VSCodium/WindSurf/Cursor support

[matifali]

Coder’s current VS Code extension relies on ms-vscode-remote.remote-ssh, which is only available via the Microsoft Marketplace. This limits compatibility with non-Microsoft VS Code forks such as VSCodium, Cursor IDE, and Windsurf, which cannot access the Microsoft Marketplace. Users in air-gapped or privacy-focused environments need a version of the Coder extension that works without this dependency.

Desired Solution

• Create a Coder extension variant that is compatible with VSCodium, Cursor IDE, Windsurf, and other VS Code forks by using an open-source SSH extension such as jeanp413.open-remote-ssh.
• Publish this extension on Open VSX for easy access.
• Create terraform modules for these editors, similar to the existing VS Code Desktop module.

Implementation Requirements

• Extension Development:
  • Remove reliance on ms-vscode-remote.remote-ssh in vscode-coder internal#430
• Marketplace Deployment:
  • Publish vscode-coder extension on Open VSX internal#431
• Terraform Modules:
  • VSCodium - Create VSCodium coder module internal#432
  • Windsurf - Create Windsurf Coder module internal#433
    • Existing PR: Add Windsurf Desktop module modules#353
• Documentation:
  • Document how to use vscode-coder using OpenVSX internal#434

Related Issues:

• Feature Request: VSCodium support coder#15846
• Remote SSH access from VSCodium VSCodium/vscodium#693
• Add Windsurf Desktop module modules#353

[matifali]

@code-asher We have now requests for VSCodium, Windsurf and a buggy behavior on Cursor too.
We may need to ship a new separate binary without relying on the MS remote SSh extension as it only works on the MS version of VSCode.

cc: @bpmct

[matifali]

@f0ssel @bcpeinhardt 'Let''s pull this into the current sprint.

[matifali]

Discussed in coder/coder#15846

^{Originally posted by asgeirn December 12, 2024}
We're investigating using Coder in an isolated environment with no Internet connectivity, and according to the documentation for offline deployment, VSCode requires outbound port 443 access for the remote SSH extension to work.

I tried installing the Coder VSIX in VSCodium, but it fails because it depends on the ms-vscode-remote.remote-ssh extension. According to VSCodium/vscodium#693 the extension 'jeanp413.open-remote-ssh' does this.

Would it be possible to provide a variant of the Codium extension on Open VSX for this, and a module for creating "Open in VSCodium" links in workspaces?

[matifali]

WindSurf does not use both Microsoft SSH and Open Remote SSH extensions and has its own built-in implementation.
Ref: https://docs.codeium.com/windsurf/advanced#ssh-support

[f0ssel]

I've updated the Implementation Requirements in the OP to include decomposed issues for the tasks needed to accomplish this effort:

Implementation Requirements

• Extension Development:
  • Remove reliance on ms-vscode-remote.remote-ssh in vscode-coder internal#430
• Marketplace Deployment:
  • Publish vscode-coder extension on Open VSX internal#431
• Terraform Modules:
  • VSCodium - Create VSCodium coder module internal#432
  • Windsurf - Create Windsurf Coder module internal#433
    • Existing PR: Add Windsurf Desktop module modules#353
• Documentation:
  • Document how to use vscode-coder using OpenVSX internal#434

[bcpeinhardt]

The PR mentioned above works around the existing issue by moving MS Remote SSH to be part of an extension pack rather than a hard dependency, and searching for open source alternatives which may be installed, enabling support for VS Code, Cursor, and Windsurf at the same time.
Per standup conversation on doing the simple implementation and coming back to swapping out the SSH dependencies entirely when we have more capacity, moving this ticket to done.

[matifali]

@bcpeinhardt, we should publish to the OpenVSX registry to be used by WindSurf and other OSS alternatives.
Also, the PR solves coder/internal#430 only and we still need #269

[bcpeinhardt]

@matifali On the topic of publishing, uploading to the Microsoft VSCode Marketplace is manual at the moment. I've simply added to the contributing docs that the built .vsix needs to be uploaded to OpenVSX Marketplace as well: https://github.com/coder/vscode-coder/pull/451/files#diff-eca12c0a30e25b4b46522ebf89465a03ba72a03f540796c979137931d8f92055R138

Since the MS Remote Extension has been moved from a dependency to instead be part of an extension pack, we should be able to upload there, but I did move this too early. I'll move back to in progress until the new build is successfully published to both repositories.

[matifali]

version 1.5.0 works as expected in WindSurf and Cursor
for VSCodium, I get,

command 'coder.login' not found

As per VSCodium/vscodium#1777, I installed Open Remote SSH extension.

[asgeirn]

In VSCodium, extension from Open VSX installs without issue, but I get this error if I select Coder Remote in the Activity Bar:

2025-04-02 14:02:23.706 [info] ExtensionService#_doActivateExtension coder.coder-remote, startup: false, activationEvent: 'onView:myWorkspaces'
2025-04-02 14:02:23.799 [error] Activating extension coder.coder-remote failed due to an error:
2025-04-02 14:02:23.799 [error] Error: Remote SSH extension not found

I have jeanp413.open-remote-ssh installed.

[matifali]

Thanks, @asgeirn We have yet to solve for VSCodium by adding support for jeanp413.open-remote-ssh

We are open to contributions, too.
This is on our roadmap, but I don't have a clear ETA on when we can complete this.

[asgeirn]

Thanks for your response! I did a small test on my setup, and it would appear #467 is sufficient to get it to work.