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On this page there are 5 sections

Debug Python within a container

When adding Docker files to a Python project, tasks and launch configurations are added to enable debugging the application within a container. To accommodate the various scenarios of Python projects, some apps may require additional configuration.

Configuring the container entry point

You can configure the entry point of the container by setting properties in tasks.json. VS Code automatically configures the container entry point when you first use the Containers: Add Docker Files to Workspace... command.

Example: Configuring the entry point for a Python module

{ "tasks": [ { "type": "docker-run", "label": "docker-run: debug", "dependsOn": ["docker-build"], "python": { "args": ["runserver", "0.0.0.0:8000", "--nothreading", "--noreload"], "file": "manage.py" } } ] }

Automatically launching the browser to the entry page of the application

You can select the Containers: Python - Django or Containers: Python - Flask launch configurations to automatically launch the browser to the main page of the app. This feature is enabled by default, but you can configure this behavior explicitly by setting the dockerServerReadyAction object in launch.json.

This feature depends on several aspects of the application:

The application must output to the debug console or Docker logs.
The application must log a "server ready" message.
The application must serve a browsable page.

Here is an example of using dockerServerReadyAction to launch the browser to open the about.html page based on a specific server message pattern:

#ADD . /app

Within the docker-run task in the tasks.json file, create a new dockerRun attribute with a volumes property. This setting creates a mapping from the current workspace folder (app code) to the /app folder in the container.
{  ...  "dockerRun": {    "volumes": [      {        "containerPath": "/app", "localPath": "${workspaceFolder}"      }    ]  },  "python": {    "args": [      "runserver",      "0.0.0.0:8000",    ],    "file": "manage.py"  }}

Select the Containers: Python – Django launch configuration and hit F5 to build and run your container.

Modify and save any file.

Refresh the browser and validate changes have been made.

For Flask Apps

In the Dockerfile, comment out the line that adds app code to the container.
{ "type": "docker-run", "label": "docker-run: debug", "dependsOn": [ "docker-build" ], "dockerRun": { "env": { "FLASK_APP": "path_to/flask_entry_point.py", "FLASK_ENV": "development" }, "volumes": [ { "containerPath": "/app", "localPath": "${workspaceFolder}" } ] }, ... }
Edit the python attribute by removing --no-reload and --no-debugger.
"tasks": [ { ... }, { "label": "docker-build", "type": "docker-build", "dockerBuild": { "context": "${workspaceFolder}", "dockerfile": "${workspaceFolder}/Dockerfile", "tag": "YOUR_IMAGE_NAME:YOUR_IMAGE_TAG" } } ]
Tip: As the dependency clearly states docker-build as its dependency, the name has to match this task. You can change the name, if desired.
1. The dockerBuild object in the JSON allows for the following parameters:
  - context: The build context, from which your Dockerfile is called
  - dockerfile: The path to the Dockerfile to execute
  - tag: The name of the image to be built, with its version tag
2. Overall, a VS Code setup for building and debugging your Flask application can be:
  - launch.json
    { "version": "2.0.0", "tasks": [ { "type": "docker-run", "label": "docker-run: debug", "dependsOn": ["docker-build"], "dockerRun": { "containerName": "YOUR_IMAGE_NAME", "image": "YOUR_IMAGE_NAME:YOUR_IMAGE_TAG", "env": { "FLASK_APP": "path_to/flask_entry_point.py", "FLASK_ENV": "development" }, "volumes": [ { "containerPath": "/app", "localPath": "${workspaceFolder}" } ], "ports": [ { "containerPort": 5000, "hostPort": 5000 } ] }, "python": { "args": ["run", "--host", "0.0.0.0", "--port", "5000"], "module": "flask" } }, { "label": "docker-build", "type": "docker-build", "dockerBuild": { "context": "${workspaceFolder}", "dockerfile": "${workspaceFolder}/Dockerfile", "tag": "YOUR_IMAGE_NAME:YOUR_IMAGE_TAG" } } ] }
Next steps

Learn more about:
- Configuring a non-root user in your container
12/21/2021