Google has introduced an official Colab extension for Visual Studio Code, unifying the local development environment with Colab’s cloud-based resources and creating a seamless workflow for machine-learning practitioners, students, and researchers.
The company notes the growing interest in bridging the two ecosystems. VS Code has long been one of the most widely used code editors thanks to its speed, simplicity, and flexibility, while Colab serves millions of developers who rely on it for convenient notebook workflows, model training, and GPU/TPU-powered computational tasks.
Previously, these environments existed in isolation: users edited their notebooks in Colab while conducting most of their development work in VS Code. Now, Colab can be connected directly inside the editor.
The new extension allows users to work within the familiar VS Code interface while linking local notebooks to Colab’s cloud infrastructure. Both standard and Pro-level compute options are available, including access to premium GPUs and TPUs.
The integration also targets users who treat Colab as part of larger, more complex projects. When notebooks are stored inside a git repository or a multifaceted project structure, full IDE functionality becomes particularly valuable.
Installation takes only a few minutes: simply open the VS Code extensions panel, search for “Google Colab,” and install the add-on. If required, the system will prompt the installation of the Jupyter dependency.
After setup, opening an .ipynb file and selecting the Colab kernel via the Select Kernel button — or by running any cell — is sufficient. The user need only sign in to a Google account and choose the desired runtime.
The extension is also available via Open VSX for VS Code derivatives, making the integration accessible to a wider community of developers and alternative IDEs.
The Colab team views this release as a starting point, with plans to bring additional Colab capabilities into VS Code and expand collaborative features.