How to use Codespaces and Dev Containers

Create a Codespace

1. Open the codespace branch.
2. Click Code, then click New with options.
3. Do not use the develop branch because it is protected.

4. Click Create codespace.
5. Make sure the Dev Container configuration is set to HH-SERVER.
6. Wait for the Codespace to finish provisioning.

Verify local services

After the Codespace is ready, it may ask for the MySQL password to confirm that the MySQL container started correctly. The MySQL password is stored in the shared credentials document managed by the DevOps team — request it from DevOps or retrieve it from the approved secret store.

Check whether the container is running:

docker ps

If the MySQL container did not start, run:

./install.sh

This script should start:

• MySQL on port 3306
• Redis on port 6379
• Memcached on port 11211

Restore the database

Upload the dump file to the Codespace, then restore it:

1. Copy the dump file into the Codespace using the terminal:

# From your local machine
gh codespace cp ./dump.sql remote:/workspaces/<repo-name>/dump.sql

Or upload it via the VS Code Codespace file explorer (drag and drop into the file panel).

2. Restore the database:

mysql -h 127.0.0.1 -u root -p <database_name> < dump.sql

Switch branches if needed

You can switch to another branch with:

git checkout <branch_name>

Run the application

Start the required services:

bundle exec rails s puma
bundle exec sidekiq
./bin/webpack-dev-server