Dear LT community & team,
I would like to share an idea which originates from research on how to use the LT cloud with a single user or team plan in the VS Code extension (Premium/cloud features in VSCode extension). An API key is necessary, which can be requested by asking the support.
This proposal could ease this process.
TLDR: LT Desktop Apps (for Windows and macOS) provide a local-only LT API server which forwards/proxies requests to the LT cloud service; third-party integrations like the VS Code extension could then use the local LT API server while the Desktop App handles the authentication
Given:
- LT already provides Desktop Apps for Windows and macOS
- Users which have paid subscriptions authenticate within the app
Feature request:
- LT Desktop Apps provide a local-only LT API server, e.g. on
http://localhost:8081 - Users can enable the local-only LT API server in the settings
- The local-only LT API server acts as a proxy and forward requests to the LT cloud service
- Clients of the local-only LT API server do not have to authenticate; authentication is instead handled transparently by the proxy in the LT Desktop App
In my opinion, this would be an effective way to support the premium/cloud features in third-party integrations like the VS Code extension.
Benefits:
- Simple to enable for individual use
- API keys must not be configured in third-party extensions
- Authentication and API keys remain within the boundary of the LT Desktop Apps
- API keys must not be requested individually from LT support
Binding the local LT API proxy server to localhost only would be in my opinion an effective measure to prevent misuse for use cases which are targeted by the API plans.
Best
Dominik