Epic: VS Code Desktop GA

[loujaybee]

Context	This epic contains all details required to move VS Code Desktop from beta to GA
Owner	Product - @loujaybee / Tech - @akosyakov
Value	Have a fully functional and stable VS Code Desktop implementation with Gitpod.
Acceptance Criteria	- User can open VS Code Desktop from Gitpod in the browser - User can establish a stable SSH connection for VS Code Desktop
Growth Area	N/A
Persona(s)	VS Code Users
Hypothesis	Some users will prefer a desktop experience to the browser version of VS Code (because of keyboard shortcut challenges, and other challenges with a browser experience of VS Code)
Measurement	Increased usage in VS Code on desktop
In scope	- Launching VS Code on desktop via the browser experience in Gitpod
Out of scope	- Launching VS Code desktop from the desktop directly
Complexities	- A stable SSH connection must be established
Latest Update	01.03.2022 - Epic created by @loujaybee, needs review by @akosyakov and co.

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Required for GA

Core experience

Issues related to the "core" of the Gitpod experience: ports, extensions, gitpod.yml integrations. Should be no significant parity to VS Code Browser: all ports forwarded, ports behaviours accessible, e.g. ports public, etc.

1. Add making port public into VS Code Desktop #11616
2. Local VSCode Desktop extensions have to be installed manually (Install in SSH) on workspace open #7906
3. VS Code Desktop: Auto forward ports from .gitpod.yml (sometimes ports are not detected or shown) #8377

Connections (filter: aspect: connections)

Users need a stable connection to Gitpod, that doesn't interfere with other remote development use cases. Where disconnects occur, these should be transparent, and recoverable so users can easily re-connect.

1. Vs Code IDE keeps asking for Gitpod sign-in with SSH #12038

Supporting documentation (filter: team:ide)

All important aspects of configuring and setting up VS Code Desktop integration should be covered in documentation.

1. https://github.com/gitpod-io/website/issues/2144
2. https://github.com/gitpod-io/website/issues/2940
3. https://github.com/gitpod-io/website/issues/2933

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Not required for GA

1. Prepare to migrate SH users to SSH Gateway in VS Code Desktop #12475
2. https://github.com/gitpod-io/website/issues/2375
3. https://github.com/gitpod-io/website/issues/2456 (*)
4. Reconnecting to a VS Code Desktop with Access Token should show "Copy" dialog again #11701
5. Improve Gitpod timeouts for multiple clients (revise the 5 minute editor connection timeout) #10373 (*)
6. Workspace "about to" timeout prompt  #11263
7. Add copyable SSH password field to SSH "Access token" panel #11955
8. Add a friendly explanation to Timed Out workspaces #7685
9. Workaround for users who cannot use port 22 / SSH (e.g. SSH over HTTPS) #7452 (required to deprecate local companion VS Code Desktop access)
10. Epic: unify ports view between web and desktop #7408
11. Epic: Improve experience using ports with Gitpod #9262
12. Epic: Restart workspaces directly from VS Code Desktop #9221

Completed

1. [code-desktop] Switch all SaaS VS Code Desktop users to SSH Gateway #12155
2. Ensure VS Code Desktop can reconnect to workspace after timeout #10288
3. https://github.com/gitpod-io/website/issues/2461
4. https://github.com/gitpod-io/website/issues/2262
5. Improve opening flow + docs for VS Code Desktop (many popups) #9568 (*)
6. Update supported SSH locations for VS Code Desktop #11467
7. Epic: SSH key support for VS Code Desktop #8513
8. Epic: Upload users SSH keys to Gitpod #9932
9. VS Code Desktop Timeout Too Quickly #8190
10. Epic: VS Code Desktop Settings Sync (Gitpod) #9136
11. Can't open workspace in VS code #8092
12. Can't get workspace running on local VS Code #10477
13. VS Code Not Opening #7458
14. [vscode-desktop]: Can't preview private ports #8015
15. Proposal TerminalExitStatus.reason microsoft/vscode#152833
16. Remote extension host not disposed after closing vscode client microsoft/vscode#152204
17. Fix workspace location when opening in vscode desktop #11131
18. Add Heartbeat gitpod-vscode-desktop#4
19. https://github.com/gitpod-io/website/pull/2432
20. https://github.com/gitpod-io/website/issues/1282
21. Unable to open workspace on Desktop #6853
22. "Open in VS Code" creates an empty gitpod_ssh_config-* file #8337
23. "Open in VS Code" doesn't work if settings.json is not writeable #8355

[loujaybee]

Moving to Q3, work will continue towards VS Code and GA, such as: #8513 but this work is unlikely to conclude in Q2.

[loujaybee]

Moving to Q4 on roadmap, however most of the critical issues are now addressed, we mostly just need to update docs and announce! ... Watch this space !

[loujaybee]

Some issues reported, need to resolve and link them here before we close.

[mustard-mh]

Some issues reported, need to resolve and link them here before we close.

Yeah, like this one #14626, don't know the proper section it should be. @loujaybee 🙏

[loujaybee]

Final task is to finish documentation:

• https://github.com/gitpod-io/website/pull/2968

[loujaybee]

The beta label in documentation has now been lifted 🙏

https://github.com/gitpod-io/website/pull/2968