🍎 Apple Containers for VS Code

A Visual Studio Code extension for managing Apple Containers directly from your editor. Apple Containers is a lightweight alternative to Docker on macOS, offering native virtualization with better performance and lower resource usage.

✨ Features

Container Management

• View all containers - See running and stopped containers in a tree view
• Start/Stop/Restart - Control container lifecycle with one click
• Attach shell - Open an interactive terminal inside running containers
• View logs - Stream container logs in real-time
• Inspect - View detailed JSON configuration
• Live stats - Monitor CPU, memory, and network usage

Image Management

• Browse images - View all local container images
• Pull images - Download images from registries
• Build images - Build from Dockerfile or Containerfile
• Delete/Prune - Clean up unused images

Volume Management

• Create volumes - Set up persistent storage
• Inspect volumes - View volume details and mountpoints
• Delete/Prune - Remove unused volumes

Network Management

• Create networks - Set up custom container networks
• Configure IPAM - Define subnets and gateways
• Inspect networks - View network configuration

Additional Features

• Status bar integration - Shows running container count
• Auto-refresh - Keeps views up to date automatically
• Context menus - Right-click actions for quick access
• Configurable - Customize behavior through settings

📋 Requirements

• macOS - Apple Containers only runs on macOS
• Apple Containers CLI - The container command must be installed
• VS Code 1.85.0+ - Required for extension features

🚀 Installation

From VS Code Marketplace

1. Open VS Code
2. Go to Extensions (⌘+Shift+X)
3. Search for "Apple Containers"
4. Click Install

From VSIX

code --install-extension apple-containers-0.1.0.vsix

Build from Source

git clone https://github.com/sanjay3290/apple-containers-extension.git
cd apple-containers-extension
npm install
npm run compile

🎯 Usage

Quick Start

1. Open the Apple Containers sidebar (container icon in activity bar)
2. View your containers, images, volumes, and networks
3. Right-click items for context actions
4. Use the command palette (⌘+Shift+P) for additional commands

Run a Container

1. Click the play button in the Containers view title bar
2. Enter the image name (e.g., nginx:latest, ubuntu:22.04)
3. Optionally set a container name
4. Select options (interactive, remove on exit, etc.)
5. The container starts in a terminal or background

Build an Image

1. Click the tools button in the Images view title bar
2. Select the build context (workspace folder)
3. Choose a Dockerfile if multiple exist
4. Enter the image tag
5. The build runs in a terminal

Pull an Image

1. Click the cloud download button in the Images view
2. Enter the image name and tag
3. Select platform (arm64 or amd64 with Rosetta)
4. The pull runs in a terminal with progress

⚙️ Configuration

Setting	Default	Description
appleContainers.containerPath	container	Path to the container CLI
appleContainers.refreshInterval	5000	Auto-refresh interval in ms (0 to disable)
appleContainers.showStoppedContainers	true	Show stopped containers in list
appleContainers.defaultShell	/bin/sh	Default shell for attach
appleContainers.confirmBeforeDelete	true	Confirm before deleting resources

🔧 Commands

All commands are available in the Command Palette (⌘+Shift+P) under "Apple Containers":

Command	Description
Apple Containers: Refresh	Refresh all views
Apple Containers: Run Container...	Run a new container
Apple Containers: Pull Image...	Pull an image from registry
Apple Containers: Build Image...	Build from Dockerfile
Apple Containers: Create Volume...	Create a new volume
Apple Containers: Create Network...	Create a new network
Apple Containers: Prune Unused Images	Remove dangling images
Apple Containers: Prune Unused Volumes	Remove unused volumes
Apple Containers: Open Settings	Open extension settings

🆚 Docker vs Apple Containers

Feature	Docker Desktop	Apple Containers
Resource usage	High (VM overhead)	Low (native virtualization)
Startup time	Slower	Faster
macOS integration	Requires license	Native Apple technology
ARM64 support	Good	Excellent (native)
x86 emulation	Rosetta 2	Rosetta 2
Compose support	Full	Limited
Linux compatibility	Full	Full

🐛 Troubleshooting

CLI Not Found

If the extension can't find the container CLI:

1. Open Settings (⌘+,)
2. Search for "appleContainers.containerPath"
3. Set the full path to the container binary

Permissions

If you get permission errors:

# Ensure container CLI has execute permission
chmod +x /path/to/container

Connection Issues

If containers fail to start:

1. Check Apple Containers daemon is running
2. Verify network settings
3. Check the output channel for errors (View > Output > Apple Containers)

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Make your changes
4. Run tests: npm test
5. Submit a pull request

📄 License

MIT License - see LICENSE for details.

🙏 Acknowledgments

• Apple for the Containers technology
• VS Code team for the excellent extension API
• The container community for inspiration

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Enjoy managing containers the Apple way! 🍎