che

Eclipse Che is an open-source platform that gives development teams a coding environment that lives entirely in the cloud. Instead of each developer installing tools and dependencies on their own laptop, Che packages everything a project needs, including the code editor, runtimes, and dependencies, into containers that run on Kubernetes. Any team member can open a workspace directly from a Git repository URL and get a fully configured setup in seconds.

The core idea is that workspaces are defined in code, using a format called a devfile. A devfile is a configuration file you check into your project alongside the source code. It describes which tools, editors, and container images the workspace should include. Because the definition lives in the repository, every contributor who opens the project gets the same environment, with no 'works on my machine' surprises.

Che uses VS Code as its browser-based editor by default, and it supports VS Code extensions, meaning the tooling ecosystem most developers already know transfers over. Administrators can configure which extensions are available, customize the default developer image, and add getting-started samples for their organization. The platform runs on standard Kubernetes or on Red Hat OpenShift, so teams already using either of those can add Che without switching infrastructure.

The project is governed by the Eclipse Foundation and released under the Eclipse Public License 2.0. It has an active open community: a public Slack channel, a mailing list, and biweekly community meetings where the roadmap is discussed and shaped. Bug reports, feature requests, and contributions are handled through GitHub issues.

If your team spends time onboarding new contributors or debugging environment differences between machines, Eclipse Che is aimed at solving exactly that problem. It trades the flexibility of local setup for consistent, reproducible workspaces that anyone can reach from a browser.