Disaster recovery for GitHub Codespaces - GitHub Docs Skip to main content GitHub Docs Version: Free, Pro, & Team Search or ask Copilot Search or ask Copilot Select language: current language is English Search or ask Copilot Search or ask Copilot Open menu Collapse sidebar Expand sidebar Scroll breadcrumbs left * Home * Codespaces * Reference * Disaster recovery Scroll breadcrumbs right Codespaces * * * Quickstart * Getting started * What are Codespaces? * Codespaces features * The codespace lifecycle * Deep dive into Codespaces * Developing in a codespace * Develop in a codespace * Create a codespace for a repo * Create a codespace from a template * Delete a codespace * Open an existing codespace * Work collaboratively * Source control * Pull requests * Stop a codespace * Forward ports * Rebuilding a container * Default environment variables * Persist variables and files * Connecting to a private network * Machine learning * Visual Studio Code * GitHub CLI * Customizing your codespace * Rename a codespace * Change your shell * Change the machine type * Setting your user preferences * Personalize your codespaces * Set the default editor * Set the default region * Set the timeout * Configure automatic deletion * Choose the host image * Setting up your project * Adding a dev container configuration * Introduction to dev containers * Setting up a Node.js project * Setting up a C# (.NET) project * Setting up a Java project * Setting up a PHP project * Setting up a Python project * Configuring dev containers * Set a minimum machine spec * Adding features * Automatically opening files * Specifying recommended secrets * Setting up your repository * Facilitating codespace creation * Set up a template repo * Prebuilding your codespaces * About prebuilds * Configure prebuilds * Allow external repo access * Manage prebuilds * Test dev container changes * Managing your codespaces * Codespaces secrets * Repository access * Security logs * GPG verification * Managing your organization * Enable or disable Codespaces * Billing and ownership * List organization codespaces * Manage Codespaces costs * Manage secrets * Audit logs * Restrict machine types * Restrict codespace creation * Restrict base image * Restrict port visibility * Restrict timeout periods * Restrict the retention period * Reference * Access a private registry * Copilot in Codespaces * VS Code Command Palette * Security in Codespaces * Disaster recovery * Troubleshooting * Codespaces logs * Codespaces clients * Included usage * Exporting changes * Creation and deletion * Authenticating to repositories * Connection * Codespaces prebuilds * Personalization * Port forwarding * GPG verification * Working with support * github.dev editor Disaster recovery for GitHub Codespaces This article describes guidance for a disaster recovery scenario, when a whole region experiences an outage due to major natural disaster or widespread service interruption. Copy as Markdown In this article * Option 1: Create a new codespace in another region * Option 2: Wait for recovery * Option 3: Clone the repository locally or edit in the browser * Option 4: Use the Dev Containers extension and Docker for a local containerized environment We work hard to make sure that GitHub Codespaces is always available to you. However, forces beyond our control sometimes impact the service in ways that can cause unplanned service disruptions. Although disaster recovery scenarios are rare occurrences, we recommend that you prepare for the possibility that there is an outage of an entire region. If an entire region experiences a service disruption, the locally redundant copies of your data would be temporarily unavailable. The following guidance provides options on how to handle service disruption to the entire region where your codespace is deployed. Note You can reduce the potential impact of service-wide outages by pushing to remote repositories frequently. Option 1: Create a new codespace in another region In the case of a regional outage, we suggest you recreate your codespace in an unaffected region to continue working. This new codespace will have all of the changes as of your last push to GitHub. For information on manually setting another region, see Setting your default region for GitHub Codespaces . You can optimize recovery time by configuring a devcontainer.json in the project's repository, which allows you to define the tools, runtimes, frameworks, editor settings, extensions, and other configuration necessary to restore the development environment automatically. For more information, see Introduction to dev containers . Option 2: Wait for recovery In this case, no action on your part is required. Know that we are working diligently to restore service availability. You can check the current service status on the Status Dashboard . Option 3: Clone the repository locally or edit in the browser While GitHub Codespaces provides the benefit of a pre-configured developer environment, your source code should always be accessible through the repository hosted on GitHub. In the event of a GitHub Codespaces outage, you can still clone the repository locally or edit files in the GitHub browser editor. For more information, see Editing files . While this option does not configure a development environment for you, it will allow you to make changes to your source code as needed while you wait for the service disruption to resolve. Option 4: Use the Dev Containers extension and Docker for a local containerized environment If your repository has a devcontainer.json , consider using the Dev Containers extension in Visual Studio Code to build and attach to a local development container for your repository. The setup time for this option will vary depending on your local specifications and the complexity of your dev container setup. For more information, see Developing inside a container in the VS Code documentation. Note Be sure your local setup meets the minimum requirements before attempting this option. Help and support Did you find what you needed? Yes No Privacy policy Help us make these docs great! All GitHub docs are open source. See something that's wrong or unclear? Submit a pull request. Make a contribution Learn how to contribute Still need help? Provide GitHub Feedback Contact support Legal * © 2026 GitHub, Inc. * Terms * Privacy * Status * Pricing * Expert services * Blog