made the dev install run the dev container after it's made

.github/actions/install_requirements/action.yml

@@ -3,31 +3,31 @@ description: Install a version of python then call pip install and report what w
 inputs:
   python-version:
     description: Python version to install, default is from Dockerfile
-    default: "dev"
+    default: "dev_container"
   pip-install:
     description: Parameters to pass to pip install
     default: "$([ -f dev-requirements.txt ] && echo '-c dev-requirements.txt') -e .[dev]"
+  docker-image:
+    description: The docker image used on a dev install
+    default: ""
 
 runs:
   using: composite
   steps:
-    - name: Get version of python
-      run: |
-        PYTHON_VERSION="${{ inputs.python-version }}"
-        if [ $PYTHON_VERSION == "dev" ]; then
-          PYTHON_VERSION="3.11"
-        fi
-        echo "PYTHON_VERSION=$PYTHON_VERSION" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
-      shell: bash
-
     - name: Setup python
       uses: actions/setup-python@v5
       with:
-        python-version: ${{ env.PYTHON_VERSION }}
+        python-version: ${{ inputs.python-version }}
+      if: inputs.python-version != 'dev_container'
 
     - name: Install packages
       run: pip install ${{ inputs.pip-install }}
       shell: bash
+      if: inputs.python-version != 'dev_container'
+
+    - name: Run docker container
+      run: docker run -d --name my-container ${{ inputs.docker-image }}
+      if: inputs.python-version == 'dev_container'
 
     - name: Report what was installed
       run: pip freeze

.github/workflows/_container.yml

@@ -54,3 +54,5 @@ jobs:
           push: true
           tags: ${{ steps.meta.outputs.tags }}
           labels: ${{ steps.meta.outputs.labels }}
+outputs:
+      docker-image: ghcr.io/${{ github.repository }}:${{ steps.meta.outputs.tags }}

.github/workflows/_test.yml

@@ -28,22 +28,24 @@ jobs:
           # Need this to get version number from last tag
           fetch-depth: 0
 
-      - if: inputs.python-version == 'dev'
-        name: Install dev versions of python packages
+      - if: inputs.python-version == 'dev_container'
+        name: Install dev_container versions of python packages
         uses: ./.github/actions/install_requirements
+        with:
+          docker-image: : ${{ github.event.inputs.docker-image }}
 
-      - if: inputs.python-version == 'dev'
+      - if: inputs.python-version == 'dev_container'
         name: Write the requirements as an artifact
         run: pip freeze --exclude-editable > /tmp/dev-requirements.txt
 
-      - if: inputs.python-version == 'dev'
+      - if: inputs.python-version == 'dev_container'
         name: Upload dev-requirements.txt
         uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
         with:
           name: dev-requirements
           path: /tmp/dev-requirements.txt
 
-      - if: inputs.python-version != 'dev'
+      - if: inputs.python-version != 'dev_container'
         name: Install latest versions of python packages
         uses: ./.github/actions/install_requirements
         with:

.github/workflows/ci.yml

@@ -23,9 +23,9 @@ jobs:
         runs-on: ["ubuntu-latest"] # can add windows-latest, macos-latest
         python-version: ["3.10", "3.11"]
         include:
-          # Include one that runs in the dev environment
+          # Include one that runs in the dev container environment
           - runs-on: "ubuntu-latest"
-            python-version: "dev"
+            python-version: "dev_container"
       fail-fast: false
     uses: ./.github/workflows/_test.yml
     with: