---
title: "ML Development in VS Code with Google Cloud Power: Workbench Extension Now Available"
description: "Google Cloud has launched the Google Cloud Workbench Notebooks extension for VS Code, allowing developers to use managed cloud notebook environments from a local IDE. Workbench, described as a managed Jupyter platform optimized for data science, can provide access to Google Cloud's AI-optimized infrastructure and high-performance compute when local machines need more capacity. The workflow connects through VS Code's Extensions view, the Jupyter extension, and a notebook's Select Kernel menu, where users choose Google Cloud, Workbench, authenticate, select a project, and choose an active instance. The extension runs notebooks on Workbench instances, preserves local settings and extensions, is fully open-sourced, and is available through the VS Code Marketplace, with GitHub contributions invited."
---

# ML Development in VS Code with Google Cloud Power: Workbench Extension Now Available

[Google](https://yomu.fyi/company/google) · Andrii Lobanov, Alex Kallaur, Diego Granados · Jul 1, 2026

**Type:** Announcement

## Summary

Google Cloud has launched the Google Cloud Workbench Notebooks extension for VS Code, allowing developers to use managed cloud notebook environments from a local IDE. Workbench, described as a managed Jupyter platform optimized for data science, can provide access to Google Cloud's AI-optimized infrastructure and high-performance compute when local machines need more capacity. The workflow connects through VS Code's Extensions view, the Jupyter extension, and a notebook's Select Kernel menu, where users choose Google Cloud, Workbench, authenticate, select a project, and choose an active instance. The extension runs notebooks on Workbench instances, preserves local settings and extensions, is fully open-sourced, and is available through the VS Code Marketplace, with GitHub contributions invited.

## Context

The launch is intended to bridge local IDE familiarity with Google Cloud's scalable infrastructure, reduce context switching, and streamline the machine-learning lifecycle by combining local development with cloud-based notebooks and compute.

## Approach / What changed

Install the official Google Cloud Workbench Notebooks extension alongside Jupyter in VS Code, open a notebook, select Workbench through the Select Kernel menu, authenticate, choose a Google Cloud project, and select an active Workbench instance. The extension is fully open-sourced.

## Takeaways

- The extension connects local VS Code development to managed Google Cloud Workbench environments and high-performance compute.
- Notebooks run on Workbench instances while users continue using their local VS Code settings and extensions.
- The official package is GoogleCloudTools.workbench-notebooks, and the project is open-sourced for community contributions.

**Tags:** [Google Cloud](https://yomu.fyi/topic/gcp), [Open Source](https://yomu.fyi/topic/open-source)

- Source: [Google](https://developers.googleblog.com/ml-development-in-vs-code-with-google-cloud-power-workbench-extension-now-available)
- Source URL: https://developers.googleblog.com/ml-development-in-vs-code-with-google-cloud-power-workbench-extension-now-available
- Ingested by Yomu: 2026-09-09T14:29:06.817Z

[Read original post](https://developers.googleblog.com/ml-development-in-vs-code-with-google-cloud-power-workbench-extension-now-available)