Drupal CMS + DDEV in GitHub Codespaces

This repository is a ready-to-fork and run example that sets up Drupal CMS inside a GitHub Codespace using DDEV. It provides a fully orchestrated developer environment for rapid prototyping and testing of Drupal projects in the cloud — no local setup required.

Purpose

The goal of this project is not just to install Drupal CMS, but to demonstrate how DDEV can be used inside a GitHub Codespace to:

• Run a complete Drupal CMS environment (core + contrib modules/themes)
• Automate setup via a Makefile
• Launch the site in a browser from within the Codespace container
• Provide a clean starting point for your own Drupal projects

What’s Included

• Drupal CMS 1.3.x: A curated Drupal distribution with smart defaults
• DDEV: Local dev tooling inside the Codespace container
• Makefile: Automates setup (cleaning, starting DDEV, Composer install)
• Devcontainer config: VS Code & Codespaces setup with useful PHP extensions
• Post-install hooks: Automatically fetch and copy the Drupal CMS profile
• Extra Hero recipe: Adds hero components and sample content to showcase Basecore's hero patterns
• Contrib modules like webform, project_browser, extra_project_browser, and a full set of CMS tools
• Two free, contributed Drupal themes:
  • CorporateClean
  • BaseCore

Both themes are developed and maintained by More than Themes, a long-standing contributor to the Drupal community offering free and premium themes for over a decade.

Quick Start

1. Fork this repository

Click the “Use this template” button or fork it to your GitHub account.

2. Open in GitHub Codespaces

From your forked repository:

Code → Open with Codespaces → Create new Codespace

3. Run make in the terminal

Once the Codespace has been created, open a terminal in the Codespace and run:

make

This will:

• Clean the Drupal CMS directory
• Start or restart DDEV
• Run Composer install
• Run post-install hooks
• Launch the Drupal CMS site in a browser

Note: While the devcontainer.json includes a postCreateCommand intended to automate this step, it currently does not work reliably in Codespaces. Manual execution of make is required for now.

This is tracked as a future improvement.

4. View the site

After make finishes, your default browser will open and point to the running Drupal CMS site inside the container.

Included Commands

make           # Full setup: clean, start DDEV, install Drupal CMS, launch browser
make clean     # Clean up everything except composer.json
make ddev      # Start or restart the DDEV container
make setup     # Run Composer install and post-install hooks
make launch    # Open the Drupal CMS instance in the browser

Extra Hero Recipe (Basecore)

This template includes the extra_hero recipe and the extra_project_browser module.

After installation, enable them using Drush inside the DDEV container:

ddev exec "cd cms && vendor/bin/drush en -y extra_project_browser extra_hero"

Then apply the recipe:

ddev exec "cd cms && vendor/bin/drush recipe extra_hero"

You can also enable them via the admin UI:

• Enable Project Browser and Extra Project Browser modules in Extend.
• Open Project Browser and install the Extra Hero recipe from there.

Requirements

You don’t need to install anything locally to use this — just a GitHub account with Codespaces enabled.

If running locally (optional):

• Docker
• DDEV
• GNU Make

Extending This Template

This is a great starting point for your own Drupal projects using Codespaces. You can:

• Add your own modules/themes in composer.json
• Modify the custom profile
• Change the default site installation options
• Add database seeders or migrations

License

MIT License