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Accessing the LEAP Hub via VS Code (in your browser)

The LEAP JupyterHub includes a browser-based version of Visual Studio Code, allowing you to use a full-featured IDE directly in your web browser, without any local installations.

This version of VS Code runs on the same remote server as your Jupyter kernel and filesystem — so any code or terminal work is happening in the cloud, on LEAP compute infrastructure.

How to Launch VS Code in Your Browser

  1. Log into the LEAP Hub

    • Go to the LEAP JupyterHub browser and sign in using your institutional credentials.

  2. Start your server (if it's not already running)

    • Choose a server configuration and click Start.

  3. Click the VS Code Icon

    • Once your Jupyter environment launches, look in the Launcher tab
    • Find and click the VS Code icon (it should look like the following screenshot). VsCode Icon
    • This opens the in-browser VS Code interface in a new tab or within the same window.

  4. Using VS Code in the Browser

    • You can open folders, edit files, and run terminals just like in the desktop app.
    • Use the file explorer on the left to navigate your directory.
    • Open a terminal: Terminal > New Terminal (runs in the same environment as Jupyter).
    • Start or open notebooks: click .ipynb files and they’ll open using the built-in Jupyter extension.
    • Git features, syntax highlighting, search, multi-file editing, etc. are all supported.

Tips

  • Python environment: Your Python interpreter is automatically set to the remote Hub environment.
  • Installing packages: Use the built-in terminal and pip install or mamba install. These packages be added to your base environment.
  • Save your work: Changes persist on the Hub’s file system — no need to worry about syncing with your local machine.

Common Issues

  • Missing extensions: Some VS Code Marketplace extensions may not be available. This is a limitation of the server-based VS Code.
  • Lag: If your internet connection is slow, performance may be less smooth than the desktop version.
  • VS Code doesn’t launch? Try restarting your Jupyter server, or clear your browser cache and reload.