PhpStorm Dev Containers: shared .idea settings embed machine-specific paths

Direct answer

Do not commit the entire .idea directory. Commit only a curated subset—typically codeStyles/, inspectionProfiles/, dictionaries/, fileTypes/, and copyright/, plus runConfigurations/ only after every absolute path is replaced with $PROJECT_DIR$ or a container path such as /workspace. Never commit workspace.xml, tasks.xml, usageStatistics.xml, or files that store local interpreters, deployment servers, or window state. Settings Sync cannot replace this because it synchronizes per-user preferences, not project-level .idea contents.

Why machine-specific paths appear

.idea mixes team-shared inspection and style settings with per-user workspace state. PhpStorm writes absolute host paths into workspace.xml and tasks.xml, and run configurations may embed local SDK paths, server URLs, or working directories. Inside a Dev Container the project is typically mounted at a stable path such as /workspace, so container-relative references are portable across team members; host absolute paths are not.

Confirmed behavior and assumptions

• Settings Sync is per-user and does not synchronize project settings stored in .idea.
• PhpStorm can rewrite .idea files when a project opens, which creates version-control noise for uncommitted user state.
• Dev Containers support depends on the installed PhpStorm build; older builds may lack the feature or serialize settings differently.
• Sharing inspection profiles can change results if team members use different PHP versions or SDKs inside the container.

Assumption: your team uses a PhpStorm build that supports Dev Containers and mounts the project at a consistent container path. This has not been independently verified for your specific build, so treat the safe-subdirectory list as a starting point, not a guarantee.

Steps for this case

1. Audit .idea for absolute paths before committing anything.
2. Add .idea to .gitignore, then explicitly add only the safe subdirectories you intend to share.
3. Open each shared run configuration and replace absolute host paths with $PROJECT_DIR$ or /workspace-relative paths.
4. Document the minimum PhpStorm build version and ask each team member to confirm it under Help > About.
5. Clone the repository on a second machine, open it in the Dev Container, and verify that inspections, code style, and run configurations resolve without path errors.

Verification

grep -R "/Users" .idea

grep -R "/home/" .idea

git status --porcelain .idea

The grep commands are read-only searches for absolute host paths in .idea XML files. The git command shows whether PhpStorm added local-only entries after opening the project.

Missing diagnostic detail

Do your shared run configurations reference host PHP interpreters, deployment servers, or host-only working directories? If yes, runConfigurations/ is not safe to share even after path substitution, and the team should instead document container-side configuration rather than commit it.