94 lines
4.4 KiB
Markdown
94 lines
4.4 KiB
Markdown
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---
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date: 2025-03-13
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title: Code Server
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tags:
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- homelab
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- development
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- software
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- code-assistant
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---
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I recently started using [Forgejo](https://forgejo.org/) for managing my personal projects (including this blog content).
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Prior to this, I was using self-hosted [GitLab](https://about.gitlab.com/); maybe I'll write a full post about this
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in the future, but basically I made the change because GitLab in Docker was a real memory hog and I much prefer
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open source solutions where available. One thing I missed from GitLab (and GitHub) is the built-in web IDE for
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making changes without having to clone the project locally. I found [Coder](https://coder.com/docs/code-server)
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which provides a containerized VSCode PWA that I plan to use as an alternative to GitHub Codespaces and GitLab
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workspaces.
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## What is Code Server
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Code Server is an open source container distribution of VSCodium. VSCodium is the open source release of VSCode (think
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Chromium and Google Chrome). I personally have more experience with PyCharm and other JetBrains IDEs, but VSCode
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is another popular option and I've been making the transition at work from PyCharm to VSCode after comparing the
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LLM integration between them. Long story short, VSCode is miles ahead of JetBrains IDEs for code writing and
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LLM context management as of sometime last week when I tested them both.
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I haven't fully evaluated the differences between VSCode and Code Server yet, but in the context of a replacement for
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what I had with GitLab and GitHub I am satisfied with what I see in Code Server.
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## Deployment
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Deployment is as simple as starting a Docker container. In addition to the documented setup process, I also mounted
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a directory with my SSH configuration and keys so that I can easily connect to GitHub and my private Forgejo via SSH.
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I configured nginx ingress (for access from my LAN only). For most deployments, its probably easier to just use IP
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addresses but I like using nginx so that its a little easier to move deployments around and just update Nginx to point at
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the appropriate IP address. I've included my site config below in case anyone reading this wants to achieve something
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similar. I don't know that this is optimal, but it is working.
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```
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server {
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listen 80;
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listen 443 ssl;
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server_name code.*;
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include /config/nginx/ssl.conf;
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add_header Front-End-Https on;
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location / {
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include /config/nginx/local_only.conf;
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include /config/nginx/resolver.conf;
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# Advanced Proxy Config
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send_timeout 5m;
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proxy_read_timeout 240;
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proxy_send_timeout 240;
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proxy_connect_timeout 240;
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# Basic Proxy Config
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proxy_set_header Host $host:$server_port;
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proxy_set_header X-Client-IP $http_x_forwarded_for;
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proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
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#proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
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proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto https;
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proxy_redirect http:// $scheme://;
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proxy_http_version 1.1;
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proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
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proxy_set_header Connection upgrade;
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proxy_set_header Accept-Encoding gzip;
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proxy_cache_bypass $cookie_session;
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proxy_no_cache $cookie_session;
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proxy_buffers 32 4k;
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proxy_max_temp_file_size 2048m;
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proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Host code.mcknight.tech;
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proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $remote_addr;
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proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Ssl on;
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proxy_pass http://coder:8080/;
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}
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}
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```
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## Future Plans
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I still have some work to do before I decide whether or not Code Server can be my regular IDE, but so far it is a
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solid option for when I'm on my laptop doing things like writing this post. Compared to a VM, I appreciate being
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able to just copy/paste from my local clipboard. I might check out Coder as a more complete reproducible workspace
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in lieu of Code Server, or I might give in and go with VSCode in a VM so that I get Copilot integration.
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On a related node, I did try Cursor at work and was impressed with the LLM integration which does seem to outdo
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what VSCode offers. I decided against adopting it for regular use since you do have to commit to a monthly
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subscription and I'm not a big fan of the UI changes they applied on top of VSCode. My hope is that eventually
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VSCode or some fork of it will enable local LLM integration, but then I would also want an open source LLM that
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performs comparably to GPT-4o and Claude 3.7.
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