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WebIDE & Workspaces VSCode Update Required for AI plugins compatibility

Summary

Customer evaluating GitLab Workspaces is blocked from using Google Gemini Code Assist due to WebIDE running an outdated VSCode version.

Version Gap:

  • Current WebIDE version: VSCode 1.89
  • Required for Gemini Code Assist: VSCode 1.104
  • Gap: 15 versions / ~1 year behind

Customer Context

  • Environment: Self-managed, nearly air-gapped deployment
  • Status: Currently evaluating GitLab Workspaces
  • Blocker: Cannot install Google Gemini Code Assist extension
  • Willingness: Open to co-create initiative and participating in testing

Business Impact

  • Immediate: Blocking active customer evaluation and potential deal
  • Strategic:
    • Modern AI coding assistants increasingly require newer VSCode versions.
    • Our GitLab DAP Vision to interact with 3rd party agents implies having more and more customers using 3rd party plugins/extensions.
  • Trend: Extension compatibility gap will continue to widen without regular updates

Technical Background

VSCode Fork Process

GitLab maintains an internal fork of VSCode for WebIDE:

Key Constraints

  1. Customers cannot self-update - VSCode updates must be provided by GitLab
  2. Update cadence disrupted - Previously quarterly (last year), but paused after recent reorganization
  3. Engineering-driven - Historically treated as non-functional requirement with low customer visibility
  4. Current capacity limited - Team focused on air-gapped escalations and Language Server integration for Duo

Proposed Solution

Upgrade WebIDE to VSCode 1.104 to support Google Gemini Code Assist and other modern extensions, and prevent testing and validating several times.

Co-create Opportunity

Customer is willing to:

  • Participate in upgrade testing
  • Help validate the update in their environment
  • Work collaboratively to accelerate delivery

Question: What testing requirements would GitLab need for this to be acceptable? Customer wants to understand if their testing could contribute to validation.

Alternative Solutions Considered

  1. Contact Google - Request downgrade of Gemini Code Assist minimum version (unlikely for proprietary extension)
  2. Duo Self-hosted - Explore alternative AI assistant integration
  3. Native Gemini Integration - Consider adding Gemini models to GitLab product directly

Reference: Other Extension Examples

While the primary focus is VSCode 1.104, other extensions also have compatibility requirements:

This demonstrates a growing ecosystem need for more current VSCode versions.

Questions for Product/Engineering

  1. What is the estimated level of effort for upgrading to VSCode 1.104?
  2. What are the testing requirements and validation criteria?
  3. Can this be scoped as a co-create initiative with customer participation?
  4. What would be needed to establish a more regular VSCode update cadence going forward?
  5. Is there capacity to prioritize this given current team constraints?

Stakeholders

Related Resources

Next Steps

  • @michelle-chen to discuss prioritization with @mcorren and @dashaadu
  • Assess level of effort for VSCode 1.104 upgrade
  • Define testing requirements for co-create validation
  • Determine timeline feasibility given current capacity
  • Explore alternative solutions if upgrade cannot be prioritized
Edited by 🤖 GitLab Bot 🤖