Managing IDE extensions
Manage IDE extensions in Che workspaces to control which extensions are available, trusted, and pre-installed for users across different IDE types. Extension management is essential for air-gapped environments, security-conscious organizations, and teams that need consistent developer tooling.
IDEs in Che use extensions to provide language support, debugging, linting, and other development tools. The Microsoft Visual Studio Code - Open Source editor manages extensions through the Open VSX registry.
Che supports four registry configurations:
- Embedded Open VSX registry
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Runs in the
plugin-registrypod and supports air-gapped, offline, and proxy-restricted environments. Contains a default subset of extensions that you can customize. - Public Open VSX registry
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The community-hosted registry at
open-vsx.org, accessed over the internet. Provides the full catalog of openly published extensions. - Standalone Open VSX registry
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A self-hosted instance deployed on a network accessible from Che workspace pods. Provides full control over available extensions for organizations that need a curated, private registry.
- Managed Open VSX registry
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An Operator-managed Open VSX server and PostgreSQL database deployed as Che operands. The Operator handles provisioning, exposure through the Che gateway, and lifecycle management. Enable it by setting
spec.components.openVSXRegistry.enablein theCheClustercustom resource.