VSCode - remote SSH - can't find code executable in vscode-server directory - visual-studio-code

Question

I'm using VSCode and the official remote-ssh extension.
I would like to be able to write code /path/to/file in an ssh terminal or in the vscode integrated terminal in a remote window in order to open a file/folder in vscode remote.
I am aware that I can use code --folder-uri=vscode-remote://ssh-remote+ADDRESS/path/to/file from the local machine's terminal, but I want to be able to run a command from within the integrated vscode terminal and any other terminal session where I've ssh'd into the remote machine)
Currently, if I run code from a remote terminal it opens up a new vscode window on the remote machine.
To achieve this goal, in the past I've used the following alias on the remote machine:
alias code="${VSCODE_GIT_ASKPASS_NODE%/*}/bin/code"
Which looks for the code executable in ~/.vscode-server/bin/<COMMIT_ID>/bin before defaulting to the local /bin/code.
I got that alias from this related stackoverflow question.
However, this doesn't seem to work right now.
Upon closer inspection, it appears that there is no code executable in the vscode-server directory.
How can I fix this?
Both machines are running MacOS and visual studio code version f80445acd5a3dadef24aa209168452a3d97cc326, if that's relevant.

Answer 1

I also wanted to be able to run code from the integrated terminal when running VSCode with the "remote ssh" extension. In my case, the "remote" is a Linux box (named "aorus" below), and I want to use VSCode from a laptop running macOS (named "mbp").
As for you, I used to use the VSCODE_GIT_ASKPASS_NODE trick. Recently, I had to change the alias since code (or code-insiders in my case) wasn't available in bin/ anymore. It seems it has been moved to bin/remote-cli. The correct alias (tested with vscode 1.64.2):
alias code="${VSCODE_GIT_ASKPASS_NODE%/*}/bin/remote-cli/code"
If you also want this to work from other ssh sessions (not just inside the integrated terminal), you can create a short script that I called coder (r for "remote") which I have in ~/bin on my remote ("aorus"). Note that you need to be able to reach the local machine from your remote (I do that with Tailscale). The script looks like this:
#! /bin/bash
set -ex
remotehost=$(hostname)
localhost=mbp
cmd="code"
while [ $# -gt 0 ]; do
if [ -f "$1" ]; then
cmd+=" --file-uri \"vscode-remote://ssh-remote+$remotehost$(readlink -f "$1")\""
elif [ -d "$1" ]; then
cmd+=" --folder-uri \"vscode-remote://ssh-remote+$remotehost$(readlink -f "$1")\""
else
cmd+=" $1"
fi
shift
done
exec ssh $localhost -q -t -x "exec bash -l -c '$cmd'"
On my Mac, when running VSCode connected remotely to my Linux box, I can type this in the integrated terminal to open the file main.go present on my remote Linux box:
coder main.go
The reason I have to wrap code in bash -l is due to the fact that ssh, by default, runs in a non-login shell, which means that the ~/.bashrc on my Mac isn't picked up, meaning code isn't in the PATH. The error message looks like this:
bash:1: command not found: code
Another note: there is a shorter syntax documented here:
ssh -q -t -x mbp bash -l -c "code --remote=ssh-remote+aorus main.go"
I don't use this syntax is because this method isn't able to know whether you are opening just a single file (which should be open in the most recent VSCode remote session) or a folder (which should be open as a new VSCode remote session).
Finally, if you are using VSCode Insiders, you can create a symlink so that the command code works on your local machine (in my case, on my Mac):
sudo ln -sf /usr/local/bin/code-insiders /usr/local/bin/code

Answer 2

As already explained by maelvls the path has been changed.
But if you use it outside integrated terminal you will got message
Command is only available in WSL or inside a Visual Studio Code terminal
To avoid this you need to export VSCODE_IPC_HOOK_CLI in your .bashrc .
Use this script in your .bashrc
export VSCODE_IPC_HOOK_CLI=`ls -t /run/user/1012/vscode-ipc-* | head -n1`
alias code="~/.vscode-server/bin/*/bin/remote-cli/code"
If you want to open your file in your current visual studio use -r option.
code -r tes.txt
Note :
I can't call VSCODE_GIT_ASKPASS_NODE so I use full path, it is working well
I don't know if VSCODE_IPC_HOOK_CLI will show in different location, just check it in your integrated terminal visual studio code
tested on remote server Centos 7
local macOS Monterey version 12.2
Visual Studio Code Version: 1.64.2 (Universal)
Commit: f80445acd5a3dadef24aa209168452a3d97cc326
extension : remote-ssh