Welcome to the ZenML Interactive Tutorial Extension 👋

This VS Code extension provides an interactive, hands-on learning experience for ZenML - the open-source MLOps framework. Master ZenML fundamentals through 10 guided pipeline examples with step-by-step tutorials and one-click execution!

✨ What You'll Learn

• Pipeline Fundamentals - Create your first ZenML pipeline
• Data Flow - Pass data between pipeline steps
• Parameters - Make pipelines flexible with parameters
• Organization - Tag and organize your pipeline runs
• Tracking - Log metadata to record useful facts about runs
• Visualizations - Create automatic & custom charts
• Performance - Use caching and parallel processing
• Reliability - Handle errors with retries and hooks
• Configuration - Use YAML to separate configuration from code

10 Progressive Tutorials that build from basic concepts to advanced ZenML patterns.

🚀 Get Started

GitHub Codespaces (Recommended)

The fastest way to get started - no local setup required.

1. Click Code ▶ Codespaces ▶ Create codespace on develop
2. Wait ~2 min for setup (container, dependencies, extension)
3. The extension will launch automatically

Local Setup with Extension from Marketplace

Prerequisites:

• Python 3.8 or higher
• VS Code

Steps:

1. Set up Python virtual environment:

   python -m venv zenml-tutorial-env
   source zenml-tutorial-env/bin/activate  # On Windows: zenml-tutorial-env\Scripts\activate

2. Install ZenML:

   pip install zenml

3. Initialize ZenML:

   zenml init

4. Start the ZenML server locally:

   zenml login --local

5. Install the extension:

   • Install from the Marketplace or search for "ZenML Tutorial" in the Extensions Marketplace

6. Launch the tutorial:

   • Open VS Code and the extension will launch automatically

💻 Alternative: Local Setup with Dev Containers

Requirements:

• Docker Desktop
• VS Code
• Dev Containers Extension

Steps:

1. Clone this repo & open in VS Code
2. Click Reopen in Container when prompted
3. Extension starts automatically

🎓 Tutorial Structure

Tutorial	Topic	Skills
1	Hello World	Basic pipeline creation
2	Step I/O	Data flow between steps
3	Parameters	Pipeline configuration
4	Tagging	Run organization
5	Metadata	Logging and tracking
6	Caching	Performance optimization
7	Visualizations	Charts and plots
8	Fan-out/Fan-in	Parallel processing
9	Retries & Hooks	Error handling
10	YAML Config	Configuration management

🎮 How to Use

• Run pipelines via the “Run Pipeline” button
• Navigate with Previous/Next buttons
• Inspect output in the terminal and Dashboard link
• Experiment by editing any example code

⚙️ Extension Configuration

Auto-Open Tutorial

The tutorial homepage opens automatically when you start VS Code in the following scenarios:

• On first install (always opens the first time you install the extension)
• In GitHub Codespaces (when CODESPACES=true)
• When tutorial is enabled (when ZENML_ENABLE_TUTORIAL=true)
• When user setting is enabled (see configuration options below)

You can control the user preference behavior:

🔧 Quick Disable

When the welcome message appears, click "Don't Show Again" to disable auto-opening.

🔧 Settings UI

1. Open VS Code Settings (Ctrl+, or Cmd+,)
2. Search for "zenml"
3. Toggle "Auto Open Tutorial" on/off

🔧 Settings JSON

Add to your VS Code settings to enable auto-open (disabled by default):

{
  "zenml.autoOpenTutorial": true
}

Note: You can always access the tutorial manually via the ZenML sidebar (book icon) or Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P → "ZenML: Open ZenML Tutorial Homepage").

📖 Manual Tutorial Access

If the tutorial doesn't open automatically, you can easily access it manually:

Method 1: Using the ZenML Tutorial Sidebar

1. Look for the ZenML Tutorial icon (📖) in the Activity Bar (left side of VS Code)
2. Click on it to open the tutorial panel
3. Click "Open Homepage" to start the tutorial

Method 2: Using the Main Sidebar

1. Open the main VS Code sidebar (Explorer view)
2. Scroll down to find "ZenML Tutorial" in the extensions list
3. Click on it to access the tutorial

Method 3: Using Command Palette

1. Press Ctrl+Shift+P (or Cmd+Shift+P on Mac)
2. Type "ZenML: Open ZenML Tutorial Homepage"
3. Press Enter

Once opened, you'll see the welcome screen:

Dashboard URL

Configure the ZenML dashboard URL for pipeline run links:

{
  "zenml.dashboardUrl": "http://localhost:8237"
}

🛟 Getting Help

• 📖 ZenML Docs: docs.zenml.io
• 💬 Community: ZenML Slack
• 🐛 Issues: GitHub Issues