Feature/workflow inputs

.devcontainer/Dockerfile

@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
 FROM mcr.microsoft.com/devcontainers/base:noble
 
-# VS Code commit ID for devcontainer compatibility, argument supplied at build time via devcontainer.json
-ARG VSCODE_COMMIT
+# VS Code commit ID for devcontainer compatibility. Can be overridden at build time via build args.
+# Default chosen for current stable VS Code Server version used in this repository.
+ARG VSCODE_COMMIT=f220831ea2d946c0dcb0f3eaa480eb435a2c1260
+
+ENV VSCODE_COMMIT=${VSCODE_COMMIT}
 
 # Copy and run VS Code installation files
 COPY ./vscode-init /opt/vscode-init

.devcontainer/devcontainer.json

@@ -2,11 +2,10 @@
 // README at: https://github.com/devcontainers/templates/tree/main/src/ubuntu
 {
 	"name": "Python Development Environment",
-	// Or use a Dockerfile or Docker Compose file. More info: https://containers.dev/guide/dockerfile
 	"build": {
 		"dockerfile": "Dockerfile",
 		"args": {
-			"VSCODE_COMMIT": "f220831ea2d946c0dcb0f3eaa480eb435a2c1260"
+			"VSCODE_COMMIT": "${localEnv:VSCODE_COMMIT}"
 		}
 	},
 

.github/workflows/build-devcontainer.yml

@@ -1,19 +1,18 @@
 name: Build and Publish Dev Container
 
 on:
-  push:
-    branches:
-      - main
-    paths:
-      - '.devcontainer/**'
-      - '.github/workflows/build-devcontainer.yml'
   pull_request:
     branches:
       - main
     paths:
       - '.devcontainer/**'
       - '.github/workflows/build-devcontainer.yml'
   workflow_dispatch:
+    inputs:
+      vscode_commit:
+        description: 'VS Code commit hash to use (defaults to Dockerfile ARG default if not provided)'
+        required: false
+        type: string
 
 env:
   REGISTRY: ghcr.io
@@ -27,20 +26,38 @@ jobs:
       packages: write        # For publishing container images
       pull-requests: write   # For PR comments from security scan
       actions: write         # For uploading artifacts from security scan
-      
+
     steps:
       - name: Checkout repository
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
-
-      - name: Read VSCODE_COMMIT from devcontainer.json
+        
+      - name: Resolve VSCODE_COMMIT (input override > Dockerfile default)
         id: vscode-commit
         run: |
-          VSCODE_COMMIT=$(grep 'VSCODE_COMMIT' .devcontainer/devcontainer.json | tr -d '"' | cut -d " " -f 2)
+          # If user provided an input, trust it. Otherwise parse Dockerfile ARG default.
+          if [ -n "${{ github.event.inputs.vscode_commit }}" ]; then
+            VSCODE_COMMIT="${{ github.event.inputs.vscode_commit }}"
+            SOURCE="workflow_input"
+          else
+            # Extract default from ARG line: ARG VSCODE_COMMIT=<hash>
+            VSCODE_COMMIT=$(grep -E '^ARG VSCODE_COMMIT=' .devcontainer/Dockerfile | head -n1 | cut -d= -f2-)
+            if [ -z "$VSCODE_COMMIT" ]; then
+              echo "❌ Could not find default VSCODE_COMMIT in Dockerfile" >&2
+              exit 1
+            fi
+            SOURCE="dockerfile_default"
+          fi
+          # Basic validation (40 hex chars)
+          if ! echo "$VSCODE_COMMIT" | grep -Eq '^[0-9a-f]{40}$'; then
+            echo "❌ VSCODE_COMMIT '$VSCODE_COMMIT' is not a 40-char hex commit hash" >&2
+            exit 1
+          fi
           VSCODE_SHORT=${VSCODE_COMMIT:0:7}
+          echo "Resolved VSCODE_COMMIT=$VSCODE_COMMIT (source=$SOURCE)"
           echo "vscode_commit=$VSCODE_COMMIT" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
           echo "vscode_short=$VSCODE_SHORT" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
-          echo "Full VSCODE_COMMIT: $VSCODE_COMMIT"
-          echo "Short VSCODE_COMMIT: $VSCODE_SHORT"
+          echo "source=$SOURCE" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+          echo "Short: $VSCODE_SHORT"
 
       - name: Set up Docker Buildx
         uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@v3
@@ -76,6 +93,8 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Build and publish dev container
         uses: devcontainers/ci@v0.3
+        env:
+          VSCODE_COMMIT: ${{ steps.vscode-commit.outputs.vscode_commit }}
         with:
           imageName: ${{ env.REGISTRY }}/${{ env.IMAGE_NAME }}
           imageTag: ${{ steps.tags.outputs.tags }}
@@ -151,6 +170,7 @@ jobs:
           echo "📝 Labels: ${{ steps.meta.outputs.labels }}"
           echo "🔧 VSCode Commit: ${{ steps.vscode-commit.outputs.vscode_commit }}"
           echo "📋 Short Commit: ${{ steps.vscode-commit.outputs.vscode_short }}"
+          echo "🗂️ Source: ${{ steps.vscode-commit.outputs.source }}"
           echo ""
           echo "To use this dev container:"
           echo "1. Reference it in your devcontainer.json:"

DEVCONTAINER.md

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
-# Dev Container for Python Development
+# Dev Container for Python & R Development
 
-This repository contains a development container configuration optimized for Python development, along with automated workflows to build and publish the container image to GitHub Container Registry (GHCR).
+This repository contains a development container configuration optimized for Python (and first-class R) development, along with automated workflows to build and publish the container image to GitHub Container Registry (GHCR). For high-level usage see `README.md`; this document focuses on implementation details.
 
 ## 📦 Published Container
 
@@ -13,11 +13,14 @@ The dev container is automatically built and published with multiple tags:
   - `main` - Latest build from main branch  
   - `main-<commit-sha>` - Specific commit builds from main branch
   - `pr-<number>` - Pull request builds for testing
+  - `vscode-<vscode-commit-sha>` - Builds with specific VS Code Server versions
+  - `vscode-<vscode-commit-sha>-<commit-sha>` - Combination of VS Code Server and container commit
 
 ### Choosing the Right Tag
 
 - **For production/stable use**: `ghcr.io/smartdatafoundry/devcontainer:latest`
-- **For reproducible builds**: `ghcr.io/smartdatafoundry/devcontainer:main-abc1234` 
+- **For reproducible builds**: `ghcr.io/smartdatafoundry/devcontainer:vscode-<vscode-commit-sha>-<commit-sha>` 
+- **For specific VS Code Server versions**: `ghcr.io/smartdatafoundry/devcontainer:vscode-<vscode-commit-sha>`
 - **For testing PR changes**: `ghcr.io/smartdatafoundry/devcontainer:pr-123`
 
 ## 🚀 Quick Start
@@ -63,30 +66,47 @@ docker run --rm -it -v $(pwd):/workspace ghcr.io/smartdatafoundry/devcontainer:l
 
 This dev container includes:
 
-- **Base**: Ubuntu Noble (24.04) via Microsoft's `mcr.microsoft.com/devcontainers/base:noble`
-- **Python**: System Python with pip and development tools (via devcontainer feature)
-- **Git**: Latest version with configuration support
-- **Shell**: Zsh with Oh My Zsh configuration (via common-utils feature)
-- **Quarto**: For document publishing and data science workflows (latest version)
-- **Marimo**: Markdown presentation tool, alternative to Jupyter Notebooks (latest version)
-- **VS Code Server**: Pre-installed for immediate development
-- **VS Code Extensions**:
-  - Continue (AI assistant)
-  - Black formatter for Python
-  - Jupyter support
-  - Markdown All in One
-  - Rainbow CSV
+* **Base**: Ubuntu Noble (24.04) via Microsoft's `mcr.microsoft.com/devcontainers/base:noble`
+* **Python**: System Python with pip and development tools (via feature)
+* **R**: Installed via Rocker devcontainer feature (languageserver, httpgd, rmarkdown, renv, devtools, radian, vscDebugger)
+* **Git**: Latest stable
+* **Shell**: Zsh + Oh My Zsh (via common-utils feature)
+* **Quarto**: Latest (document publishing)
+* **Marimo**: Alternative interactive notebook/presentation tool
+* **VS Code Server**: Pre-installed (pin via tag families)
+* **VS Code Extensions**: Curated list (see `.devcontainer/vscode-init/extensions-to-install.txt`)
 
 ## 🔄 Automated Builds
 
-The container is automatically built and published using GitHub Actions:
+The container is built using GitHub Actions with controlled publishing:
 
 ### Build Workflow (`build-devcontainer.yml`)
-- **Triggers**: Push to main branch, PRs, manual dispatch
-- **Features**: Single platform (linux/amd64), intelligent caching, comprehensive validation tests
-- **Publishing**: Multi-tag publishing with `latest`, `main`, `main-<sha>`, and `pr-<number>` tags
+- **PR Triggers**: Pull requests automatically build test images (`pr-<number>` tags) using default VS Code Server commit
+- **Manual Dispatch**: Production builds require manual trigger with VS Code Server commit hash
+  - **Required Input**: VS Code Server commit hash for reproducible builds
+  - **Publishing**: Multi-tag publishing with `latest`, `main`, `vscode-<vscode-commit>`, and SHA-based tags
+- **Features**: Single platform (linux/amd64), intelligent caching, comprehensive validation tests, security scanning
 - **Testing**: Validates Python, Git, Zsh, and Quarto installations
 
+### VS Code Server Version Control
+- Default VS Code Server commit is declared once in the Dockerfile via: `ARG VSCODE_COMMIT=<hash>`
+- Manual workflow dispatch can override this by providing the `vscode_commit` input
+- The workflow extracts the Dockerfile default automatically if no input is provided
+- The commit hash is embedded in container tags: `vscode-<short>` and `vscode-<short>-<branch-sha>`
+
+Local override examples:
+
+```bash
+# Use Dockerfile default
+devcontainer build --workspace-folder .
+
+# Override for build
+export VSCODE_COMMIT=0f0d87fa9e96c856c5212fc86db137ac0d783365
+devcontainer build --workspace-folder .
+```
+
+This keeps maintenance simple: update the default by editing a single line in `Dockerfile` with support for overrides when needed via workflow inputs.
+
 ## 📁 Repository Structure
 
 ```
@@ -106,7 +126,7 @@ The container is automatically built and published using GitHub Actions:
 ├── docs/                          # Additional documentation
 ├── DEVCONTAINER.md                # Detailed documentation
 ├── README.md                      # Overview and quick start
-└── SDF_TRE_SETUP.md              # SDF TRE setup guide
+└── SDF_TRE_SETUP.md               # SDF TRE setup guide
 ```
 
 ## 🔧 Customization
@@ -143,6 +163,8 @@ The build system creates multiple tags from a single build:
 - `main`: Latest commit from main branch
 - `main-<sha>`: Specific commit SHA for reproducible builds
 - `pr-<number>`: Pull request builds for testing changes
+- `vscode-<vscode-commit-sha>`: Builds with specific VS Code Server versions
+- `vscode-<vscode-commit-sha>-<branch-sha>`: Complete version specification
 
 ## 🧪 Testing
 
@@ -171,7 +193,7 @@ The GitHub Action will automatically test your changes when you submit a PR.
 
 ## 📝 License
 
-This project is open source and available under the [MIT License](LICENSE).
+Licensed under [MIT](LICENSE).
 
 ---