From e52d4c56dee509de44cb6ec11e45e0e9db2975bf Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Joern Date: Thu, 20 Aug 2026 09:28:48 +0000 Subject: [PATCH] Public SOP: connecting VS Code to Codebox Go --- Home.md | 172 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 172 insertions(+) create mode 100644 Home.md diff --git a/Home.md b/Home.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..aa96432 --- /dev/null +++ b/Home.md @@ -0,0 +1,172 @@ +# Connecting VS Code to Codebox Go + +Codebox Go is our self-hosted Git service. This guide gets you from a fresh +machine to working in VS Code, and explains the handful of things that +commonly go wrong. + +The address is the same wherever you are: + +``` +https://git.hoppe.mywire.org +``` + +Use it from home, from a laptop elsewhere, from anything. If you were given a +different address at some point, prefer this one — a link that only works on +one network will strand you the moment you move. + +--- + +## Which kind of account do you have? + +| | Team member | External collaborator | +| --- | --- | --- | +| Sign-in | Your organisation account | An account created for you, with its own password | +| Set-up | One script does everything | Clone the specific repository you were given | +| You will see | The repositories your team has | Usually one repository | + +Both sign in at the same address and both work the same way in VS Code. The +difference is only how many repositories you can see. + +--- + +## First: sign in on the web + +Go to the address above and sign in **before** touching VS Code. It confirms +your account works and tells you immediately which repositories you have. + +If sign-in fails, skip to [Sign-in is rejected](#sign-in-is-rejected). + +--- + +## Team members: one script + +Members can clone the `workspace` repository, which contains a `bootstrap` +script. It asks the server which repositories **your** account can see, clones +exactly those, and writes a VS Code workspace file containing them. + +```powershell +git clone https://git.hoppe.mywire.org/Hoppe.home/workspace.git +cd workspace +.\bootstrap.ps1 +``` + +Then open the workspace file it prints at the end. + +Inside VS Code you can instead press **Ctrl+Shift+P**, choose **Tasks: Run +Task**, then **Set up my Codebox Go workspace**. + +Re-run it whenever you like. It updates what you already have, adds anything +newly shared with you, and rewrites the workspace file — so it doubles as a +way to check you have not missed a repository. + +There is no fixed list of repositories in the script, deliberately. It asks +the server every time, so it can never offer you something you are not allowed +to clone, and it cannot go stale. + +## External collaborators: clone your repository + +You will normally have exactly one. Clone it directly: + +``` +git clone https://git.hoppe.mywire.org//.git +``` + +Or in VS Code: **Ctrl+Shift+P** → **Git: Clone** → paste the URL. + +When prompted, enter your username and password. Choose a folder that is +**not** inside OneDrive or another syncing folder — see below for why. + +--- + +## Passwords and tokens + +You can sign in with your password. You can also create a **personal access +token** under **Settings → Applications**, and use it anywhere a password is +asked for. + +A token is the better choice on a laptop, a shared machine, or anything you +carry around: it can be revoked on its own without changing your password, and +you can issue a separate one per device. + +Never commit a token to a repository, and never paste one into an issue or a +chat message. If one leaks, revoke it in the same place you created it. + +--- + +## Things that commonly go wrong + +### I can only see a few repositories + +This is almost always your access, not a fault. Repositories you have not been +given are hidden rather than shown as forbidden, so a short list looks +identical to a broken sign-in. + +Ask for the repository you need, naming it. Nothing on your machine will fix +it. + +### The clone hangs, or keeps asking for a username + +If a prompt appears for an address different from the one you cloned from, +that is the cause. Credentials are stored per address, so a request to a +second address finds nothing saved and waits for input — which looks like a +stalled download rather than a question. + +Cancel, and clone using the address at the top of this page. If your system +has stored something unhelpful, clear the saved entry (on Windows: Credential +Manager → Windows Credentials) and let it ask again. + +### "Your connection is not private" / certificate error + +Check your device's **date and time** first. A certificate is only valid +between two dates, so a clock that is wrong by days makes a perfectly good +certificate look invalid. This is by far the most common cause. + +On Windows: **Settings → Time & language → Date & time**, turn on **Set time +automatically**, then **Sync now**. If the clock keeps resetting after every +restart, the machine's internal battery is likely flat. + +A wrong clock also breaks sign-ins on many other services, so fixing it tends +to clear up more than this one error. + +### It worked at home but not elsewhere + +Your repository is pointing at an address that only exists on the home +network. Point it at the public one: + +``` +git remote set-url origin https://git.hoppe.mywire.org//.git +``` + +Check what it is currently using with `git remote -v`. + +### Strange failures inside OneDrive + +Do not clone into OneDrive, Dropbox, Google Drive or iCloud Drive. Sync copies +files while Git is still writing them, which produces stalls, lock errors and +apparent corruption that look like network problems. + +Use a plain local folder such as `C:\Users\\Code`. The bootstrap script +refuses a syncing folder for this reason. + +### Sign-in is rejected + +- Check whether you are entering the right kind of credential. Team members + use their organisation account; external collaborators use the password set + up for them here. +- If you use a token, confirm it has not been revoked, and that you pasted it + whole. +- Repeated failures may temporarily rate-limit you. Wait a few minutes rather + than retrying rapidly. + +--- + +## Getting help + +Ask the person who gave you access. When you do, include: + +- what you ran or clicked, +- the exact error text, +- and the address it mentions. + +That last one resolves most cases immediately, because the wrong address is +the single most common cause.