[oniro-wg] 2026 New Proposal 2: Open source CodeArts IDE

[Benjamin Akhigbe <benjaminakhigbe@xxxxxxxxx>]

Dear Oniro Working Group Members,

Following the insightful discussions on strategic integrations for the platform , I am writing to propose a new initiative aimed at fundamentally strengthening our developer tools ecosystem: the open-sourcing of Huawei's CodeArts IDE and its contribution to the Oniro project.

This proposal directly supports the Oniro Working Group's core mission to foster a "vendor-neutral environment" and "drive the commercial success" of the platform by providing a powerful, familiar, and fully open Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for the global development community.

1. Business and Technical Rationale

The Oniro project, built upon the OpenHarmony core, is poised for significant growth across diverse device categories . A primary catalyst for any successful platform is a first-class, accessible developer experience. While Oniro already benefits from tooling like an Eclipse Theia-based IDE and a VS Code extension , the strategic integration of CodeArts IDE presents a transformative opportunity.

Bridging Ecosystem Gaps: CodeArts IDE for HarmonyOS PC, which reportedly now supports installation of VS Code extensions, represents a mature, feature-rich development environment already optimized for the OpenHarmony/Oniro technology stack . Open-sourcing this tool would provide the Oniro community with a production-ready, desktop-native IDE, drastically lowering the barrier to entry for developers worldwide and accelerating application development.

Aligning with Strategic Trends: The industry is witnessing a surge in AI-enabled, flexible developer tooling. Projects like Eclipse Theia AI IDE demonstrate the value of open, vendor-neutral platforms . Integrating a sophisticated IDE like CodeArts would position Oniro at the forefront of this trend, attracting developers seeking powerful, customizable tools free from proprietary lock-in.

Enhancing Global Collaboration: As noted in community analyses, Oniro serves as a vital bridge for non-Chinese developers to engage with the OpenHarmony ecosystem . Contributing a major tool like CodeArts IDE under the Eclipse Foundation's governance would be a powerful demonstration of open collaboration, uniting developer contributions from across the globe under a transparent, shared model .

2. Proposed Integration Pathway & Value

I proposed a phased collaboration to integrate the open-sourced CodeArts IDE as a cornerstone of the Oniro development toolchain.

Integration Pathway Technical Approach Value to the Oniro Ecosystem

Core IDE Contribution Contribute the CodeArts IDE codebase to the Eclipse Foundation under an open-source license (e.g., EPL-2.0). Establish it as a top-level project or integrate it within the existing oniro-ide resources . Provides a fully-featured, standalone IDE client, offering developers a seamless, out-of-the-box experience for building Oniro applications.

Plugin Ecosystem Unification Align the IDE's extension framework with the Open VSX Registry, the vendor-neutral extension marketplace hosted by the Eclipse Foundation . This would unify access to thousands of plugins. Ensures developers retain access to a vast, open ecosystem of tools and languages, reinforcing vendor neutrality and developer choice.

Toolchain & Service Integration Deeply integrate the IDE with other Oniro and Eclipse ecosystem services, such as build systems (oniro-app-builder), compliance tools, and cloud-native frameworks like Eclipse Xpanse for backend provisioning . Creates a cohesive, end-to-end development suite that simplifies complex workflows, from device UI to cloud service management.

3. Governance and Proposed Next Steps

To formalize this exploration and collaboration, we recommend the following actions:

Form a Special Interest Group (SIG): Establish a SIG focused on "Developer Tools & IDE" under the Oniro Working Group. This SIG would serve as the forum for initial technical and governance discussions between interested Oniro member companies and Huawei.

Steering Committee Review: Present this proposal to the Oniro Steering Committee to secure strategic endorsement and discuss pathways for incubation within the Eclipse Foundation's project governance.

Conduct a Feasibility Pilot: Collaborate on a defined pilot project, such as adapting the IDE for a key Oniro vertical (e.g., Industrial IoT or Smart Home ), to demonstrate tangible technical and community benefits.

We believe the open-sourcing of CodeArts IDE represents a landmark opportunity to supercharge the Oniro developer ecosystem. We are eager to discuss this proposal in detail at the next available Working Group or Steering Committee meeting.

Sincerely,

Benjamin Akhigbe

(on behalf of the CoreMobile team)

benjaminakhigbe@xxxxxxxxx