Extensions for Microsoft Visual Studio Code - Open Source

To manage extensions, this IDE uses one of these Open VSX registry instances:

The embedded instance of the Open VSX registry that runs in the plugin-registry pod of Che to support air-gapped, offline, and proxy-restricted environments. The embedded Open VSX registry contains only a subset of the extensions published on open-vsx.org. This subset is customizable.
The public open-vsx.org registry that is accessed over the internet.
A standalone Open VSX registry instance that is deployed on a network accessible from Che workspace pods.

The default is the Open VSX registry at https://open-vsx.org.

Selecting an Open VSX registry instance

The default is the Open VSX registry at https://open-vsx.org.

If the default Open VSX registry instance is not what you need, you can select one of the following instances:

The embedded instance of the Open VSX registry that runs in the plugin-registry pod of Che to support air-gapped, offline, and proxy-restricted environments. The embedded Open VSX registry contains only a subset of the extensions published on open-vsx.org. This subset is customizable.
A standalone Open VSX registry instance that is deployed on a network accessible from Che workspace pods.

Procedure

Edit the openVSXURL value in the CheCluster custom resource:

spec:
  components:
    pluginRegistry:
      openVSXURL: "<url_of_an_open_vsx_registry_instance>" (1)

For example: openVSXURL: "https://open-vsx.org".

To ensure the stability and performance of the community-supported Open VSX Registry, API usage is organized into defined tiers. The Eclipse Foundation implements these limits to protect infrastructure from high-frequency automated traffic and to provide consistent service quality for all users. For more information, see Rate Limits and Usage Tiers and the open-vsx.org wiki.

Using https://open-vsx.org is not recommended in an air-gapped environment, isolated from the internet. In order to reduce the risk of malware infections and unauthorized access to your code use the embedded or self-hosted Open VSX registry with a curated set of extensions.
To select the embedded Open VSX registry instance in the plugin-registry pod, use openVSXURL: ''. You can customize the list of included extensions.
You can also point openVSXURL at the URL of a standalone Open VSX registry instance if its URL is accessible from within your organization’s cluster and not blocked by a proxy.

Adding or removing extensions in the embedded Open VSX registry instance

You can manage Visual Studio Code extensions by setting up an internal, on-premises Open VSX Registry. This approach provides full control over the extension lifecycle, enables offline use, and improves compliance. The embedded plugin registry is deprecated; the Open VSX Registry is its successor. See Running the Open VSX Registry on premises for detailed setup instructions.

You can add or remove extensions in the embedded Open VSX registry instance. This results in a custom build of the Open VSX registry that can be used in your organization’s workspaces.

To get the latest security fixes after a Che update, rebuild your container based on the latest tag or SHA.

Procedure

Get the publisher and extension name of each chosen extension:

Find the extension on the Open VSX registry website and copy the URL of the extension’s listing page and extension’s version.

Extract the <publisher> and <extension> name from the copied URL:

https://open-vsx.org/extension/<publisher>/<name>

If the extension is only available from Microsoft Visual Studio Marketplace, but not Open VSX, you can ask the extension publisher to also publish it on open-vsx.org according to these instructions, potentially using this GitHub action.

If the extension publisher is unavailable or unwilling to publish the extension to open-vsx.org, and if there is no Open VSX equivalent of the extension, consider reporting an issue to the Open VSX team.

Build the custom plugin registry image and update CheCluster custom resource:

During the build process, each extension will be verified for compatibility with the version of Visual Studio Code used in Che.

Using Che instance:

For IBM Power (ppc64le) and IBM Z (s390x), the custom plugin registry is expected to be built locally on the corresponding architecture.
1. Log in to your Che instance as an administrator.
2. Start a workspace using the plugin registry repository.
3. Open a terminal and check out the Git tag that corresponds to your Che version (for example, 7.87.0):
  git checkout $PRODUCT_VERSION
4. Open the che-plugin-registry/openvsx-sync.json file and add or remove extensions.
5. Execute 1. Build and Publish a Custom Plugin Registry task in the workspace (Terminal → Run Task… → devfile → 1. Build and Publish a Custom Plugin Registry).
6. Execute 2. Configure Che to use the Custom Plugin Registry task in the workspace (Terminal → Run Task… → devfile → 2. Configure Che to use the Custom Plugin Registry).

Using Linux operating system:

Podman and NodeJS version 18.20.3 or higher should be installed in the system.

Download or fork and clone the plugin registry repository.

For each extension that you need to add or remove, edit the openvsx-sync.json file:

To add extensions, add the publisher, name and extension version to the openvsx-sync.json file.
To remove extensions, remove the publisher, name and extension version from the openvsx-sync.json file.

Use the following JSON syntax:

    {
        "id": "<publisher>.<name>",
        "version": "<extension_version>"
    }

If you have a closed-source extension or an extension developed only for internal use in your organization, you can add the extension directly from a .vsix file by using a URL accessible to your custom plugin registry container:
```
    {
        "id": "<publisher>.<name>",
        "download": "<url_to_download_vsix_file>",
        "version": "<extension_version>"
    }
```
Read the Terms of Use for the Microsoft Visual Studio Marketplace before using its resources.

Build the plugin registry container image and publish it to a container registry such as quay.io:

$ ./build.sh -o <username> -r quay.io -t custom

$ docker push quay.io/<username/plugin_registry:custom>

Edit the CheCluster custom resource in your organization’s cluster to point to the image (for example, on quay.io) and save the changes:

spec:
  components:
    pluginRegistry:
      deployment:
        containers:
          - image: quay.io/<username/plugin_registry:custom>
      openVSXURL: ''

Verification

Check that the plugin-registry pod has restarted and is running.
Restart the workspace and check the available extensions in the Extensions view of the workspace IDE.