SSH into Your Studio Session: Work the Way You Want, Where Your Data Resides

Overview

There's a frustration every computational biologist knows well: your laptop has exactly the tools you want – your preferred VS Code extensions, your custom Python environment, your carefully tuned linting config – but your data and compute are in the cloud. Until now, that meant choosing between the convenience of your local setup and the power of cloud computing.

With SSH connections to Seqera Studios you don't have to choose.

Seqera Studios now supports direct SSH access to running Studio sessions. This means you can connect to a live, cloud-based Studio container using any standard SSH client — or better yet, use VS Code’s Remote - SSH extension to work inside the remote session as if it were your local machine.

Note: SSH for Studios is currently in public preview for Platform Enterprise v25.3.3+, supporting JupyterLab, R-IDE, VS Code, and Xpra container templates.

The VS Code Use Case: Local Setup, Cloud-Scale Compute

Imagine you've spent months building out your perfect local VS Code environment:

• →Custom extensions for linting, git integration, and notebook rendering
• →A Python or R environment with your preferred packages
• →Keybindings, themes, and workspace settings tuned exactly how you like them

Previously, working in a remote Studio meant giving all of that up and working inside the browser-based editor. Now, with the SSH connection, you can:

1. Open your local VS Code and install the Remote - SSH extension
2. SSH into your running Studio session on Seqera
3. Work entirely inside the remote container — using your local VS Code UI, your local extensions, and your local settings

Your code runs in the cloud. Your data stays in the cloud. But your developer experience stays the same.

This is a meaningful shift for teams that have invested heavily in local tooling and developer ergonomics. It removes the “context switch tax” of moving between local and cloud environments.

Beyond VS Code: Why SSH Access Matters for Teams

SSH connectivity isn't just a convenience feature for individual developers. It unlocks several important business use cases:

Automation & CI/CD Integration

With SSH access, Studio sessions can be integrated into automated Nextflow pipelines. Scripts can connect to a running session to push code, trigger analysis, or retrieve outputs – without manual human intervention.

Secure Terminal Access

Teams that operate under strict security policies often require audit trails and controlled access paths. SSH with public key authentication provides exactly this: every connection is validated against your individual Seqera SSH credentials and encrypted end-to-end.

Reproducible Development Environments

Your Studio session is a versioned, checkpointed environment. SSH access means you can script environment setup, version-control your configuration, and onboard new team members to an identical, reproducible workspace – without asking them to click through a UI.

Flexible Tooling, Standardized Infrastructure

Different scientists have different tools. Some live in Jupyter. Others prefer the command line. SSH lets everyone use the interface they're most productive in, while IT and platform teams maintain a single, standardized infrastructure underneath.

Getting Connected is Straightforward

1. Add your SSH public key to your Seqerauser profile
2. Enable SSH Connection when creating a new Studio session
3. Start the session and connect:

For VS Code, install the Remote - SSH extension, disable local server mode (remote.SSH.useLocalServer: false), and connect via the Command Palette.

Note: SSH must be enabled at Studio creation time. If you have an existing Studio without SSH enabled, stop it, clone it with Start as New, and enable SSH Connection on the new session.

The Bottom Line

SSH access to running Studio sessions closes the gap between local development ergonomics and cloud-scale bioinformatics infrastructure. Whether you're a researcher who lives in VS Code, a platform engineer automating workflows, or a team lead trying to standardize tooling without sacrificing developer autonomy – this feature is for you.