Open in Windows

VS Code extension to open Dev Container files in Windows Explorer or copy their native Windows paths. For Windows users working inside a Dev Container, it uses Docker to inspect the active container, finds the matching bind mount, and maps the selected file or folder back to its host path before opening Explorer or copying the path to the clipboard.

For example:

Container: /workspaces/sample/src/index.ts
Windows:   C:\Users\me\Projects\sample\src\index.ts

The extension ID is leofaucon.open-in-windows-devcontainer. The extension is declared as a UI extension, so its Node.js process and Docker CLI calls run on the Windows host rather than inside the container.

Install

Install from the Visual Studio Marketplace:

1. Open the Extensions view in VS Code or Cursor.
2. Search for Open in Windows.
3. Install the extension published by Leo Faucon.

Or run Quick Open (Ctrl+P) and paste:

ext install leofaucon.open-in-windows-devcontainer

The extension must be installed on the local/host side of the Dev Container window. Do not install it only in the container. In the Extensions view, use the Local - Installed section to verify its location.

MVP features

• Open in Windows Explorer opens a selected folder or selects a file with explorer.exe.
• Copy Windows Path writes the resolved native path to the system clipboard.
• Both commands appear in the Explorer context menu only when remoteName == dev-container.
• Both commands are available from the Command Palette. They use the active remote editor or prompt for a file or folder when no remote editor is active.
• The current container is correlated with the remote window instead of being selected by list order.
• Nested mounts use the longest matching container destination.
• Docker volumes, unsupported host sources, missing paths, and ambiguous containers fail explicitly.

Requirements

• Windows 10 or later.
• Desktop VS Code or Cursor. Browser-based editors are not supported.
• Docker Desktop installed, running, and accessible through the docker CLI from the Windows user session.
• The Microsoft Dev Containers extension (or Cursor's compatible Dev Containers support).
• A selected path backed by a local bind mount.

The extension supports native sources such as C:\Projects\sample and the Docker Desktop forms /host_mnt/c/Projects/sample and /run/desktop/mnt/host/c/Projects/sample.

Build and package

Use Node.js ^22.13.0 || >=24; the minimum supported version is 22.13.0, as required by the locked development tooling.

Install the exact locked dependencies and create the standalone VSIX from the repository root:

npm ci
npm run package:vsix

npm run package:vsix runs lint, compiles the TypeScript sources, executes the tests, and then packages the extension. The result is open-in-windows-devcontainer-0.1.3.vsix.

Install from VSIX

Use this path for local development builds or when Marketplace access is unavailable.

In VS Code or Cursor:

1. Open the Extensions view.
2. Open the view's ... menu.
3. Choose Extensions: Install from VSIX....
4. Select the generated VSIX.
5. If prompted, choose the local installation target and reload the window.

The command-line equivalents are:

code --install-extension .\open-in-windows-devcontainer-0.1.3.vsix --force
cursor --install-extension .\open-in-windows-devcontainer-0.1.3.vsix --force

The same host-side installation rules apply as in Install above.

To update, build a VSIX with the newer version and run the same install command; the editor replaces the installed version. To uninstall:

code --uninstall-extension leofaucon.open-in-windows-devcontainer
cursor --uninstall-extension leofaucon.open-in-windows-devcontainer

Use

1. Open a folder in a Dev Container.
2. Right-click a file or folder in the Explorer.
3. Select Open in Windows Explorer or Copy Windows Path.

Alternatively, run either command from the Command Palette. The command uses the active Dev Container editor when available; otherwise it opens a remote file and folder picker.

The commands also have default keyboard shortcuts in Windows Dev Container windows:

• Shift+Alt+O: Open in Windows Explorer
• Shift+Alt+P: Copy Windows Path

To change or disable them, open Keyboard Shortcuts (Ctrl+K Ctrl+S) and search for Open in Windows.

For a file, Explorer opens its containing folder and selects the file. For a directory, Explorer opens the directory directly.

How resolution works

Resolution deliberately uses the effective Docker state:

1. The UI extension asks docker container ls for full running container IDs.
2. It calls docker container inspect without a command shell and validates the response fields it consumes.
3. It restricts candidates to containers carrying Dev Container labels.
4. It decodes the optional hostPath from the dev-container+... remote authority and reads /etc/hostname through VS Code's remote filesystem API.
5. It scores exact local-folder and hostname matches. A tied best match is rejected as ambiguous.
6. It finds all inspected mounts containing the selected POSIX path on a full segment boundary, then selects the longest destination.
7. It requires that effective mount to be a bind mount and translates only recognized Windows or Docker Desktop sources.
8. It verifies that the resulting host path exists before copying or opening it.

Docker commands are passed as executable arguments, never composed as shell text. Explorer is also launched with a separate argument array.

Bind mounts and expected errors

A path can be mapped only when Docker exposes the content as a Windows bind mount. Named volumes are intentionally rejected because they do not have a stable Windows filesystem path.

Expected failures include:

• Docker unavailable or inaccessible: start Docker Desktop and confirm docker container ls works in a normal Windows terminal.
• No matching Dev Container: reopen the folder in its container and make sure the window uses the same local Docker Desktop context.
• Multiple matching Dev Containers: stop duplicate running containers. The extension will not guess.
• Outside every Windows bind mount: select content under the workspace bind mount, or add an explicit bind mount to devcontainer.json.
• Stored in a Docker volume: copy or expose the content through a bind mount if a Windows path is required.
• Mount source cannot be translated: use a native Windows source or a supported Docker Desktop host path.
• Resolved path does not exist: inspect Docker Desktop file sharing, the source path, and the container's current mount configuration.

Detailed command diagnostics are available in the Open in Windows output channel. The channel opens automatically when either command starts and traces resource selection, remote filesystem access, Docker correlation, path resolution, clipboard access, and Windows Explorer launch.

To inspect these diagnostics manually, open View > Output, then select Open in Windows from the channel selector in the Output panel. Run either extension command first if the channel is not listed yet.

Limitations

• Local Windows Docker Desktop containers only. Remote Docker daemons, SSH-hosted containers, WSL-only host paths, Codespaces, and Linux/macOS hosts are outside this MVP.
• Named volumes and non-bind mounts cannot be opened as Windows paths.
• Only the selected Explorer resource is processed; multi-selection is not supported.
• Mapping is lexical. A symlink inside a bind mount that resolves into another mount is not followed before resolution.
• The implementation relies on Dev Containers authority and label conventions. Unknown future formats fail safely instead of selecting an arbitrary container.

Troubleshooting

Verify host-side Docker first:

docker container ls --quiet --no-trunc
docker container inspect <container-id>

Inspect the target container's Config.Labels and Mounts. The container should have a devcontainer.local_folder label and the selected path should be below a Type: "bind" destination.

If the commands are missing, confirm that:

• the current window reports a Dev Container connection;
• the extension is enabled and installed locally;
• the desktop editor was reloaded after VSIX installation.

Cursor's Agents Window uses a lightweight Files tab rather than the standard VS Code Explorer, so explorer/context menu contributions may not appear there. Use the Command Palette or open Cursor's classic Editor Window for the Explorer context menu.

The Open Editors context menu is also unsupported because VS Code does not expose a public menu contribution point for that view. Use the File Explorer context menu or run a command from the Command Palette with the editor active.

Development

For a faster development loop after npm ci, compile, lint, and test without creating a VSIX:

npm run compile
npm run lint
npm test

Press F5 in VS Code or Cursor to launch an Extension Development Host using .vscode/launch.json. The resolver and locator tests are compiled to out/test and run with Mocha.

Source layout:

• src/docker/dockerClient.ts owns Docker process execution and inspect validation.
• src/resolver/containerLocator.ts identifies one active Dev Container.
• src/resolver/mountResolver.ts performs mount and path resolution.
• src/windows/windowsLauncher.ts launches Windows Explorer.
• src/extension.ts connects VS Code APIs to the resolver.

Compatibility

The manifest requires VS Code API ^1.90.0 and uses stable extension APIs. VS Code and Cursor both support local VSIX installation and the extension host model used here. Cursor compatibility still depends on its bundled VS Code API level and Dev Containers implementation; use a current desktop release.