title: Accessing Brilliant description: Learn how to access and authenticate with Brilliant category: get-started order: 3

Run Brilliant directly in your browser:

Try Brilliant now!

Key Differences from Local VS Code

Web-Based Interface

Unlike traditional VS Code, which runs natively on the user's OS, the browser version relies entirely on a remote backend. This introduces limitations and behaviors unique to web clients, such as:

• No access to local file systems (without explicit extensions or bridges).
• Settings and extensions are scoped to the remote instance.
• Performance depends on network latency and cloud instance specs.

First-Party Cookies

Authentication uses first-party cookies to match users to their specific VS Code instance. These cookies are scoped to the domain and ensure seamless user-session continuity without exposing credentials or session tokens to third-parties.

HTTPS Requirement

To ensure secure communication and maintain integrity across the session, all connections to the VS Code web client must occur over HTTPS. This is particularly important when integrating with authentication providers and loading extensions.

VS Code Extension

Coming Soon

We're actively working on making Brilliant available to the general public as a VS Code extension. Check back soon for updates!