Container Tools — choose which services to start

If you run a multi-service Docker Compose stack, you've hit this: you're working on the frontend, but every docker compose up also starts the database, a background worker, and a Redis cache you don't touch for hours. Container Tools (formerly the VS Code Docker extension) has a fix built in, and it's a single right-click away. 1

Extension ID: ms-azuretools.vscode-containers · Publisher: Microsoft (Verified) · Version: v2.4.5 (released 2026-05-29) · Minimum VS Code: 1.105.0 · Install on VS Code Marketplace · GitHub

What Container Tools is (and where it came from)

In April 2025, Microsoft reorganized its container tooling: the original Docker extension (ms-azuretools.vscode-docker), which had accumulated 51M+ installs since 2015, became a thin "Docker Extension Pack" that now bundles Container Tools. 2 Container Tools carries all of the original functionality — container and image management, Dockerfile scaffolding, debugging, registry management — and adds Podman support on top. 1

The current install count is 14.3M with an average rating of 3.79/5 (19 ratings). The GitHub repo (microsoft/vscode-containers) has 124 stars and 1,824 commits as of June 7, 2026. 3 The modest star count reflects the repo's age (public since April 2025), not adoption — most installs came in through the legacy Docker extension pack upgrade path.

Today's trick: Compose Up - Select Services

When a compose.yaml defines several services, the default Compose Up starts all of them. Compose Up - Select Services lets you pick a subset. 1

Microsoft describes it this way:

"While Compose Up allows you to run all of your services at once, our new feature Compose Up - Select Services lets you select any combination of the services you want to run." 4

Here's how to use it on a three-service stack (web + api + db):

Step 1 — Make sure you have a compose.yaml in your workspace root. The file should define your services. If you don't have one yet, jump to the scaffolding section below.

Step 2 — Trigger the command. Two ways:

Right-click compose.yaml in the Explorer sidebar → Compose Up - Select Services
Open the Command Palette (F1 or Ctrl+Shift+P) → type Compose Up - Select Services → Enter

Step 3 — Pick your services. A checklist appears listing every service defined in the file. Check web and api, leave db unchecked. Confirm.

Compose Up - Select Services in action — checkbox picker showing web, api, and db services with web and api checked — The service picker lists all services from `compose.yaml` — select the subset you want to start and confirm. 1

Container Tools builds and starts only the selected services. In the Container Explorer sidebar, they appear under a Compose Group named after your project directory.

Step 4 — Work from the Compose Group. Right-click the group node to get Compose Logs, Compose Start, Compose Stop, Compose Restart, and Compose Down. Each individual service inside the group also has its own context menu: View Logs, Attach Shell, Open in Browser, Stop, Restart. 4

Container Explorer showing the Compose Group with web, api, and db as child nodes, context menu open — After startup, the Compose Group appears in the Container Explorer sidebar — individual services are independently controllable from here. 1

When you later need the db service, repeat the right-click → Compose Up - Select Services → check only db. Already-running services (web, api) won't restart. Run Compose Down on the group to stop everything and clean up the network.

Three more things worth knowing

Dockerfile scaffolding for six languages. Open the Command Palette → Containers: Add Docker Files to Workspace. Choose your language — C#, Node.js, Python, Ruby, Go, or Java — and Container Tools generates a Dockerfile, .dockerignore, and a Docker Compose file. 1 For the three first-class debugging languages (Node.js, Python, .NET), it also writes the tasks.json build/run tasks and launch.json debug config so you can step through code running inside the container with a single F5. 5

Dockerfile IntelliSense — completion list showing ADD, ARG, CMD, COPY, ENTRYPOINT, ENV, EXPOSE, FROM with inline documentation panel — Dockerfile IntelliSense: `Ctrl+Space` in any `Dockerfile` triggers a completion list with inline documentation for each instruction. 1

Podman support (since v2.1.0). If you use Podman instead of Docker, set containers.containerClient to Podman and containers.orchestratorClient to Podman Compose in VS Code settings, then restart the editor. 3 Auto-detection also works: if Docker isn't running, Container Tools checks the DOCKER_HOST environment variable and falls back to Podman. 6 Note that Docker DX — the companion extension for advanced Dockerfile IntelliSense — does not support Podman; it requires Docker Engine. 1

Copilot integration (since v2.3.0). With GitHub Copilot installed, context menus on containers and images surface an "Ask Copilot" option, letting you query or interact with containers through chat. 3

Feature and compatibility reference

Extension ID	`ms-azuretools.vscode-containers`
Latest version	v2.4.5 (2026-05-29)
Publisher	Microsoft (Verified)
Installs	14.3M
Rating	3.79/5 (19 ratings), weighted 4.02/5
Minimum VS Code	1.105.0
Runtime support	Docker CE/EE, Podman (v2.1.0+)
OS	Windows, macOS, Linux (amd64, arm64)
Scaffolding languages	C#, Node.js, Python, Ruby, Go, Java
Debuggable languages	Node.js, Python, .NET (C#)
License	MIT (free, open source)

Known limitations

Debugging scope is narrow. Container Tools supports one-click container debugging for exactly three languages: Node.js, Python, and .NET (C#). 7 Go, Ruby, and Java get Dockerfile scaffolding but no debug-configuration generation. .NET 7 and below lost scaffolding and debugging support entirely in v2.4.0 — Microsoft's release notes recommend upgrading to the latest .NET versions. 8

Open bug: extension crash (#442). A language-server crash introduced in v2.4.1 has been open since April 12, 2026, and is tracked in the v2.5.0 milestone. 7 If you hit the crash, downgrading to v2.4.0 is one workaround while the fix ships.

No Docker Swarm support. Swarm management (feature request #472) is planned but not yet in scope. 7

IntelliSense is basic by default. Container Tools ships "basic IntelliSense" for Dockerfile and compose.yaml. For BuildKit lint warnings, best-practice suggestions, Bake file editing, and vulnerability scanning, install Docker DX (docker.docker) alongside it. 1 Be aware that Docker DX has a poor Marketplace rating from community reports of auto-installation without consent; you can skip it and rely on Container Tools' built-in completions for everyday use.

WSL/SSH/Tunnel sessions. When attaching VS Code to a container via a remote session (WSL, SSH, Dev Tunnels), the "Attach Visual Studio Code" action asks you to pick the container a second time — a known UX rough edge. 9

Cover image: AI-generated illustration.