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Editor Integration (VS Code, Zed)

coop editor connects VS Code or Zed to a running guest VM over SSH. The same SSH config entry works with JetBrains IDEs, Cursor, and any editor that supports SSH remote development. coop vscode remains as an alias.

Quick start

coop editor my-instance

This command:

  1. Writes an SSH config block for the instance into ~/.ssh/config.
  2. Launches VS Code with code --remote ssh-remote+coop-{name} /workspace. When it cannot spawn a VS Code strategy, coop tries the VS Code app (open -a 'Visual Studio Code', macOS only), then Zed with zed ssh://coop-{name}/workspace.
  3. Prints the SSH config entry to stderr for manual use with other editors.

The coop editor command

coop editor [NAME] [--project PATH] [--editor code|zed] [--clean]

NAME is the instance name. Required when multiple instances exist.

--project sets the remote directory the editor opens. Defaults to /workspace.

--editor pins the editor (code or zed). When omitted, coop tries VS Code first, then Zed. A strategy that cannot be launched at all — binary missing, or present but not executable — counts as a miss, so the chain continues to the next editor. If an editor starts but exits unsuccessfully, coop tries only that editor's remaining strategies and reports the failure instead of opening a different editor.

--clean removes the SSH config entry for the specified instance and exits. Useful for manual cleanup without destroying the instance.

coop editor my-instance --project /workspace/frontend
coop editor my-instance --editor zed

Installing the code CLI

The code command must be on your PATH. If it is not installed, open VS Code and run:

Cmd+Shift+P, then "Shell Command: Install 'code' command in PATH"

coop includes this instruction when --editor code cannot launch VS Code, or when no editor can be launched in auto-detect mode.

Zed

Zed connects with zed ssh://coop-{name}/workspace (macOS fallback: an open zed://ssh/... URL when the zed CLI is not on PATH). Zed shells out to the system ssh, so it picks up the coop-{name} alias — host, port, user, key, and disabled host-key checking — from ~/.ssh/config with no extra setup. To install the zed CLI, open Zed and run:

Cmd+Shift+P, then "cli: install"

Two Zed-specific caveats:

  • On first connect, Zed downloads a zed-remote-server binary inside the guest from zed.dev. If your guest has restricted egress, enable upload_binary_over_ssh on the coop-{name} entry in Zed's ssh_connections setting so the binary is uploaded over SSH instead:

    {
  "ssh_connections": [
    { "host": "coop-my-instance", "upload_binary_over_ssh": true }
  ]
}

  • Zed's protocol runs over the SSH channel, so anything the guest shell prints on non-interactive startup corrupts the handshake (Zed hangs at "Starting proxy…"). Keep guest rc files quiet for non-interactive shells.

SSH config management

coop writes SSH config entries to ~/.ssh/config, delimited by marker comments:

# coop START coop-my-instance
Host coop-my-instance
    HostName 127.0.0.1
    Port 22222
    User ubuntu
    IdentityFile /path/to/.coop/ssh_key
    StrictHostKeyChecking no
    UserKnownHostsFile /dev/null
    LogLevel ERROR
# coop END

Each run of coop editor replaces the existing block for that instance, or creates one if none exists. To install the same block without launching an editor — for plain ssh/scp/rsync — use coop ssh-config.

Cleanup

  • coop editor NAME --clean (or coop ssh-config NAME --clean) removes the SSH config entry for the specified instance and exits. This cleans up the config without destroying the instance.
  • coop destroy removes the SSH config block for the destroyed instance.
  • coop destroy --all removes all coop SSH config blocks.
  • coop stop leaves the SSH config block in place. A stale entry has no effect when the VM is not running, and coop start refreshes it on the next boot (the Lima SSH port changes per start).

Other editors

coop editor prints the SSH config entry to stderr. Any SSH-capable editor can use it.

JetBrains (IntelliJ, GoLand, CLion, etc.)

  1. Run coop editor my-instance to generate the SSH config.
  2. In your JetBrains IDE, open File > Remote Development > SSH Connection.
  3. Select the coop-{name} host.
  4. Set the project directory to /workspace.

Cursor

Cursor uses the same Remote SSH extension as VS Code. Run coop editor and the host appears in Cursor's SSH targets. You can also launch it directly:

cursor --remote ssh-remote+coop-my-instance /workspace

Manual SSH

The host alias works from any terminal:

ssh coop-my-instance

The SSH config block supplies the hostname, port, user, key, and host-key verification settings.

Port forwarding

Use --forward-port with coop up or coop start for forwards managed for the VM lifetime. For a temporary forward while an editor is connected, use SSH directly:

ssh -L 3000:localhost:3000 coop-my-instance

This binds local port 3000 to port 3000 inside the guest. Stack multiple -L flags for additional ports:

ssh -L 3000:localhost:3000 -L 5432:localhost:5432 coop-my-instance

VS Code's Remote SSH extension exposes a Ports panel that handles forwarding once connected.

Interaction with push and pull

coop push and coop pull sync files between host and guest. Both work while an editor is connected; there is no need to disconnect.

Watch for conflicts. coop push overwrites guest files, and coop pull overwrites local files. Both commands check for uncommitted git changes and refuse to proceed unless you pass --force.