gh-codespace

Create a codespace in GitHub interactively

$ gh codespace create

$ gh codespace list

$ gh codespace ssh

$ gh codespace cp [path/to/source_file] remote:[path/to/remote_file]

$ gh codespace ports

$ gh codespace logs

$ gh codespace delete

$ gh codespace [code|cp|create|delete|edit|...] --help

gh codespace <command> [flags]

Common commands include:
gh codespace create [flags]
gh codespace list [flags]
gh codespace delete <codespace-name> [flags]
gh codespace ssh <codespace-name> [flags]
gh codespace cp <source> <destination> [flags]
gh codespace ports [flags]

create
    Creates a new codespace, often by specifying a repository, branch, or machine type. This command provisions a new cloud development environment.

list (ls)
    Lists all your available codespaces, showing their status, associated repository, machine type, and other relevant details.

delete (rm)
    Deletes one or more specified codespaces, effectively terminating the cloud environment and stopping any associated billing.

stop
    Stops a running codespace, pausing its active session and typically halting billing for compute resources.

start
    Starts a stopped codespace, making it accessible again for development.

ssh
    Connects to a specific codespace via SSH, providing direct command-line access within the cloud environment.

cp
    Copies files or directories between your local machine and a codespace, similar to the scp command.

view
    Displays detailed information about a specific codespace, including its URL, current status, and configuration.

ports
    Lists and manages forwarded ports within a codespace, allowing access to web services or applications running inside the codespace from your local machine.

rebuild
    Rebuilds a codespace, typically used after changes to its devcontainer.json configuration or to refresh the environment.

logs
    Accesses and displays logs from a codespace, which is useful for debugging issues within the environment.

The gh codespace command set within the GitHub CLI provides a comprehensive interface for interacting with GitHub Codespaces. It allows users to perform various operations such as creating new codespaces, listing existing ones, stopping and starting them, deleting them, and connecting to them via SSH. Furthermore, it supports file transfer, port forwarding, and viewing codespace logs, making it a powerful tool for developers who rely on cloud-based development environments, streamlining their workflow directly from the terminal.

Using gh codespace requires the GitHub CLI (gh) to be installed and properly authenticated with your GitHub account. As Codespaces are cloud-based, continuous network connectivity is essential for their operation. Users should also be aware that GitHub Codespaces incur billing based on usage, and appropriate GitHub permissions are necessary for creating and managing these environments.

Many gh codespace operations, such as creating or opening a codespace, are designed to integrate seamlessly with Visual Studio Code. This allows users to open their codespaces directly in VS Code desktop or web, providing a familiar and powerful IDE experience.

This command significantly facilitates remote development workflows. It enables developers to work on projects within pre-configured, cloud-based environments, ensuring consistency across teams and providing all necessary tools and dependencies without the overhead of local setup.

GitHub Codespaces emerged as a cloud-powered development environment solution from GitHub, aiming to provide instantly ready-to-code workspaces. The integration of gh codespace into the GitHub CLI was a natural progression, allowing developers to seamlessly manage these environments directly from their terminal. This development was driven by the need to streamline remote and cloud-based development workflows, making it easier to spin up, access, and tear down development environments without leaving the command line.

gh(1), gh auth(1), gh repo(1), ssh(1), scp(1)