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Changed devcontainer dev stack to match Admin + Portal default #29106

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8053480
Changed devcontainer dev stack to match Admin + Portal default
9larsons Jul 4, 2026
f49dfd3
Removed dead public-app dev-server proxy targets from gateway
9larsons Jul 4, 2026
ab7fbdb
Fixed docker:up self-recreating its own devcontainer
9larsons Jul 4, 2026
c755ca9
Removed duplicate pnpm install from devcontainer postCreate.sh
9larsons Jul 4, 2026
18a2a92
Changed devcontainer to use the prebuilt ghost-dev image + cached pnp…
9larsons Jul 4, 2026
e71426f
Fixed docker:build also running unnecessarily inside the devcontainer
9larsons Jul 4, 2026
4f5aaf7
Fixed Codespaces admin login loop from Ghost url/origin mismatch
9larsons Jul 4, 2026
c1f4ef1
Added sshd feature to devcontainer for direct diagnosis
9larsons Jul 4, 2026
f6eaee1
Fixed ember-cli pegging CPU and MySQL's tight memory ceiling
9larsons Jul 4, 2026
f70d9b5
Fixed Admin Vite crash from Ghost's own protocol-redirect middleware
9larsons Jul 5, 2026
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38 changes: 29 additions & 9 deletions .devcontainer/compose.devcontainer.yaml
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Expand Up @@ -2,8 +2,8 @@ services:
mysql:
# Smaller InnoDB buffer pool than the baseline compose.dev.yaml (1G).
# Lets the dev stack stay within a 2-core / 8 GB Codespace's budget
# after Ghost + 6 Vite dev servers are running. 256 MB is plenty for
# dev data volumes.
# after Ghost + the default Admin/Portal dev watchers are running.
# 256 MB is plenty for dev data volumes.
command: --innodb-buffer-pool-size=256M --innodb-log-buffer-size=64M --innodb-flush-log-at-trx_commit=0 --innodb-flush-method=O_DIRECT
mem_limit: 512m
restart: unless-stopped
Expand All @@ -19,8 +19,28 @@ services:
# The original ./ghost:/home/ghost/ghost mount from compose.dev.yaml is
# preserved via merge semantics so nodemon hot-reload still works for anyone
# running the backend the original way.
#
# pnpm-store is a separate named volume, NOT under /workspaces/Ghost, so
# it survives the bind mount above (which fully shadows anything baked
# into the image at that path with the host's — node_modules-less — repo
# checkout). onCreateCommand/postCreateCommand still have to run a real
# `pnpm install` every time since the source is live-mounted, but with
# the store already warm it's linking already-fetched content instead of
# re-downloading and recompiling native deps (better-sqlite3, sharp, etc.)
# from scratch.
volumes:
- ./:/workspaces/Ghost:cached
- pnpm-store:/pnpm-store
environment:
npm_config_store_dir: /pnpm-store
Comment on lines +42 to +43

@coderabbitai coderabbitai Bot Jul 4, 2026

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🗄️ Data Integrity & Integration | 🟠 Major | ⚡ Quick win

🧩 Analysis chain

🏁 Script executed:

#!/bin/bash
set -euo pipefail

printf '\n== package.json packageManager ==\n'
if [ -f package.json ]; then
  grep -n '"packageManager"' package.json || true
fi

printf '\n== repo files likely relevant ==\n'
git ls-files | rg '(^|/)(package.json|pnpm-lock\.yaml|pnpm-workspace\.yaml|\.devcontainer/compose\.devcontainer\.yaml)$' || true

printf '\n== inspect package.json if present ==\n'
if [ -f package.json ]; then
  cat -n package.json | sed -n '1,120p'
fi

printf '\n== inspect devcontainer file ==\n'
cat -n .devcontainer/compose.devcontainer.yaml | sed -n '1,120p'

Repository: TryGhost/Ghost

Length of output: 13418

🌐 Web query:

pnpm 11.8.0 environment variable config prefixes npm_config_store_dir pnpm_config_store_dir store-dir docs

💡 Result:

In pnpm 11.8.0, configuration is managed through environment variables prefixed with pnpm_config_ or PNPM_CONFIG_ [1][2]. The documentation explicitly states that pnpm no longer reads npm_config_* environment variables [2]. Users are advised to transition to using the pnpm_config_ prefix for all configuration settings [2]. For setting the package store directory, you should use the store-dir configuration setting [3]. You can configure this using the pnpm_config_store_dir environment variable [1][2]. Summary of Key Points: - Environment Variable Prefix: Use pnpm_config_ (e.g., pnpm_config_store_dir) [1][2]. The legacy npm_config_ prefix is no longer supported for pnpm configuration [2]. - Configuration Setting: The setting for the package store directory is store-dir [3]. - Setting via CLI: You can also set this configuration persistently using the command: pnpm config set store-dir /path/to/.pnpm-store [3]. - Behavior: If no store-dir is configured, pnpm will automatically create a store on the same drive and filesystem where the installation is taking place [3][4]. For optimal performance and to enable hard linking, the store must reside on the same drive as the project [4][5]. If the store is on a different drive, pnpm will copy files instead of linking them [4][5].

Citations:

Use pnpm_config_store_dir for the devcontainer store path

packageManager pins pnpm@11.8.0, which reads pnpm_config_*/PNPM_CONFIG_* only. npm_config_store_dir will be ignored, so the cache volume won’t take effect. Switch it to pnpm_config_store_dir: /pnpm-store.

🤖 Prompt for AI Agents 
Verify each finding against current code. Fix only still-valid issues, skip the
rest with a brief reason, keep changes minimal, and validate.

In @.devcontainer/compose.devcontainer.yaml around lines 34 - 35, The
devcontainer environment is using the wrong store-path variable for pnpm, so the
cache volume will be ignored. In the devcontainer compose config, update the
environment entry under the devcontainer service from npm_config_store_dir to
pnpm_config_store_dir so pnpm@11.8.0 in the packageManager field can read it
correctly. Keep the value pointing to /pnpm-store and ensure the setting is
applied in the same environment block.

# Prefer the prebuilt image (docker/ghost-dev/Dockerfile, published by
# .github/workflows/devcontainer-build.yml) over a local build. cache_from
# makes a local `docker compose build` (e.g. after a Dockerfile edit)
# reuse those layers too, rather than starting from zero.
image: ghcr.io/tryghost/ghost-devcontainer:latest
build:
cache_from:
- ghcr.io/tryghost/ghost-devcontainer:latest
# Override the default `pnpm dev` command. VS Code controls startup and the
# user runs backend/frontend dev servers as tasks (see .vscode/tasks.json).
command: ["sleep", "infinity"]
Expand All @@ -38,15 +58,15 @@ services:
ghost-dev-gateway:
# Point Caddy at the dev servers running inside the ghost-dev container
# instead of host.docker.internal (which is the default for the hybrid
# host/container dev setup).
# host/container dev setup). Public apps (Portal, Comments UI, Signup
# Form, Sodo Search, Announcement Bar, Admin Toolbar) have no entry here
# — Caddy serves their umd/ build output directly via file_server, so
# there's no dev-server host:port to point at.
environment:
GHOST_BACKEND: ghost-dev:2368
ADMIN_DEV_SERVER: ghost-dev:5174
ADMIN_LIVE_RELOAD_SERVER: ghost-dev:4200
PORTAL_DEV_SERVER: ghost-dev:4175
COMMENTS_DEV_SERVER: ghost-dev:7173
SIGNUP_DEV_SERVER: ghost-dev:6174
SEARCH_DEV_SERVER: ghost-dev:4178
ANNOUNCEMENT_DEV_SERVER: ghost-dev:4177
ADMIN_TOOLBAR_DEV_SERVER: ghost-dev:4176
LEXICAL_DEV_SERVER: ghost-dev:4173

volumes:
pnpm-store:
30 changes: 17 additions & 13 deletions .devcontainer/devcontainer.json
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Expand Up @@ -27,8 +27,18 @@
"ghcr.io/devcontainers/features/docker-outside-of-docker:1": {}
},

// Codespaces prebuild step — runs once when the image is built.
// Primes the pnpm store so first-open is fast.
// Runs on the host/Codespaces VM before the container is built or pulled.
// Warms the local image cache with the prebuilt ghost-dev image
// (.github/workflows/devcontainer-build.yml) so ghost-dev's cache_from
// (see compose.devcontainer.yaml) has something to reuse layers from,
// whether this container gets pulled directly or rebuilt locally.
// Best-effort: don't fail creation if the registry is unreachable.
"initializeCommand": "docker pull ghcr.io/tryghost/ghost-devcontainer:latest || true",

// Runs once the workspace mount is ready, after the container is created.
// Note: no Codespaces prebuild is configured for this repo, so this runs
// live on every creation rather than being baked into a snapshot ahead of
// time — same as postCreateCommand below.
"onCreateCommand": "corepack enable && corepack prepare --activate && cd /workspaces/Ghost && pnpm install --prefer-offline || true",

// Runs after the workspace mount is ready on every container create.
Expand All @@ -40,6 +50,10 @@
// The script guards against double-starting if the stack is already up.
"postAttachCommand": "bash .devcontainer/start-dev-stack.sh",

// Portal, Comments UI, Signup Form, Sodo Search, Announcement Bar, and
// Admin Toolbar are NOT listed here — since the Caddy file_server switch
// (#28970) they build to disk (`vite build --watch`) instead of running
// a dev server, so there's no port to forward for them.
"forwardPorts": [
2368,
3306,
Expand All @@ -48,11 +62,6 @@
8025,
5174,
4200,
4175,
7173,
6174,
4178,
4177,
4173
],
"portsAttributes": {
Expand All @@ -63,12 +72,7 @@
"8025": {"label": "Mailpit Web"},
"5174": {"label": "Admin (Vite)"},
"4200": {"label": "Ember live-reload"},
"4175": {"label": "Portal"},
"7173": {"label": "Comments UI"},
"6174": {"label": "Signup Form"},
"4178": {"label": "Sodo Search"},
"4177": {"label": "Announcement Bar"},
"4173": {"label": "Koenig Lexical"}
"4173": {"label": "Koenig Lexical (optional)"}
},

"customizations": {
Expand Down
5 changes: 4 additions & 1 deletion .devcontainer/postCreate.sh
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Expand Up @@ -8,7 +8,10 @@ corepack prepare --activate

git submodule update --init --recursive

pnpm install --prefer-offline
# pnpm install already ran in onCreateCommand against this same fully-mounted
# workspace (submodules are theme content, not workspace packages, so their
# absence above didn't affect that install) — a second pass here would just
# re-walk the whole dependency graph for nothing.

# Build workspace packages that ghost/core imports at runtime with build
# outputs (not source). @tryghost/parse-email-address is the only one today
Expand Down
10 changes: 9 additions & 1 deletion .devcontainer/start-dev-stack.sh
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Expand Up @@ -20,8 +20,12 @@ nohup pnpm --filter ghost dev >> /tmp/ghost-backend.log 2>&1 &
disown

{ echo "=== $(date -Is) starting frontends ==="; } >> /tmp/ghost-frontends.log
# Matches root `pnpm dev`'s default fan-out (Admin + Portal only) — most
# devcontainer sessions never touch the public UMD apps, and those watchers
# are the heaviest processes in the stack. To also start them, run e.g.:
# pnpm nx run-many -t dev --projects=@tryghost/comments-ui,@tryghost/signup-form,@tryghost/sodo-search,@tryghost/announcement-bar,@tryghost/admin-toolbar
nohup pnpm nx run-many -t dev \
--projects=@tryghost/admin,@tryghost/portal,@tryghost/comments-ui,@tryghost/signup-form,@tryghost/sodo-search,@tryghost/announcement-bar \
--projects=@tryghost/admin,@tryghost/portal \
>> /tmp/ghost-frontends.log 2>&1 &
disown

Expand All @@ -33,4 +37,8 @@ Ghost dev stack starting in the background.
Gateway: http://localhost:2368/

Give it ~30-60s, then open http://localhost:2368/ghost/ for admin.

Only Admin + Portal dev watchers start by default. To add the public UMD
apps (Comments, Signup Form, Sodo Search, Announcement Bar, Admin Toolbar):
pnpm nx run-many -t dev --projects=@tryghost/comments-ui,@tryghost/signup-form,@tryghost/sodo-search,@tryghost/announcement-bar,@tryghost/admin-toolbar
MSG
12 changes: 5 additions & 7 deletions docker/dev-gateway/Dockerfile
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Expand Up @@ -6,16 +6,14 @@ FROM caddy:2-alpine@sha256:5f5c8640aae01df9654968d946d8f1a56c497f1dd5c5cda4cf95a

COPY --from=builder /usr/bin/caddy /usr/bin/caddy

# Default proxy targets (can be overridden via environment variables)
# Default proxy targets (can be overridden via environment variables).
# Public apps (portal, comments-ui, signup-form, sodo-search,
# announcement-bar, admin-toolbar) are served directly from their umd/
# build output via the Caddyfile's file_server block, not proxied to a
# dev server — they have no *_DEV_SERVER entry here.
ENV GHOST_BACKEND=ghost-dev:2368 \
ADMIN_DEV_SERVER=host.docker.internal:5174 \
ADMIN_LIVE_RELOAD_SERVER=host.docker.internal:4200 \
PORTAL_DEV_SERVER=host.docker.internal:4175 \
COMMENTS_DEV_SERVER=host.docker.internal:7173 \
SIGNUP_DEV_SERVER=host.docker.internal:6174 \
SEARCH_DEV_SERVER=host.docker.internal:4178 \
ANNOUNCEMENT_DEV_SERVER=host.docker.internal:4177 \
ADMIN_TOOLBAR_DEV_SERVER=host.docker.internal:4176 \
LEXICAL_DEV_SERVER=host.docker.internal:4173 \
ANALYTICS_PROXY_TARGET=analytics:3000 \
ACTIVITYPUB_PROXY_TARGET=host.docker.internal:8080
Expand Down
18 changes: 5 additions & 13 deletions docker/dev-gateway/README.md
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Expand Up @@ -4,8 +4,9 @@ This directory contains the Caddy reverse proxy configuration for the Ghost deve
## Purpose
The Caddy reverse proxy container:
1. **Routes Ghost requests** to the Ghost container backend
2. **Proxies asset requests** to local dev servers running on the host
3. **Enables hot-reload** for frontend development without rebuilding Ghost
2. **Proxies asset requests** to local dev servers running on the host (Admin, Lexical)
3. **Serves public app assets** (Portal, Comments UI, Signup Form, Sodo Search, Announcement Bar, Admin Toolbar) directly from their `umd/` build output via `file_server` — no dev server involved
4. **Enables hot-reload** for frontend development without rebuilding Ghost

## Configuration
### Environment Variables
Expand All @@ -14,11 +15,6 @@ Caddy uses environment variables (set in `compose.dev.yaml`) to configure proxy
- `GHOST_BACKEND` - Ghost container hostname (e.g., `ghost-dev:2368`)
- `ADMIN_DEV_SERVER` - React admin dev server (e.g., `host.docker.internal:5174`)
- `ADMIN_LIVE_RELOAD_SERVER` - Ember live reload WebSocket (e.g., `host.docker.internal:4200`)
- `PORTAL_DEV_SERVER` - Portal dev server (e.g., `host.docker.internal:4175`)
- `COMMENTS_DEV_SERVER` - Comments UI (e.g., `host.docker.internal:7173`)
- `SIGNUP_DEV_SERVER` - Signup form (e.g., `host.docker.internal:6174`)
- `SEARCH_DEV_SERVER` - Sodo search (e.g., `host.docker.internal:4178`)
- `ANNOUNCEMENT_DEV_SERVER` - Announcement bar (e.g., `host.docker.internal:4177`)
- `LEXICAL_DEV_SERVER` - *Optional:* Local Koenig Lexical editor dev server (e.g., `host.docker.internal:4173`)
- For developing Lexical in the separate [Koenig repository](https://github.com/TryGhost/Koenig)
- Requires `EDITOR_URL=/ghost/assets/koenig-lexical/` when starting admin dev server
Expand All @@ -43,15 +39,11 @@ The Caddyfile defines these routing rules:
| `/.well-known/webfinger` | ActivityPub server (port 8080) | *Optional:* WebFinger for federation |
| `/.well-known/nodeinfo` | ActivityPub server (port 8080) | *Optional:* NodeInfo for federation |
| `/ghost/assets/koenig-lexical/*` | Lexical dev server (port 4173) | *Optional:* Koenig Lexical editor (falls back to Ghost if not running) |
| `/ghost/assets/portal/*` | Portal dev server (port 4175) | Membership UI |
| `/ghost/assets/comments-ui/*` | Comments dev server (port 7173) | Comments widget |
| `/ghost/assets/signup-form/*` | Signup dev server (port 6174) | Signup form widget |
| `/ghost/assets/sodo-search/*` | Search dev server (port 4178) | Search widget (JS + CSS) |
| `/ghost/assets/announcement-bar/*` | Announcement dev server (port 4177) | Announcement widget |
| `/ghost/assets/{portal,comments-ui,signup-form,sodo-search,announcement-bar,admin-toolbar}/*` | `apps/<name>/umd` (file_server) | Public app widgets — served from disk, rebuilt on change by each app's `vite build --watch` |
| `/ghost/assets/*` | Admin dev server (port 5174) | Other admin assets — rewritten to `/__admin-dev__/assets/*` |
| `/__admin-dev__/*` | Admin dev server (port 5174) | Vite internals (HMR, modules, refresh runtime, dev-only assets) |
| `/ghost`, `/ghost/` | Admin dev server (port 5174) | Admin HTML entry — rewritten to `/__admin-dev__/` |
| `/ghost/*` (deep links) | Ghost backend | Express middleware redirects deep links to `/ghost/#/<path>` |
| Everything else | Ghost backend | Main Ghost application |

**Note:** All port numbers listed are the host ports where dev servers run by default.
**Note:** Port numbers listed for Admin and Lexical are the host ports where those dev servers run by default. Public apps have no dev-server port — Caddy reads their build output straight off disk.
4 changes: 2 additions & 2 deletions package.json
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Expand Up @@ -111,7 +111,7 @@
"docker:up": {
"executor": "nx:run-commands",
"options": {
"command": "docker compose -f compose.dev.yaml ${DEV_COMPOSE_FILES} up -d --force-recreate --wait --quiet-pull"
"command": "if [ -n \"$CODESPACES$REMOTE_CONTAINERS\" ]; then echo 'Skipping docker compose up --force-recreate: already running inside a devcontainer, whose own compose lifecycle brought these services up.'; else docker compose -f compose.dev.yaml ${DEV_COMPOSE_FILES} up -d --force-recreate --wait --quiet-pull; fi"
},
"dependsOn": [
"docker:build"
Expand All @@ -126,7 +126,7 @@
"docker:build": {
"executor": "nx:run-commands",
"options": {
"command": "docker compose --progress=quiet -f compose.dev.yaml ${DEV_COMPOSE_FILES} build"
"command": "if [ -n \"$CODESPACES$REMOTE_CONTAINERS\" ]; then echo 'Skipping docker compose build: already running inside a devcontainer, whose own compose lifecycle built/pulled these images.'; else docker compose --progress=quiet -f compose.dev.yaml ${DEV_COMPOSE_FILES} build; fi"
}
},
"docker:dev": {
Expand Down
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