RemoteDeck

RemoteDeck is a deterministic control-room sidebar for VS Code remote Linux workspaces. It shows host metrics, localhost endpoints, configured development services, listening ports, Docker containers, and Kubernetes workloads without sending telemetry or using AI.

Features

• CPU usage, load averages, memory, swap, disks, and network throughput from the remote extension host.
• Service discovery by process command-line match, with start, stop, restart, force-stop, and URL actions.
• Listening TCP and UDP ports with process ownership when the current user has permission to see it.
• Localhost endpoint discovery with one-click VS Code forwarding, open, and copy-URL actions.
• Docker container discovery, live CPU/memory figures, start/stop/restart actions, logs, and interactive shells.
• Automatic, read-only Kubernetes discovery for the active kubectl context, including nodes, pods, deployments, services, pod logs/descriptions, and explicit service port-forward terminals.
• Visible connection state with pause, connect, and retry controls.
• Status-bar CPU and memory summary.
• Remote-aware URL opening through VS Code's external URI provider, including Remote-SSH tunnels.

The extension is declared as a workspace extension, so under Remote-SSH, WSL, or a dev container its collectors and controls run where the workspace runs.

Connection modes

Current VS Code host is the default and recommended mode. When the window is already connected through Remote-SSH, WSL, or a dev container, RemoteDeck automatically runs there and does not need duplicate credentials.

The dashboard's Pause button stops RemoteDeck monitoring; it does not close the Remote-SSH or WSL window. Connect resumes monitoring, and Retry rebuilds the collectors or direct SSH session.

Choose RemoteDeck: Configure Direct SSH Connection when you want the extension to connect to another Linux host itself. The guided setup accepts:

• Hostname or IP address, port, and username.
• Password authentication, stored only in VS Code Secret Storage.
• A private-key path and optional passphrase, also stored in Secret Storage.
• Authentication through SSH_AUTH_SOCK.
• A default remote working directory for configured services.

The first connection displays the server's SHA-256 host-key fingerprint for confirmation. Verify it with the server administrator before trusting it. Trusted fingerprints are remembered per host and port. Discovered ports are forwarded on demand through the direct SSH session.

SSH clients use the private key file such as ~/.ssh/id_ed25519; the matching .pub public key is installed in the remote account's authorized_keys file.

Configure services

Add services to workspace or user settings:

{
  "remotedeck.pollInterval": 3,
  "remotedeck.services": [
    {
      "id": "api",
      "label": "API",
      "match": "/workspace/api/server.js",
      "start": "npm run dev",
      "cwd": "api",
      "url": "http://127.0.0.1:3000",
      "critical": true
    },
    {
      "id": "web",
      "label": "Web",
      "match": "vite --host",
      "start": "npm run dev -- --host",
      "cwd": "web",
      "url": "http://127.0.0.1:5173"
    }
  ]
}

Choose a specific match string. Broad matches such as node can include unrelated processes, and stop actions apply to every matching PID. Start commands run in dedicated integrated terminals so their output remains visible.

Localhost and port forwarding

RemoteDeck turns likely HTTP listeners into localhost endpoints. Open asks VS Code for an external URI and opens it; Copy asks for the same URI and copies it. In Remote-SSH, WSL, dev containers, Codespaces, and tunnels, VS Code handles the remote mapping. Direct SSH mode creates an on-demand loopback forward first.

The complete TCP/UDP socket list remains available below the endpoint section. Raw TCP listeners can be opened as HTTP when you know the port serves HTTP; configured service URLs remain the right choice for HTTPS, custom hosts, or non-root paths.

Kubernetes dashboard

When kubectl exists and has a current context, RemoteDeck periodically reads nodes, pods, deployments, and services. Discovery is read-only and tolerates partial RBAC permissions. Pod logs and describe output are sent to the RemoteDeck output channel.

Service port forwarding is explicit: choose a service port, select a local port, and RemoteDeck opens a transient terminal running kubectl port-forward. The forwarded URL is copied and can be opened from the confirmation. Closing that terminal stops the forward. Kubernetes discovery can be disabled with remotedeck.showKubernetes.

Requirements and behavior

• Linux provides the complete experience. The extension reads /proc and invokes df, ps, and ss on the extension host.
• Docker is optional. When enabled, the current remote user must have permission to invoke the Docker CLI.
• Kubernetes is optional. When enabled, kubectl uses the active user's existing kubeconfig and RBAC permissions.
• On non-Linux hosts, CPU and memory fallbacks are shown, while Linux-only collectors report as unavailable.
• Force-stop uses SIGKILL and asks for confirmation by default. Ordinary stop and restart use SIGTERM.
• Opening a raw discovered port assumes HTTP. Common HTTPS ports are detected automatically; custom schemes or paths can be specified with a service url.
• Interactive Docker shells are available in current-host mode. Direct SSH mode sends container logs to the RemoteDeck output channel; use a Remote-SSH workspace when you need a fully interactive remote terminal.

Troubleshooting

If the dashboard reports a connection failure in a WSL, Remote-SSH, or dev-container window, choose Use VS Code host in the error notice or run RemoteDeck: Use Current VS Code Host from the Command Palette. Direct SSH profiles are machine-specific and should only be selected when RemoteDeck needs to open its own SSH connection to a different host.

Choose Show logs in the dashboard error notice, or open View: Toggle Output and select RemoteDeck, to see the underlying command or SSH error.

Development

npm install
npm test
npm run package

Press F5 in VS Code to launch an Extension Development Host. Open the RemoteDeck activity-bar view to activate the dashboard.

Privacy

RemoteDeck has no telemetry or vendor-operated service calls. It connects only to SSH hosts and URLs that you explicitly configure or open. System commands run locally on the active extension host.