Codespaces not saving extensions/settings between sessions

[evelyny72]

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Hi all,

I’ve been experimenting with GitHub Codespaces for a new project, and I’ve run into something confusing. Every time I reopen a codespace, some of my VS Code extensions and custom settings (like themes and editor config) don’t seem to stick. I end up reinstalling or reconfiguring them each time, which makes the workflow feel a bit clunky.

I’ve already tried:

Saving settings in .devcontainer/devcontainer.json

Using dotfiles with a repo linked in my account settings

Manually reinstalling extensions inside the codespace

But even after doing this, not everything persists. It’s possible I’m setting up the dotfiles incorrectly, or missing a step with how Codespaces handles personalization.

My questions are:

What’s the proper way to ensure extensions and settings persist across all Codespaces?

Should this be handled entirely through dotfiles, or is there a built-in way to sync like regular VS Code does?

If I’m using .devcontainer, is there a “best practice” for specifying extensions/settings there?

Any advice or examples would be super helpful. I just want to make sure I’m setting things up the right way instead of fighting against the platform.

Thanks!

[Hryhorii83]