VScode Dev Container : Override local settings

Question

TL;DR

VScode in Dev Container does not override local Workspace Settings with the Remote Settings

Exhaustive description of issue

I am developping with vscode devcontainers, and I absolutely love it :)
However, I have an issue with the automatic linting, on save.

I have the black linter in local, that works correctly, with the following configuration in the workspace settings (.vscode/settings.json):

{
    "python.formatting.provider": "black",
    "python.formatting.blackPath": "~/venv/.style-check/bin/black",
    "editor.formatOnSave": true,
}

In local, each time that I save my file, it runs the black formatter so that my code gets the correct layout and formatting. However in the devcontainer, it does not work properly.

I am running a custom image, based on the microsoft's python official image that already includes all the usual linting libraries (black, flake8, bandit...). It also already provides the custom remote settings.json, with the path where the binaries are installed :

{
    "python.defaultInterpreterPath": "/usr/local/bin/python",
    "python.formatting.blackPath": "/usr/local/py-utils/bin/black",
    "python.linting.flake8Path": "/usr/local/py-utils/bin/flake8",
    ...
}

Black is correctly installed, I can manually run the formatter with black my_file.py, and everything works as expected. VScode also correctly launches the formatter on save : after a ctrl+S on myfile.py, I could have a look at the logs by going to the output view of the integrated terminal, and choosing Python in drop-down menu. These logs clearly show that vscode executed the black linter as expected, but using the local path ("~/venv/.style-check/bin/black") which obviously did not work. However, the official documentation insists on the fact that the remote settings should override the local workspace settings.

I also checked if the remote settings were correctly identified, by adding in my in .devcontainer/devcontainer.json, the example from the documentation linked just above. It immediately reflected in the remote container settings.json (/home/vscode/.vscode-server/data/Machine/settings.json).

To summarize, it seems the container itself is perfectly set-up, but the vscode window isn't.
What is going on here ? Why are the remote settings not taken into account ? I am running out of ideas at this point :/

(PS : I asked ChatGPT, which confusely said something about sync settings, but I didn't really get it. I just thought I would let you know this piece of information.)

Answer 1

You can try to use a new workspace for remote connection.

As the official document said, the purpose of coverage is to maintain the consistency of user experience. It is best to avoid writing path-related settings in the workspace you are currently using.