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GitHub Repository: gitpod-io/gitpod
 Path: blob/main/memory-bank/components/supervisor-api.md
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Supervisor API

Overview

The Supervisor API defines the gRPC interfaces for the Supervisor service, which runs inside each workspace container and provides core functionality for workspace management, terminal handling, port forwarding, and other essential workspace operations. This API enables communication between various components and the supervisor process.

Purpose

This API provides a standardized interface for:

  • Managing terminal sessions within workspaces

  • Controlling port exposure and tunneling

  • Retrieving workspace information

  • Managing workspace tasks

  • Handling notifications and status updates

  • Managing SSH access to workspaces

  • Controlling workspace lifecycle

Architecture

The Supervisor API is implemented as a set of gRPC services defined in multiple Protocol Buffer files. These definitions are used to generate client and server code in various languages (Go, TypeScript, Java) for use by the supervisor and other components in the system.

Key Services

ControlService

Provides methods for workspace control operations:

  • ExposePort: Exposes a port from the workspace

  • CreateSSHKeyPair: Creates SSH keys for accessing the workspace

  • CreateDebugEnv: Creates a debug workspace environment

  • SendHeartBeat: Sends heartbeats to keep the workspace alive

InfoService

Provides methods for retrieving workspace information:

  • WorkspaceInfo: Returns detailed information about the workspace

PortService

Manages port forwarding and tunneling:

  • Tunnel: Notifies clients to install listeners on remote machines

  • CloseTunnel: Notifies clients to remove listeners on remote machines

  • EstablishTunnel: Establishes a tunnel for an incoming connection

  • AutoTunnel: Controls enablement of auto tunneling

  • RetryAutoExpose: Retries auto-exposing a port

TerminalService

Manages terminal sessions within the workspace:

  • Open: Opens a new terminal running the login shell

  • Shutdown: Closes a terminal, killing all child processes

  • Get: Returns information about an opened terminal

  • List: Lists all open terminals

  • Listen: Streams terminal output

  • Write: Writes input to a terminal

  • SetSize: Sets the terminal's size

  • SetTitle: Sets the terminal's title

  • UpdateAnnotations: Updates the terminal's annotations

TaskService

Manages workspace tasks:

  • ListenToOutput: Streams the output of a given task

StatusService (inferred from status.proto)

Provides status information about the workspace:

  • Status updates for workspace components

  • Health checks

NotificationService (inferred from notification.proto)

Handles notifications within the workspace:

  • Sending notifications to users

  • Managing notification state

TokenService (inferred from token.proto)

Manages authentication tokens:

  • Token generation and validation

  • Token-based access control

Key Data Structures

Terminal

Represents a terminal session:

  • Alias (identifier)

  • Command being executed

  • Title

  • Process ID

  • Working directory

  • Annotations

  • Title source

TunnelVisiblity

Enum defining the visibility of a port tunnel:

  • none: Not visible

  • host: Visible to the host

  • network: Visible to the network

WorkspaceInfoResponse

Contains detailed information about a workspace:

  • Workspace ID and instance ID

  • Checkout and workspace locations

  • User home directory

  • Gitpod API information

  • Repository information

  • IDE configuration

  • Workspace class information

DebugWorkspaceType

Enum defining the type of debug workspace:

  • noDebug: Not a debug workspace

  • regular: Regular debug workspace

  • prebuild: Prebuild debug workspace

Communication Patterns

  • The API uses gRPC for efficient, typed communication

  • Many services provide REST endpoints via gRPC Gateway annotations

  • Several services use server-side streaming for real-time updates

  • Terminal and task services stream output data

  • Port tunneling uses bidirectional streaming

Dependencies

  • Used by IDE components to interact with the workspace

  • Used by the workspace manager to control workspace lifecycle

  • Used by the local app for port forwarding and SSH access

  • Integrated with the content service for workspace content management

Usage Examples

  • IDE extensions use the terminal service to create and manage terminal sessions

  • Port forwarding tools use the port service to expose workspace ports

  • Workspace manager uses the control service to manage workspace lifecycle

  • Task runners use the task service to execute and monitor workspace tasks

Version Compatibility

The API uses Protocol Buffers version 3 (proto3) syntax, which provides forward and backward compatibility features. The service is designed to allow for the addition of new methods and message fields without breaking existing clients.

Code Generation and Building

Regenerating Code from Protobuf Definitions

The Supervisor API uses Protocol Buffers and gRPC for defining interfaces. When changes are made to the .proto files, the corresponding code in various languages needs to be regenerated.

To regenerate the code:

  1. Navigate to the supervisor-api directory:

    cd components/supervisor-api

  2. Run the generate script:

    ./generate.sh

This script performs the following actions:

  • Installs necessary dependencies (protoc plugins)

  • Generates Go code using protoc-gen-go and protoc-gen-go-grpc

  • Generates gRPC Gateway code for REST endpoints

  • Generates Java code using generate-java.sh

  • Updates license headers

  • Removes trailing whitespace from Java files

The generate-java.sh script:

  • Temporarily modifies proto files to handle Java reserved keywords

  • Downloads the gRPC Java plugin if needed

  • Generates Java code

  • Reverts the temporary modifications to proto files

Building After Code Generation

After regenerating the code, you may need to rebuild components that depend on the Supervisor API. This typically involves:

  1. For Go components:

    cd <component-directory>
go build ./...

  2. For TypeScript components:

    cd <component-directory>
yarn install
yarn build

  3. For Java components:

    cd <component-directory>/java
./gradlew build

  4. Using Leeway (for CI/CD):

    leeway build -D components/<component-name>:app

The Supervisor API is a critical component of the Gitpod platform, as it provides the interface through which various components interact with the workspace environment.