Nifty Containers
One container view for Podman, Docker, nerdctl and Apple's container CLI: start, stop and remove containers, follow logs, open a shell, inspect, and clean up images.
Maintained. No sign-in. No telemetry. Works in VS Code, Cursor, Windsurf, VSCodium and other editors that use Open VSX.
Features
- Every runtime, one view. Works with Podman, Docker, nerdctl and Apple's new
container CLI on macOS. It picks whichever is installed, or the one you choose. No daemon socket settings, no Docker Desktop needed.
- Containers at a glance. The Containers view shows each container's state, image, status and published ports, with running ones first. It refreshes every 10 seconds while you're looking.
- One-click actions. Start, stop, restart and remove containers, from the list's inline buttons or right-click menu.
- Logs and shells in the terminal. Follow Logs streams a container's logs into a terminal. Open Shell gives you bash (or sh) inside it.
- Inspect a container or image as formatted JSON.
- Images. See every image with its size and age, remove the ones you don't need, and clear out dangling images in one step.
Commands
| Command |
What it does |
Nifty Containers: Refresh |
Update the lists |
Nifty Containers: Remove Dangling Images |
Prune untagged images |
Start, Stop, Restart, Remove, Follow Logs, Open Shell, Inspect and Remove Image are on the items in the views.
Settings
| Setting |
Default |
What it does |
nifty.containers.runtime |
auto |
podman, docker, nerdctl, container, or the first one installed |
nifty.containers.path |
|
Full path to the runtime's command, if it isn't on the PATH |
nifty.containers.refreshSeconds |
10 |
How often to refresh while visible (0 = only by hand) |
Install
- VS Code: search for "Nifty Containers" in the Extensions view, or install from the Visual Studio Marketplace.
- Cursor, Windsurf, VSCodium, Kiro, Antigravity: install from Open VSX.
Privacy
This extension collects no telemetry and needs no account.
- Nifty .NET Explorer: Solution & Test Explorer: A solution explorer and test explorer for .NET in VS Code, Cursor, Windsurf and VSCodium: projects, references and files from .sln/.slnx, and xUnit, NUnit and MSTest tests in the Testing view. (Open VSX)
- Nifty Agent Config: AGENTS.md, Rules & MCP Files: See which AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md, Cursor, Copilot, Windsurf and Gemini rules apply to the file you are editing. Lint rule and MCP files for hidden text, secrets and broken links, and keep them in sync. (Open VSX)
- Nifty AI Review: Review AI Agent Changes: Review what an AI agent changed, hunk by hunk: checkpoints before it runs, accept or reject each change, leave comments, and send your feedback back to the agent. (Open VSX)
- Nifty Beautify: Format HTML in PHP, Blade & Twig: Format HTML inside PHP, Blade, Twig, Jinja, Handlebars, ERB and Liquid templates without breaking the template tags. (Open VSX)
- Nifty Branches: Clean Up Merged Git Branches: Safely clean up merged, squash-merged, gone and stale git branches, with a preview and one-click restore. (Open VSX)
- Nifty C# Scratchpad: Run C# Snippets & NuGet: Run C# snippets instantly with NuGet packages and rich Dump() output, a LINQPad-style scratchpad and Polyglot Notebooks replacement. (Open VSX)
See all 100+ Nifty extensions and web tools at https://getnifty.dev
| |
