Earth Engine for VS Code

Google Earth Engine directly inside your editor.

Bring the power of Google Earth Engine into VS Code. Browse your assets, monitor tasks, explore the STAC dataset catalog, search API docs, and visualize geospatial data on an interactive map — all without leaving your editor.

Features

🔐 Authentication — User accounts & Service accounts

Sign in with your Google account via OAuth2 (notebook PKCE flow) or add a service account key file. Multiple profiles are supported simultaneously — switch the active profile with one click.

• Green dot = active profile, red dot = inactive
• Credentials stored securely in ~/.config/earthengine/profiles/
• Works with any Earth Engine-enabled Google Cloud project

🗂️ Asset Browser

Navigate your Earth Engine asset hierarchy directly in the sidebar.

• Lazy-loaded tree view with spinner placeholders for large asset libraries
• Supports Images, ImageCollections, Tables (FeatureCollections), Folders
• Preview panel: inspect bands, properties, and features without writing a line of code
• Asset Manager panel: paginated table view, sortable columns, breadcrumb navigation
• Create subfolders inline via the New Folder button
• Copy any asset ID to clipboard in one click

✅ Task Monitor

Keep an eye on your export and import jobs without switching to the Code Editor.

• Separate Export Tasks and Import Tasks sidebar panels
• Paginated task list (10 per page) with auto-refresh every 15 seconds
• Status icons: running, completed, failed, cancelled, pending
• Cancel a running task directly from the sidebar or the full table panel
• Full Tasks Panel: sortable by any column, paginated top & bottom

🌍 Dataset Catalog

Browse the full Earth Engine STAC catalog without leaving VS Code.

• Three provider tiers: Google, Publishers, Community
• Lazy background resolution of dataset types (image, image collection, table…)
• Dataset detail panel: bands table, tags, code snippet, and direct link to the official catalog page
• Copy any dataset ID to clipboard

📖 API Docs

Searchable, offline-first Earth Engine JavaScript API reference.

• Hierarchical tree: ee.Image, ee.FeatureCollection, ee.Reducer…
• Rich tooltips per method: description, argument names & types, return type
• Search across all ee.* symbols instantly

🗺️ Interactive Map

Visualize Earth Engine layers on an interactive Leaflet map inside a VS Code panel.

• Three built-in base layers: OpenStreetMap, Satellite (ESRI), Terrain (ESRI)
• Layer control: toggle visibility, adjust opacity, remove layers
• Python bridge: a local HTTP server on port 31415 accepts commands from your Python scripts

Python usage

import sys
sys.path.insert(0, "/path/to/extension/python")
from earthengine_vscode_map import Map

vis = {"min": 0, "max": 3000, "bands": ["B4", "B3", "B2"]}
Map.addLayer(ee_image.getMapId(vis)["tile_fetcher"].url_format, vis, "Landsat")
Map.centerObject(geometry, zoom=8)

Requirements

• VS Code 1.125 or later
• A Google Earth Engine account
• A Google Cloud project with the Earth Engine API enabled
• Python (optional) — only needed for the map Python bridge

Getting Started

1. Install the extension from the VS Code Marketplace
2. Click the Earth Engine icon in the Activity Bar
3. In the Profiles panel, click Add Profile ($(person-add)) to sign in with Google — or click Add Service Account ($(file-add)) to use a service account key
4. Select the profile to activate it (green dot = active)
5. Your assets, tasks, docs, and datasets will load automatically

Extension Commands

Extension Settings

Known Issues & Limitations

• The interactive map requires an active internet connection to load tile layers (CDN)
• The Python bridge server listens on localhost:31415 — ensure the port is free
• Service account private keys are stored in ~/.config/earthengine/profiles/ in plain JSON (same location as the official earthengine CLI)
• API Docs are fetched from developers.google.com and cached for the session

Development

This project uses a Dev Container for a consistent development environment.

Prerequisites

• VS Code
• Docker (running)
• Dev Containers extension

Getting Started

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/your-org/earthengine-vscode
# Open in VS Code and reopen in Dev Container when prompted

• Press F5 to launch the Extension Development Host
• The default build task (Ctrl+Shift+B) runs watch:esbuild and watch:tsc in parallel

Useful Commands

Release Notes

See CHANGELOG.md for the full history.