Devcontainer SSH Terminal

Open a terminal on a devcontainer’s SSH host.

Usage

Requires desktop VS Code 1.91.1+, local OpenSSH, and a trusted container workspace on a POSIX SSH host.

1. Install Devcontainer SSH Terminal from the Visual Studio Marketplace or Open VSX in your local VS Code instance.
2. Open a container through Remote-SSH, or using a Docker SSH endpoint or context.
3. Run Dev Containers: Open SSH Host Terminal from the Command Palette.

Each invocation opens a new terminal. It starts in the original host project directory when known, otherwise your SSH home directory. SSH uses your existing local keys, agent, and configuration, including Remote.SSH: Path and Config File settings.

The command is hidden and unregistered in local workspaces. There are no extension-specific settings or default keybindings.

Limitations

• Local containers without an SSH host, Docker TCP endpoints, nested remote connections, and Windows SSH hosts are unsupported.
• Docker contexts require a local Docker CLI; Dev Containers: Docker Path and Docker Args are honored.
• Host detection relies on internal Dev Containers metadata, which may change between versions.

If a connection fails, check that the host works with your local SSH client or that the recorded Docker context exists locally. SSH authentication prompts and errors appear in the terminal.

Development

Use Node.js 22.14+ in the 22.x line, or the included development container.

npm ci
npm run build
npm run lint
npm run spellcheck
npm test
npm run package

To try a local build, install the generated VSIX locally using Extensions: Install from VSIX....

On headless Linux, run tests with xvfb-run -a npm test. Set VSCODE_VERSION=stable to test current stable instead of the minimum supported version. Automated tests cover parsing and terminal creation; real SSH/container workflows need manual validation.

Releases

Use conventional commits. CI validates pull requests and packages a VSIX. Successful main pushes publish through semantic-release to the Visual Studio Marketplace and Open VSX when all three repository secrets are configured:

• RELEASE_PAT: GitHub token for release commits, tags, and releases.
• VSCE_PAT: Visual Studio Marketplace publishing token.
• OVSX_PAT: Open VSX publishing token with access to the dvirtz namespace. Follow the Open VSX publishing setup to configure your publisher account and create a token.

If any secret is missing, the release job fails with the missing secret's name. The build job still provides a vscode-package artifact, available under Artifacts on the workflow run's summary page. Semantic-release generates CHANGELOG.md; do not edit it manually.

MIT license.