Start WebContainer

June 9, 2023 · View on GitHub

Start WebContainer, and use Jsh and Preview URL.

This extension dynamically generates an external tab with Cross Origin isolation enabled using Nodebox(the Server tab in the figure below). Therefore, the ?vscode-coi=on parameter is not required in VS Code for the Web.

Screenshot of Vite server running in Jsh terminal and previewing the page

⚠️ VS Code Insiders

VS Code insides for the Web has Cross Origin isolation turned on by default.

https://code.visualstudio.com/blogs/2023/06/05/vscode-wasm-wasi#_vs-codes-wasi-implementation

The only difficulty with this approach is that SharedArrayBuffer and Atomics require the site to be cross-origin isolated, which, because CORS is very viral, can be an endeavor by itself. This is why it is currently only enabled by default on the Insiders version insiders.vscode.dev and must be enabled using the query parameter ?vscode-coi=on on vscode.dev.

If you use Start WebContainer, you have to set ?vscode-coi=off.

Features

  • Start WebContainer from VS Code for the Web
  • Open a terminal with Jsh
  • Open Preview URL with Simple Browser
  • Automatically reflect changes to WebContainer when there are any changes to the Workspace file
  • Import WebContainer files to Workspace

Background file sync is not supported. Does not supported to multi-root workspace. Containers are not persistent.

Usage

Start WebContainer(Open terminal with Jsh)

  1. Open the Workspace(Local folder or Remote repository)
  2. Execute the Start WebContainer: Start command from the command palette
  3. The URL(https://*.nodebox.codesandbox.io/) for starting WebContainer will open in an external tab
  4. Workspace files will be loaded to WebContainer

When you edit files in the editor, they will be automatically reflected in WebContainer. However, it will not be reflected in the following cases.

  • Changes outside the editor
  • Create and delete files

📘 npm install:

  • npm install is not executed automatically. Please execute it manually
  • Even if package.json and package-lock.json are updated, they will not be automatically reflected in the Workspace(See Start WebContainer: Pick up all files from a container below)

Open Preview URL

  1. Execute the Start WebContainer: Preview command from the command palette
  2. Select from the list of available Prview URLs
  3. The Preview URL will open in the Simple Browser

Pick up all files from a WebContainer

  1. Execute the Start WebContainer: Pick up all files from a container command from the command palette
  2. The files in the WebContainer will be overwritten to the Workspace