a self-contained Xpra runtime (about 35 MB) from xpra-runtime into its own storage.
Requirements
A Linux container with glibc 2.36 or newer (Debian 12+, Ubuntu 24.04+, Fedora, Arch, ...), x64 or arm64
tar in the container
Access to github.com on first use
Usage
Install the VSIX while VS Code is connected to the container (Extensions: Install from VSIX...).
Accept the runtime download. The status bar shows 🖥 EasyGUI when ready.
In a terminal opened after that, start an application (e.g. xterm &). Click 🖥 EasyGUI to open the display tab.
Terminals opened before the extension started have no DISPLAY; open a new one.
Commands
Command
EasyGUI: Start / Show Display
Start the display server and open the tab
EasyGUI: Stop
Stop the display server (applications on it exit)
EasyGUI: Restart Backend
Restart the display server
EasyGUI: Show Logs
Show the extension and server logs
Settings
Setting
Default
easyGui.autoStart
true
Start the display server when the window opens
easyGui.installRuntime
ask
Download the runtime: ask, always or never
easyGui.displayNumber
0
X display number (0: first free from :100)
easyGui.dpi
96
DPI reported to applications
easyGui.terminalEnvironment
true
Set DISPLAY / XAUTHORITY in new terminals
Limitations
All windows are shown in one tab.
No OpenGL, sound, printing or file transfer.
Committed IME text (e.g. Japanese input) does not reach applications.
Some shortcuts (Ctrl+P, Ctrl+W, ...) are taken by VS Code.
Development
npm install
npm run package # builds easygui-devcontainer-<version>.vsix
npm test # activation test
CHROMIUM=/path/to/chrome npm run test:integration # end-to-end test (runs xpra)
make clear # removes node_modules, dist and *.vsix
License
MIT. The downloaded runtime is not part of this extension; its components keep their own licenses (Xpra: GPL-2.0-or-later, xpra-html5: MPL-2.0, Debian packages: see usr/share/doc/*/copyright in the runtime).
