Stop and come back

A running session involves three pieces: the IDE inside the container, the host terminal running devcapsule project run, and the browser tab displaying the capsule's desktop. Exit the IDE or interrupt the launcher to end the session.

Ending a session

Choose File → Exit inside the IDE for a clean shutdown. The IDE exits, Docker removes the disposable container, and your host terminal returns to its shell prompt. Your saved project files and persistent checkout directories remain on your computer.

Pressing Ctrl+C in the launcher terminal also stops the capsule after a brief shutdown grace period, printing Session interrupted from the terminal (Ctrl+C); the capsule stopped. along with the host paths to that session's log files. Pressing Ctrl+C a second time stops waiting. If the launcher cannot confirm that the container stopped, it prints a docker stop command. Prefer exiting from the IDE during normal work so the editor flushes unsaved workspace state cleanly.

Closing the browser tab

Closing the desktop tab (or the web console tab) leaves the capsule running. Reopen the URL printed in your launcher terminal to reconnect to the exact same desktop with every window and terminal still live.

Every project run generates fresh loopback ports and tokens. Running a second devcapsule project run cannot recover the URL of an already-running session, so keep your launcher terminal open while the session runs.

Coming back later

From the project directory in any host terminal:

~/.local/bin/devcapsule project run

The IDE reopens with your source tree, personal IDE preferences, installed plugins or extensions, window layout, and coding-agent sign-ins intact. Processes that were running inside the previous container—such as dev servers or file watchers—stopped when that container exited, so start them again in the IDE terminal when needed.

You do not run project init again. Unanswered or newly required decisions can produce prompts, including software consent after an update or a forgotten checkout answer. See Changes at the next launch and What persists.