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Eclipse Che

Eclipse Che is an open-source, Kubernetes-native (developer workspace platform) that provides browser-based, containerized development environments for teams.

  • Cloud-native, browser-based Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) and workspaces (developer tooling)
  • Workspace containers running on Kubernetes or OpenShift clusters (container orchestration)
  • Devfile-based workspace configuration and reproducible environments (developer productivity / environment automation)
  • Multi-user, team-oriented workspace management with role- and project-based access (collaborative development)
  • Extensible plugin and editor model integrating tools like VS Code-compatible editors (integrated development tooling)

More About Eclipse Che

Eclipse Che is an open-source (developer workspace platform) hosted by the Eclipse Foundation that provides Kubernetes-native, browser-accessible development environments. It targets the problem of onboarding developers, standardizing toolchains, and running IDEs directly on top of container platforms rather than on local machines.

At its core, Eclipse Che delivers cloud workspaces built from containers and defined through Devfiles (configuration-as-code for workspaces). These workspaces run on Kubernetes or Red Hat OpenShift (container orchestration), allowing organizations to align development environments with the same platform and runtimes used in staging and production. Developers connect through a browser-based Immutable Deployment Environment (IDE) or web-based editors, while the actual build, run, and debug processes execute inside containers in the cluster.

The platform uses Devfiles (environment definition) to describe the components, tools, runtimes, and commands that make up a workspace. This supports reproducible development environments across users and teams, enabling consistent language runtimes, build tools, and project dependencies. Workspaces can be versioned, shared, and instantiated from source repositories, which supports standardized project templates and onboarding workflows.

Eclipse Che integrates with Kubernetes concepts such as namespaces, pods, and services (cloud infrastructure), and it is designed to run as an application inside a cluster. It exposes multi-tenant workspace management, user authentication integration, and permissions that align with enterprise security and access policies (identity and access management). Che supports extensions and plugins, including support for editors based on the VS Code extension model (IDE extensibility), which allows teams to reuse existing extension ecosystems and language tooling.

In enterprise environments, Eclipse Che is used to centralize development workspaces, enforce consistent toolchains, and reduce the need for powerful local developer machines. It can integrate with source code management systems and Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) pipelines (software delivery), enabling developers to work close to build and deployment infrastructure. Because environments run in the cluster, teams can provide specialized runtimes, databases, or services inside workspaces that mirror production topologies more closely than local setups.

From a directory and taxonomy perspective, Eclipse Che fits into categories such as cloud development environments (CDEs), IDEs, and Kubernetes-native developer platforms (platform engineering). It is relevant for organizations adopting container-based infrastructure, Git-centric workflows, and DevOps practices where standardized, reproducible, and centrally managed development environments are required.