> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.workroom-productions.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Browser-based VSCode for Workshops
- URL: https://www.workroom-productions.com/browser-based-vscode-for-workshops/
- Published: 2025-02-11T15:16:19.000Z
- Updated: 2025-06-12T16:03:55.000Z
- Description: Putting a cloud server and IDE into workshop participants' browsers.
- Author: James Lyndsay
- Tags: Tools

[Code Server](https://github.com/coder/code-server) puts [VSCode](https://code.visualstudio.com) in the browser, giving access to a remote server. [Ansible](https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/index.html) lets me configure cloud servers. I can use them together to give workshop participants a configured and familiar development environment, without needing downloads or installs, and to make it available in moments.

I used this at EuroSTAR to give \~90 people browser-based zero-install access to a VSCode's file browser and commandline, on servers set up to serve web pages and access LLMs. It worked transparently – people engaged with the work, not the tooling.

I'll

I've got two scripts. One [builds a cloud server](https://github.com/workroomprds/VSCodeInBrowser/blob/main/droplet%5Fonly%5Fsetup.yml) that I can close down and save for later use (it takes a while, and is flaky, so it's better to do it once and keep it somewhere). The other uses that to [build a live server, sets up VSCode and several users, installs tools and adds files](https://github.com/workroomprds/VSCodeInBrowser/blob/main/user%5Fsetup%5Fand%5Finfo.yml) that might be needed.

Here's a github with (a slice of) the current state.

[GitHub - workroomprds/VSCodeInBrowserContribute to workroomprds/VSCodeInBrowser development by creating an account on GitHub.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/7e/30/7e30843b-2abb-494a-ab80-0e931d8ae9a9/content/images/icon/pinned-octocat-093da3e6fa40-3.svg)GitHubworkroomprds![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/7e/30/7e30843b-2abb-494a-ab80-0e931d8ae9a9/content/images/thumbnail/VSCodeInBrowser)](https://github.com/workroomprds/VSCodeInBrowser)

This needs polish around VSCode config – setting up so that particpants don't need to battle a first-use page, making sure the file browser and terminal prompt are pointing to the same place, allowing (reliable) copy/paste from the browser-hosting OS to the OS on the server, pre-installing VSCode extensions, activating a Python virtual environment on the remote server.

Why not use [Replit](https://replit.com), [CodeAnywhere](https://codeanywhere.com), or [GitPod](https://replit.com)? I have... and I may write about those (sometimes expensive) adventures elsewhere.