Does remote depend on local files?

[adriangb]

I often try to use vscode remote when on a bad connection, e.g. wifi. My usual workflow is to spin up a pod in a k8s cluster with ample resources and then do a "Connect to VSCode" from VSCode desktop. But I've noticed this is a lot slower (sometimes won't work) on certain connections. Does VSCode remote rely on copying over local files / the server in any way, or any ideas what would cause this? Thanks!