simstudioai--sim/.devcontainer/README.md

Sim Development Container

Development container configuration for VS Code Dev Containers and GitHub Codespaces.

Prerequisites

• Visual Studio Code
• Docker Desktop or Podman Desktop
• VS Code Dev Containers extension

Getting Started

1. Open this project in VS Code
2. Click "Reopen in Container" when prompted (or press F1 → "Dev Containers: Reopen in Container")
3. Wait for the container to build and initialize
4. Start developing with sim-start

The setup script will automatically install dependencies and run migrations.

Development Commands

Running Services

You have two options for running the development environment:

Option 1: Run everything together (recommended for most development)

sim-start  # Runs both app and socket server using concurrently

Option 2: Run services separately (useful for debugging individual services)

• In the app container terminal: sim-app (starts Next.js app on port 3000)
• In the realtime container terminal: sim-sockets (starts socket server on port 3002)

Other Commands

• sim-migrate - Push schema changes to the database
• sim-generate - Generate new migrations
• build - Build the application
• pgc - Connect to PostgreSQL database

Troubleshooting

Build errors: Rebuild the container with F1 → "Dev Containers: Rebuild Container"

Port conflicts: Ensure ports 3000, 3002, and 5432 are available

Container runtime issues: Verify Docker Desktop or Podman Desktop is running

Technical Details

Services:

• App container (8GB memory limit) - Main Next.js application
• Realtime container (4GB memory limit) - Socket.io server for real-time features
• Database - PostgreSQL with pgvector extension
• Migrations - Runs automatically on container creation

You can develop with services running together or independently.

Personalization

Project commands (sim-start, sim-app, etc.) are automatically available via /workspace/.devcontainer/sim-commands.sh.

Personal shell customization (aliases, prompts, etc.) should use VS Code's dotfiles feature:

1. Create a dotfiles repository (e.g., github.com/youruser/dotfiles)
2. Add your .bashrc, .zshrc, or other configs
3. Configure in VS Code Settings:

   {
     "dotfiles.repository": "youruser/dotfiles",
     "dotfiles.installCommand": "install.sh"
   }
   

This separates project-specific commands from personal preferences, following VS Code best practices.