How To Setup Google Collab Extension?

#vscode #tutorial #tooling

Hello, I'm Ganesh. I'm working on FreeDevTools online, currently building a single platform for all development tools, cheat codes, and TL; DRs — a free, open-source hub where developers can quickly find and use tools without the hassle of searching the internet.

The power of Google Colab, seamlessly integrated into your Visual Studio Code workflow.

Introduction

What is Google Colab for VS Code? It’s a Visual Studio Code extension that bridges the gap between the powerful, cloud-based notebooks of Google Colab and the feature-rich, professional development environment of VS Code. It allows developers and data scientists to use Colab’s GPU/TPU-accelerated runtimes as a backend kernel directly within their local editor.

Developers love VS Code for its robust tooling, Git integration, and extensive customization. However, for machine learning and data-intensive tasks, they often rely on Google Colab for its free access to powerful hardware. Switching between a local IDE for code development and a web interface for execution is inefficient and fragments the workflow.

Getting Started

Prerequisites
Visual Studio Code v1.80 or newer.
A Google Account.
Installation
Install the extension directly from the Visual Studio Code Marketplace.

Open VS Code.
Go to the Extensions view (Ctrl+Shift+X).
Search for “Google Colab”.
Click “Install”.

Configuration & First Use Your first connection attempt will trigger the authentication flow.

# 1. Open the Command Palette in VS Code
# (Ctrl+Shift+P on Windows/Linux, Cmd+Shift+P on macOS)
# 2. Run the command to select a Jupyter kernel
> Notebook: Select Notebook Kernel
# 3. In the kernel picker, choose the option to connect to Colab
> Connect to Google Colab...
# 4. A browser window will open. Follow the prompts to sign in
#    with your Google account and grant the extension permissions.
# 5. Once authorized, you can select your Colab runtime as the kernel.

Core Commands
The extension integrates with the VS Code command palette to provide several key functions for managing your Colab environments.