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vid - Docker Container File Editor

English | 简体中文

Tired of containers without vim?
Tired of manually copying config files back and forth with docker cp?
vid makes it simple!

💡 Motivation

When working with Docker containers, we often face these frustrations:

  • 🔧 No vim in containers: Many minimal container images don't include text editors to reduce size
  • 📝 Editing configs is tedious: Have to manually docker cp files out, edit them, then copy them back
  • ⏱️ Repetitive work: Every edit requires the copy → edit → copy back workflow

vid was created to solve these problems! It lets you edit files inside containers using your local vim editor, all with a single command.

✨ Features

  • 🚀 One-command editing: Edit container files directly with a single command, no manual copying
  • 💻 Use your local editor: Leverage your familiar vim configuration and plugins
  • 🔄 Automated workflow: Automatically handles copying, editing, and writing back files
  • 🧹 Auto cleanup: Automatically removes temporary files after editing
  • 📊 Verbose logging: Use -v flag to see detailed operation logs
  • ⚡ Lightweight & fast: Single binary, no additional dependencies

📦 Installation

Option 1: Download Precompiled Binary (Recommended)

Download precompiled binaries for your platform from the Releases page.

Linux

wget https://github.com/E9C50/vid/releases/download/vX.X.X/vid-linux-amd64.tar.gz
tar -xzf vid-linux-amd64.tar.gz
sudo mv vid /usr/local/bin/
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/vid

macOS

wget https://github.com/E9C50/vid/releases/download/vX.X.X/vid-darwin-amd64.tar.gz
tar -xzf vid-darwin-amd64.tar.gz
sudo mv vid /usr/local/bin/
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/vid

Windows

Download vid-windows-amd64.zip from the Releases page, extract it, and add vid.exe to your system PATH.

Option 2: Build from Source

Requires Go 1.24 or later:

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/E9C50/vid.git
cd vid

# Build
go build -o vid main.go

# Install to system path (optional)
sudo mv vid /usr/local/bin/

Option 3: Using go install

go install github.com/E9C50/vid@latest

🚀 Usage

Basic Usage

vid <container_name_or_id> <file_path_in_container>

Options

  • -v - Enable verbose logging to see the full operation flow

Examples

# Edit nginx configuration file
vid my_nginx_container /etc/nginx/nginx.conf

# Edit application config file
vid web_app /app/config/app.conf

# Use verbose mode to see operation details
vid -v my_container /etc/config.json

# Use container ID
vid a1b2c3d4e5f6 /var/log/app.log

Comparison with Traditional Approach

Traditional approach (requires 3 commands):

docker cp my_container:/etc/nginx/nginx.conf ./nginx.conf
vim ./nginx.conf
docker cp ./nginx.conf my_container:/etc/nginx/nginx.conf
rm ./nginx.conf

Using vid (only 1 command):

vid my_container /etc/nginx/nginx.conf

🔧 How It Works

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  1. Copy file from container to local temp file (docker cp) │
│                          ↓                                   │
│  2. Open temp file in local vim editor                      │
│                          ↓                                   │
│  3. Auto copy file back to container after save (docker cp) │
│                          ↓                                   │
│  4. Auto cleanup local temp file                            │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

📋 Requirements

  • Docker (installed and docker command available)
  • vim editor (installed on local system)
  • Access permissions to target container

⚠️ Notes

  • Ensure the Docker container is running
  • Ensure the target file path exists in the container
  • Ensure you have appropriate read/write permissions for the container and file
  • Use the -v flag to see detailed error information

🤝 Contributing

Issues and Pull Requests are welcome!

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

🌟 Star History

If this project helps you, please give it a star ⭐

Built with ❤️ and Go