Installing VS Code Extensions in the Cloud Shell Editor

Warning: Cloud Shell cannot verify the origin of extensions you install. Ensure you trust any software packages you run in Cloud Shell as you're using these extensions at your own risk.

The Cloud Shell Editor comes with a set of essential extensions already installed and kept up-to-date. However, if you require additional VS Code extensions, you can install these in your Cloud Shell Editor.

Installing custom extensions

The Cloud Shell Editor (built with Theia) has the ability to run most VS Code extensions without modification.

To install a VS Code extension, follow these steps:

1. Obtain the VSIX you'd like to install from either open-vsx.org or the vendor's GitHub page.

   Important: It's against the Visual Studio Marketplace Terms of Use to obtain offerings for use in products other than Visual Studio Products and Services. Consequently, do not obtain extensions to install in Cloud Shell from the Visual Studio Marketplace.

2. Upload the VSIX to the Cloud Shell $HOME directory.

3. In Cloud Shell, unzip the VSIX into ~/.theia/extensions/EXTENSION_NAME

4. Restart Cloud Shell using the three-dotted More menu.

   

Scripting extension installation

Alternatively, you can install the extension via a script.

The following script demonstrates how to download and unpackage an example VSIX (the Go extension) in Cloud Shell. Note that this script is for illustrative purposes; the golang package comes preinstalled in Cloud Shell.

  cd ~ && \
  wget https://open-vsx.org/api/golang/Go/0.23.2/file/golang.Go-0.23.2.vsix && \
  unzip golang.Go-0.23.2.vsix -d ~/.theia/extensions/golang.Go-0.23.2

After unarchiving the VSIX to the proper directory, you'll need to restart Cloud Shell.