Defining custom commands for Che-Theia
The Che-Theia IDE allows users to define custom commands in a devfile that are then available when working in a workspace.
This is useful, for example, for:
-
Simplifying building, running, and debugging projects.
-
Allowing lead developers to customize workspaces based on team requirements.
-
Reducing time needed to onboard new team members.
See also Authoring a devfile 2.
Che-Theia task types
The following is an example of the commands
section of a devfile.
commands:
- name: Package Native App
actions:
- type: exec
component: centos-quarkus-maven
command: "mvn package -Dnative -Dmaven.test.skip"
workdir: ${CHE_PROJECTS_ROOT}/quarkus-quickstarts/getting-started
- name: Start Native App
actions:
- type: exec
component: ubi-minimal
command: ./getting-started-1.0-SNAPSHOT-runner
workdir: ${CHE_PROJECTS_ROOT}/quarkus-quickstarts/getting-started/target
- name: Attach remote debugger
actions:
- type: vscode-launch
referenceContent: |
{
"version": "0.2.0",
"configurations": [
{
"type": "java",
"request": "attach",
"name": "Attach to Remote Quarkus App",
"hostName": "localhost",
"port": 5005
}
]
}
- Che commands
-
Package Native App
andStart Native App
The Che commands are to be used to define tasks that will be executed in the workspace container.
-
The
exec
type implies that the Che runner is used for command execution. The user can specify the component in whose container the command is executed. -
The
command
field contains the command line for execution. -
The
workdir
is the working directory in which the command is executed. -
The
component
field refers to the container where the command will be executed. The field contains the componentalias
where the container is defined.
-
- Visual Studio Code
launch
configurations -
Attach remote debugger
Visual Studio Code
launch
configurations are commonly used to define debugging configuration. To trigger these configurations, press F5 or choose Start Debugging from the Debug menu. The configurations provide information to the debugger, such as the port to connect to for debugging or the type of the application to debug (Node.js, Java, and others.).-
The type is
vscode-launch
. -
It contains the
launch
configurations in the Visual Studio Code format. -
For more information about Visual Studio Code
launch
configurations, see the Debugging section on the Visual Studio documentation page.
-
Tasks of type che
, also known as exec
commands, can be executed from the Terminal→Run Task menu or by selecting them in the My Workspace panel. Other tasks are only available from Terminal→Run Task. Configurations to start with are available in the Che-Theia debugger.
Running and debugging
Che-Theia supports the Debug Adapter Protocol. This protocol defines a generic way for how a development tool can communicate with a debugger. It means Che-Theia works with all implementations.
-
A running instance of Che. To install an instance of Che, see Installing Che.
To debug an application:
-
Click Debug → Add Configuration for debugging or adding of a
launch
configuration to the project. -
From the pop-up menu, select the appropriate configuration for the application that you are about to debug.
-
Update the configuration by modifying or adding attributes.
-
Breakpoints can be toggled by selecting the editor margin.
-
After opening the breakpoint menu, use the Edit Breakpoint command to add conditions.
The IDE then displays the
Expresion
input field. -
To start debugging, click View→Debug.
-
In the Debug view, select the configuration and press F5 to debug the application. Or, start the application without debugging by pressing Ctrl+F5.
Editing a task and launch
configuration
To customize the configuration file:
-
Edit the
tasks.json
orlaunch.json
configuration files. -
Add new definitions to the configuration file or modify the existing ones.
The changes are stored in the configuration file. -
To customize the task configuration provided by plug-ins, select the Terminal → Configure Tasks menu option, and choose the task to configure. The configuration is then copied to the
tasks.json
file and is available for editing.