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When a Daytona sandbox has SSH access enabled, you can connect VS Code directly to the sandbox using the built-in Remote - SSH extension. This gives you a full IDE experience — editing, terminal, debugging, port forwarding — inside the same environment where your workflow agents are running.
VS Code remote access requires SSH access, which is only available with the Daytona sandbox provider.

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Prerequisites

  • VS Code with the Remote - SSH extension installed
  • A running Daytona sandbox with SSH access enabled

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Connecting to a sandbox

  1. Start a workflow with SSH access and a preserved sandbox: 
    fabro run workflow.fabro --sandbox daytona --ssh --preserve-sandbox
  2. Fabro prints the SSH connection command: 
      Sandbox: daytona (fabro-20260307-143022-a3f2)
             ssh daytona@fabro-20260307-143022-a3f2.ssh.daytona.io
  3. In VS Code, open the Command Palette (Cmd+Shift+P / Ctrl+Shift+P) and run Remote-SSH: Connect to Host…
  4. Paste the hostname from the SSH command (e.g. daytona@fabro-20260307-143022-a3f2.ssh.daytona.io)
  5. Once connected, open the workspace folder at /home/daytona/workspace
VS Code installs its server component on the sandbox automatically. After the initial setup, you have full IDE access to the remote environment.

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What you can do

Once connected, VS Code operates as if the sandbox filesystem were local:
  • Edit files — Full IntelliSense, code navigation, and refactoring on the sandbox filesystem
  • Terminal — Open integrated terminals that run directly on the sandbox
  • Debug — Attach debuggers to processes running in the sandbox using standard launch configurations
  • Port forwarding — Access web servers and other services running in the sandbox from your local browser
  • Extensions — VS Code extensions install on the sandbox automatically, so linters, formatters, and language servers work as expected

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Tips

  • Use --preserve-sandbox — Without it, the sandbox is destroyed when the workflow finishes and your VS Code session disconnects. Combine with auto_stop_interval in your run config to control idle timeout.
  • Pair with human gates — When a workflow pauses at a human gate, connect via VS Code to review the agent’s changes before approving.
  • SSH credential lifetime — Daytona SSH credentials expire after 60 minutes. If your VS Code session disconnects, you’ll need to start a new run with --ssh to get fresh credentials.