Colab is a VS Code extension for code sharing. Colab is for code what Zoom is for video chats.
The extension has a menu, with all the functionalities
The buttons allow the following functionalities:
- Setup Publisher - create a new network and become the publisher (presenter)
- Setup Subscriber - join an existing network using the publisher's ID
- Disconnect - leave the network and destroy the session (automatic reconnection is impossible)
- Send project files - execute the current directory in a Docker container on a remote machine (requires Dockerfile)
- Destroy container - stops the remote Docker container
The bottom section is Session, which has information about which peers are connected to the network.
The first peer is always the current host.
The URLs listed are the IDs of the peer.
A common workflow is:
- A Publisher starts
- The Publisher copies their ID from the
Sessiontab and shares it with others - Everyone else uses the ID to start a Subscriber
- When starting a Subscriber you have the option to select "Sync Workspace" to fetch the latest state
- The Publisher can now edit/create/delete files and they will be synced with the other peers
| Colab | Live Share | |
|---|---|---|
| Peer connection | p2p | Tries p2p but defaults to centralized cloud |
| Peers who can edit | Only 1 - the publisher | Everyone |
| Execute remotely | Yes with Docker | No |
| Edit permissions | No | Yes |
| Reconnect to network | Yes | No |
| Network dies after creator leaves | No | Yes |
- The extension works only on local network
- When joining a network as a subscriber the opened workspace directory will be cleaned of all files
