Improving OpenMRS accessibility and setup

Development
1

Title: [DX] Automate Environment Setup via DevContainers and Update Codespace Documentation

Description:

Currently, new contributors using GitHub Codespaces to run the OpenMRS Reference Application must manually run Docker commands, troubleshoot port forwarding, and wait for background services without clear status indicators.

Proposed Changes:

  1. Add DevContainer Configuration: Create a .devcontainer/ setup to automatically trigger docker-compose up on launch.

  2. Automate Port Forwarding: Pre-configure Port 80 and Port 8080 to be “Public” by default within the container config.

  3. Documentation: Update README.md with a “Quick Start with Codespaces” section including log-checking commands and default credentials.

    Screenshot 2026-01-10 143133
    Screenshot 2026-01-10 1431331920×1080 407 KB

I have raised a detailed PR for it in GitHub - openmrs/openmrs-distro-referenceapplication: The reference distribution of the OpenMRS EMR application (v3) repo.

Regards, Alivia Hossain / GitHub: aliviahossain