ides.md

Open IDE

Open a Devbox in your editor and work as if the code were on your own machine. You browse and edit the repository in place, run builds and tests in the editor's terminal, and use its debugger and extensions, while everything executes on the Devbox.

devbox open-ide is the common path for most editors. It configures local SSH access, then launches the editor already connected to your Devbox, so there is nothing to set up by hand.

VS Code

VS Code opens on your machine and connects to the Devbox over SSH, so your files, terminal, and extensions all run remotely.

CLI

devbox open-ide my-devbox

This will:

  1. Configure local SSH access to your Devbox
  2. Ensure the Remote - SSH extension is installed (see the VS Code Remote-SSH documentation for more details)
  3. Open a new window connected to your Devbox

Dashboard

In the Devbox dashboard, press Open VSCode. To use VS Code in the browser instead, open the dropdown beside it and select Open on the Web.

VS Code installs the Namespace Devbox extension automatically. On first use, the extension will open your browser to authenticate with Namespace. Once authenticated, it connects to your Devbox.

Cursor

Cursor opens as its own desktop app, connected to your Devbox over SSH.

CLI

Pass --flavor cursor to launch Cursor instead of VS Code:

devbox open-ide my-devbox --flavor cursor

Dashboard

In the Devbox dashboard, open the dropdown beside Open VSCode and select Open Cursor.

JetBrains

JetBrains IDEs support remote development through JetBrains Gateway or the built-in remote development features in IDEs like IntelliJ IDEA, GoLand, PyCharm, and WebStorm. See the JetBrains remote development documentation for more details.

  1. Configure SSH access. This writes the SSH key and proxy config so Gateway can connect without manual setup:
devbox configure-ssh my-devbox
  1. Open JetBrains Gateway and select SSH Connection
  2. Create a new connection with the host my-devbox.devbox.namespace and username devbox
  3. Select the IDE and project directory on the remote host

JetBrains Gateway installs the IDE backend on your Devbox and streams the UI to your local machine.

Zed

Open your Devbox in Zed:

devbox open-ide my-devbox --flavor zed

This opens Zed with a remote SSH connection to your Devbox. Zed connects using its native SSH remote development support.

Other editors

--flavor also accepts vscode-insiders, codium, positron, and windsurf. Each launches that editor's own desktop app, connected over the same SSH access:

devbox open-ide my-devbox --flavor windsurf

See devbox open-ide for the full list of accepted values.

Connect manually

To use an editor that open-ide does not support, run devbox configure-ssh first (see Connecting with SSH), then connect from your IDE using the SSH host. The dashboard's Copy SSH command option gives you the same connection details. You may need to specify a working directory. Use /workspaces/{repo-name} if you created your Devbox with --checkout.