***

title: VS Code Connection (Windows/WSL)
description: >-
Configure VS Code Remote SSH to work with NVIDIA Brev Cloudflare Tunnel on
Windows with WSL.
-----------------

This guide helps you configure VS Code to connect to Brev instances when using Windows with WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux).

<Callout intent="note">
  **Platform**: Windows with WSL (Ubuntu or similar)
</Callout>

## Problem

When running the following command to open a Brev instance in VS Code:

```bash
brev open <instance_name> code
```

The connection fails with errors such as:

```
posix_spawnp: No such file or directory
WARN: $PLATFORM is undefined in installation script output
Failed to parse remote port from server output
Resolver error: Error
```

VS Code does not successfully establish an SSH session to the instance.

## Root Cause

When launching VS Code from WSL (for example, via `brev open <instance_name> code`), the editor runs as a Windows application and uses the Windows SSH client by default.

Although the `.brev` directory (SSH config and private key) is correctly synced from WSL to Windows, the `cloudflared` binary is not available to the Windows SSH client. Cloudflare Tunnel requires `cloudflared` to be executed as part of the SSH `ProxyCommand`, which Windows SSH cannot do when the binary exists only inside WSL.

As a result, VS Code fails to connect to Brev instances that depend on Cloudflare Tunnel-based SSH access.

## Prerequisites

* Windows host with VS Code installed
* WSL (for example, Ubuntu) configured and functional
* Brev CLI installed and authenticated in WSL

## Solution

Configure VS Code to use the WSL SSH client instead of the Windows SSH client.

<Steps>
  ### Create a wrapper BAT file

  Create a file on Windows (for example, `C:\Users\<username>\wsl-ssh.bat`) with the following content:

  ```bat
  C:\Windows\System32\wsl.exe ssh %*
  ```

  This wrapper redirects SSH commands invoked by VS Code to the WSL SSH client.

  ### Open VS Code settings

  1. Open VS Code
  2. Press `Ctrl+,` to open Settings
  3. Search for "remote.SSH.path"

  ### Configure the SSH path

  Set the **Remote > SSH: Path** setting to the full Windows path of the `wsl-ssh.bat` file you created:

  ```
  C:\Users\<username>\wsl-ssh.bat
  ```

  Replace `<username>` with your Windows username.

  ### Save and restart

  1. Save the settings
  2. Restart VS Code
</Steps>

## Verification

After completing the configuration:

```bash
brev open <instance_name> code
```

* VS Code successfully connects to the instance over SSH
* Cloudflare Tunnel-based connections work without `posix_spawnp` or SSH binary errors
* You can browse files and use the integrated terminal on the remote instance

## Rollback

To revert to the default configuration:

1. Open VS Code Settings
2. Search for "remote.SSH.path"
3. Clear the value to restore the default
4. Restart VS Code

## Workaround

If you cannot configure VS Code, use a terminal-based SSH connection from WSL instead:

```bash
brev shell <instance_name>
```

This provides full terminal access to the instance without requiring VS Code Remote SSH integration.