find-devcontainer-feature

name	find-devcontainer-feature
description	Search for devcontainer features in official (containers.dev) and community catalogs. Find and compare features for languages (Node, Python, Go), databases (PostgreSQL, Redis), and development tools. Use when looking for a specific feature ID, exploring available tools, or needing feature installation options. Also applies when the user asks "what features are available for [tool]?", "find me a [tool] feature", or describes wanting to add capabilities to their devcontainer without knowing the exact feature name.
license	MIT
compatibility	Requires internet access to fetch feature catalogs
metadata	{"author":"agentskills","version":"1.0.0","category":"devcontainer-discovery"}

Find Devcontainer Feature

Search for devcontainer features in official and community catalogs.

Quick Start

To find a feature:

1. Search by tool name or description
2. Review results from official and community sources
3. Select appropriate feature
4. Copy feature ID for use in devcontainer.json

Usage

Search by Tool Name

Find feature for: Redis

Returns:

{
  "results": [
    {
      "id": "ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/redis",
      "description": "Installs Redis server",
      "options": ["version"],
      "source": "official"
    }
  ]
}

Search by Purpose

Find feature for: Python development

Returns multiple options:

{
  "results": [
    {
      "id": "ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/python",
      "description": "Python runtime with pip",
      "options": ["version", "installTools"],
      "source": "official"
    }
  ]
}

Catalog Sources

Primary: Official Catalog

URL: https://containers.dev/features

Search the official Dev Containers features catalog maintained by Microsoft and community.

Characteristics:

• Curated and tested
• Well-documented
• Regularly updated
• Broad language/tool support

Secondary: Community Catalog

URL: https://github.com/notwillk/devcontainer-features

Search additional community-contributed features.

Characteristics:

• Extended feature set
• Specialized tools
• Community maintained
• May have less documentation

Search Strategy

Step 1: Parse Search Query

Extract keywords from user request:

• Tool name: "redis", "postgres", "node"
• Purpose: "database", "development", "deployment"
• Category: "language", "service", "utility"

Step 2: Search Official Catalog

Query containers.dev API or search index for:

• Exact matches (high priority)
• Partial matches
• Related features

Step 3: Search Community Catalog

If limited results from official catalog, also search:

• notwillk/devcontainer-features
• Other community repositories

Step 4: Rank and Deduplicate

Present results sorted by:

1. Official vs community (official first)
2. Relevance to query
3. Documentation quality
4. Recent activity

Step 5: Return Results

Format with clear labels:

{
  "query": "redis",
  "total_results": 3,
  "results": [
    {
      "id": "ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/redis",
      "name": "Redis",
      "description": "Installs and configures Redis server",
      "options": {
        "version": {
          "type": "string",
          "default": "latest",
          "description": "Redis version to install"
        }
      },
      "source": "official",
      "documentation": "https://github.com/devcontainers/features/tree/main/src/redis"
    },
    {
      "id": "ghcr.io/community-features/redis-cluster",
      "name": "Redis Cluster",
      "description": "Redis with clustering support",
      "options": {},
      "source": "community",
      "documentation": null
    }
  ]
}

Common Features Reference

Language Runtimes

Tool	Feature ID	Common Options
Node.js	ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/node	version (18, 20)
Python	ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/python	version, installTools
Go	ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/go	version
Rust	ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/rust	version (stable, nightly)
Java	ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/java	version, installMaven
.NET	ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/dotnet	version
Ruby	ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/ruby	version
PHP	ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/php	version

Databases

Tool	Feature ID	Common Options
PostgreSQL	ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/postgres	version
MySQL	ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/mysql	version
MongoDB	ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/mongo	version
Redis	ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/redis	version
MariaDB	ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/mariadb	version

Development Tools

Tool	Feature ID	Common Options
Git	ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/git	version
GitHub CLI	ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/github-cli	version
Docker-in-Docker	ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/docker-in-docker	version, moby
Common Utils	ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/common-utils	-
Homebrew	ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/homebrew	-
Oh My Zsh	ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/oh-my-zsh	-

Cloud Tools

Tool	Feature ID	Common Options
AWS CLI	ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/aws-cli	version
Azure CLI	ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/azure-cli	version
Google Cloud SDK	ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/gcloud	version
Terraform	ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/terraform	version

Using Search Results

Selecting a Feature

When presenting results, include:

1. Feature ID - Required for installation
2. Description - What it does
3. Available Options - What can be configured
4. Source - Official vs community
5. Documentation Link - For detailed info

Installation Example

After finding feature, user can add to devcontainer.json:

"features": {
  "ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/redis": {
    "version": "7.0"
  }
}

Gotchas

• Case sensitivity: Feature IDs are case-sensitive
• Version tags: Omit for "latest", specify for reproducibility
• Registry format: Must use full registry path (ghcr.io/...)
• No search API: Catalog may require web scraping or cached index
• Community features: May have less documentation or testing

Catalog URLs

Official

• Features: https://containers.dev/features
• API: https://containers.dev/api/features
• Source: https://github.com/devcontainers/features

Community (notwillk)

• Repository: https://github.com/notwillk/devcontainer-features
• Features: Listed in README

Integration with Update Skill

This skill is callable from update-devcontainer-config when:

• User requests adding a feature
• No specific feature ID provided
• Multiple options may exist

Flow:

1. User: "Add Redis to my devcontainer"
2. Update skill detects no feature ID
3. Calls this skill: Search for "Redis"
4. Present options to user
5. User selects preferred option
6. Update skill proceeds with installation

Implementation Notes

Since there's no official search API, implementations may use:

• Cached catalog index
• Web scraping (respect rate limits)
• Manual feature list updates
• GitHub API for community repos

Resources

• containers.dev/features - Official feature catalog
• https://github.com/devcontainers/features - Official source
• https://github.com/notwillk/devcontainer-features - Community features
• update-devcontainer-config - Use found features to update devcontainer