Starting a workspace from a raw devfile URL

With Che, you can open a devfile URL in your browser to start a new workspace.

You can use the Git Repo URL field on the Create Workspace page of your Che dashboard to enter the URL of a devfile to start a new workspace.

To initiate a clone of the Git repository in the filesystem of a new workspace, the devfile must contain project info.

See https://devfile.io/docs/2.2.0/adding-projects.
Prerequisites

  • Your organization has a running instance of Che.

  • You know the FQDN URL of your organization’s Che instance: https://<che_fqdn>.

Procedure

To start a new workspace from a devfile URL:

  1. Optional: Visit your Che dashboard pages to authenticate to your organization’s instance of Che.

  2. Visit the URL to start a new workspace from a public repository using the basic syntax:

    https://<che_fqdn>#<devfile_url>

    You can pass your personal access token to the URL to access a devfile from private repositories:

    https://<che_fqdn>#https://<token>@<host>/<path_to_devfile> (1)
    1 Your personal access token that you generated on the Git provider’s website.

    This works for GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, Microsoft Azure, and other providers that support Personal Access Token.

    Automated Git credential injection does not work in this case. To configure the Git credentials, use the configure personal access token guide.

    You can extend this URL with optional parameters:

    https://<che_fqdn>#<devfile_url>?<optional_parameters> (1)
    1 See Optional parameters for the URLs for starting a new workspace.
    Example 1. A URL for starting a new workspace from a public repository

    https://<che_fqdn>#https://raw.githubusercontent.com/che-samples/cpp-hello-world/main/devfile.yaml

    Example 2. A URL for starting a new workspace from a private repository

    https://<che_fqdn>#https://<token>@raw.githubusercontent.com/che-samples/cpp-hello-world/main/devfile.yaml

    Verification

    After you enter the URL to start a new workspace in a browser tab, the workspace starting page appears. When the new workspace is ready, the workspace IDE loads in the browser tab.

    The workspace has a unique URL: https://<che_fqdn>/<user_name>/<unique_url>.

Additional resources