Updated · 2026-07-13

Recipe: VS Code in a VM

The vscode-1.96 image boots a Remote-SSH-ready VM (floors at 1 vCPU / 4 GiB) with an SSH keypair generated for you and Claude Code pre-installed. create_vm returns a launch URL — open it and you're coding in the cloud.

Get a full cloud dev environment — VS Code over Remote-SSH, on a real Linux VM with as much CPU/RAM as you need.

One prompt

give me a vscode environment with node and docker

Your agent calls create_vm with image: vscode-1.96. The image:

  • Boots with sshd ready and a freshly generated SSH keypair (no manual enable_ssh needed).
  • Ships the Claude Code extension pre-baked.
  • Floors at 1 vCPU / 4 GiB — VS Code Server OOMs below that during the first Remote-SSH connect, so a smaller request is raised to the floor. Size it at 2 vCPU / 4 GiB or more if you’ll be building.

create_vm returns a launchUrl that opens the VM directly in VS Code. Need it again later, call vscode_link.

Resize as you go

Hit a heavier workload? Resize live, with no rebuild and no reconnect:

give my vscode vm more room to build

Your agent calls resize_vm with the new vcpuMillicores + memMib. CPU and memory change in place — your SSH session and running processes survive it. See VM sizing.

Make it reusable

Once you’ve installed your toolchain, snapshot it as a template so the next environment starts ready:

save this as my "node-dev" template

Your agent calls save_image. See Snapshots & templates.

Notes

  • Your work lives on the VM’s disk — covered by the automatic daily backups.
  • Don’t size a dev box down to its idle usage — installs, builds, and language servers burst well above it. Keep the headroom.
  • Done for the day? stop_vm costs nothing while stopped, and start_vm brings the box back with your disk intact.