Remote Development
Reimagined

cloudX is the modern successor to AWS Cloud9. Use your local VSCode with the power of AWS EC2 instances for seamless remote development.

Get Started View on GitHub
đŸ’ģ
VSCode Local
🔐
cloudX-proxy
☁ī¸
EC2 Instance

Why cloudX?

🚀

Auto-Start

Stopped instances are automatically started when you connect. Save costs without hassle.

🔒

Secure & Private

Work with instances in private networks via AWS Systems Manager. No public IPs needed.

🔑

Dynamic Keys

SSH keys are automatically distributed via EC2 Instance Connect. Secure and temporary.

⚡

Seamless Integration

Works perfectly with your existing VSCode setup, extensions, and workflow.

🌍

Cross-platform

Support for Windows, macOS, and Linux. One tool, works everywhere.

🔐

1Password Support

Integration with 1Password SSH agent for secure key management.

How does it work?

1

IAM User Setup

An IAM user is created with exactly the right permissions for cloudX. These credentials are stored locally.

AWS IAM
ABAC
2

EC2 Instance

An EC2 instance with the right tags and IAM role. Available via Service Catalog for easy deployment.

EC2
SSM Agent
3

cloudX-proxy

The proxy handles SSH connections via Systems Manager Session Manager plugin. Automatically starts instances.

Session Manager
SSH Tunnel
4

VSCode Connect

VSCode connects via SSH config. Completely transparent, as if you're working locally.

Remote SSH
VSCode

Architecture Overview

đŸ’ģ Your Device

  • VSCode with Remote SSH
  • cloudX-proxy (uvx)
  • AWS CLI credentials
  • SSH keys (optional 1Password)
SSH via SSM

☁ī¸ AWS Cloud

  • EC2 Instance (private subnet)
  • SSM Agent
  • IAM Role (SSM, CodeArtifact)
  • Security via tags (ABAC)
✓ No public IPs or Security Groups needed
✓ Complete audit trail via CloudTrail
✓ Instance auto-start on connection

Get Started in 3 Steps

1

Install Prerequisites

# Python 3.9+, AWS CLI v2, Session Manager plugin pip install uv

Make sure you have Python, AWS CLI, and the Session Manager plugin installed.

2

Setup cloudX-proxy

# Basic setup with prompts uvx cloudX-proxy setup # Or fully automated uvx cloudX-proxy setup \ --profile myprofile \ --instance i-1234567890abcdef0 \ --hostname myserver \ --yes

Setup automatically configures your AWS profile, SSH keys, and VSCode settings.

3

Connect with VSCode

{ "remote.SSH.configFile": "~/.ssh/vscode/config", "remote.SSH.connectTimeout": 90 }

Open VSCode Remote Explorer and connect to your cloudX-{env}-{hostname}. First time takes 2-3 minutes.

Advanced Options

🔐
1Password integration

Use --1password for secure key management in your 1Password vault

🌍
Multi-environment

Use --aws-env prod for different AWS environments

📝
Custom SSH config

Specify a custom location with --ssh-config

AWS Deployment

The server-side of cloudX runs on AWS and can be deployed with CloudFormation templates. One click and your infrastructure is ready.

Step 1

Environment Setup

🏗ī¸

cloudX-environment

Deploy once per environment (Dev, Test, Prod)

What gets created:
  • IAM Instance Profile with SSM access
  • Security Group for instance networking
  • IAM Group with ABAC policies
  • Parameter Store configuration
Parameters:
EnvironmentName e.g. "OTA", "Prod", "Dev"
Subnet VPC subnet ID for instances
SSODomain AWS SSO domain
Launch Stack
âŦ‡
Step 2

Instance Deployment

đŸ–Ĩī¸

cloudX-instance

Deploy per developer per environment

What gets created:
  • EC2 instance with Amazon Linux 2023
  • Automatic software installation (UserData)
  • ABAC tags for permissions
  • SSM-enabled for secure connections
Parameters:
UserName e.g. "erik", "john"
EnvironmentName Existing environment
InstanceType default: t3.large
Software Packages:
UV BREW ZSH SSO Docker NVM Anaconda
Launch Stack
âŦ‡
Step 3 Optional

User Setup

👤

cloudX-user

Only needed if dedicated IAM credentials are desired

What gets created:
  • IAM user: cloudX-{Env}-{Name}
  • Membership in environment IAM group
  • Access key pair (automatic)
  • Credentials in Parameter Store
Parameters:
UserName Same as instance
EnvironmentName Existing environment
EmailAddress For notifications (opt.)
ℹī¸

Not needed if developers already have IAM/SSO permissions. ABAC policies match on username format.

Launch Stack

🌍 Multi-Environment Support

cloudX supports multiple isolated environments within a single AWS account. Each environment has its own:

🔐 VPC subnet for instance placement
đŸ‘Ĩ IAM group with ABAC permissions
🛡ī¸ Security group configuration
⚙ī¸ SSO domain settings

Perfect for separating development, testing, and production, or for isolated workspaces per team or project.

Ready to get started?

Start with cloudX today and experience modern remote development.

View on GitHub Documentation