Pipe Explorer (VS Code Extension)

Developed by Abhineet Pandey
Email: abhineet.pandey89@gmail.com
GitHub: abhineet-pandey

Pipe Explorer is a VS Code extension for managing long-running compute/service pipes from a single sidebar (Slurm + Jupyter, TensorFlow services, and custom commands).

Preview

Features

• Tree UI with clear sections:
  • Options
  • Active / Connected
  • All Pipes
• Green dot indicator for active/connected pipes.
• Command-based lifecycle:
  • start
  • close
  • remove
• Secure secret handling through VS Code SecretStorage.
• SSH config host discovery from ~/.ssh/config (or custom path).
• JSON import/export with schema versioning.
• Slurm tunnel support with explicit node target (slurmNodeHost).
• Two pipe setup modes:
  • Guided setup (field-by-field)
  • Full command (one-step) (paste complete command)

Commands

• Pipe Explorer: Add Pipe
• Pipe Explorer: Start Pipe
• Pipe Explorer: Close Pipe
• Pipe Explorer: Stop Pipe (compat alias)
• Pipe Explorer: Set Pipe Secret
• Pipe Explorer: Import Pipes
• Pipe Explorer: Export Pipes
• Pipe Explorer: Remove Pipe
• Pipe Explorer: Refresh

Add Pipe setup modes

When running Add Pipe, choose one mode:

• Guided setup
  • asks for structured fields (type, SSH host, ports, Slurm settings, etc.)
• Full command (one-step)
  • asks only for pipe name + full command
  • creates a custom pipe with that command directly

Configuration

• pipeManager.defaultSshHost
• pipeManager.sshConfigPath

Slurm + Jupyter tunnel behavior

Default tunnel format:

ssh -N -L <localPort>:localhost:<remotePort> <sshHost>

If slurmNodeHost is set (recommended for multi-node clusters):

ssh -N -L <localPort>:<slurmNodeHost>:<remotePort> <sshHost>

Example:

ssh -N -L 8888:dgx01:8888 slurmgpuserver

Security

• Secret values are never written to export files.
• secretKey is stored in pipe config; secret value is read from SecretStorage at runtime.

Import/export format

{
  "version": 1,
  "pipes": [
    {
      "id": "1700000000000-my-pipe",
      "name": "my-pipe",
      "type": "slurm-jupyter",
      "sshHost": "user@cluster",
      "workdir": "~",
      "slurmPartition": "gpu",
      "slurmGpus": 1,
      "slurmTime": "02:00:00",
      "slurmNodeHost": "dgx01",
      "jupyterPort": 8888,
      "jupyterLocalPort": 8888,
      "autoTunnel": true,
      "env": "~/miniconda3/bin/activate"
    }
  ]
}

Build and run

npm install
npm run compile

Then press F5 in VS Code to launch Extension Development Host.

Documentation

• Architecture: docs/ARCHITECTURE.md
• Operations: docs/OPERATIONS.md