Function asExternalUri

Resolves a uri to a form that is accessible externally.

http: or https: scheme

Resolves an external uri, such as a http: or https: link, from where the extension is running to a uri to the same resource on the client machine.

This is a no-op if the extension is running on the client machine.

If the extension is running remotely, this function automatically establishes a port forwarding tunnel from the local machine to target on the remote and returns a local uri to the tunnel. The lifetime of the port forwarding tunnel is managed by the editor and the tunnel can be closed by the user.

Note that uris passed through openExternal are automatically resolved and you should not call asExternalUri on them.

vscode.env.uriScheme

Creates a uri that - if opened in a browser (e.g. via openExternal) - will result in a registered UriHandler to trigger.

Extensions should not make any assumptions about the resulting uri and should not alter it in any way. Rather, extensions can e.g. use this uri in an authentication flow, by adding the uri as callback query argument to the server to authenticate to.

Note that if the server decides to add additional query parameters to the uri (e.g. a token or secret), it will appear in the uri that is passed to the UriHandler.

Example of an authentication flow:

vscode.window.registerUriHandler({
  handleUri(uri: vscode.Uri): vscode.ProviderResult<void> {
    if (uri.path === '/did-authenticate') {
      console.log(uri.toString());
    }
  }
});

const callableUri = await vscode.env.asExternalUri(vscode.Uri.parse(vscode.env.uriScheme + '://my.extension/did-authenticate'));
await vscode.env.openExternal(callableUri);
Copy

Note that extensions should not cache the result of asExternalUri as the resolved uri may become invalid due to a system or user action — for example, in remote cases, a user may close a port forwarding tunnel that was opened by asExternalUri.

Any other scheme

Any other scheme will be handled as if the provided URI is a workspace URI. In that case, the method will return a URI which, when handled, will make the editor open the workspace.