Long story short, I’m using PulseSecure VPN on Windows and I need to run it on VSCode to access my work’s workstation.
However I don’t want to have the VPN active on my entire system. I don’t want my web browsing/gaming to be through the VPN. I only want VSCode to be impacted by the VPN so I can SSH to my workstation.
Is there a way to set this up? I know some VPNs offer a “split-tunneling” option but PulseSecure doesn’t.
you dont. you run it in a VM if you want.
If this was a regular VPN you would use a policy based route on your router, but Pulse Secure is going to be completely managed by your company or even the resources that you are using.
Sounds like you should have a company issued device and not have it on your personal machine.
Is this your personal machine with admin access? If it is, then create a secondary user. If it’s not your personal machine and you have admin access, there are a few things you could do, but I wouldn’t recommend it on a company-owned machine.
You can use a firewall to block all the ports on the other network devices for the connection on the vpn
“You don’t” as in it’s literally impossible to do?
It’s on my own personal machine.
Is it possible to do it on my own user? A secondary user would mean having to switch Desktops, right?
My point is to have VSCode SSHing, while on my other screen(s) there’s my web browser that isn’t impacted by the VPN.
Pulse Secure is an enterprise level VPN. you dont do anything that your employers dont want you to do.
run it in a VM.
It’s a good way to get fired if you try to circumvent it. Managed policies exist for a reason.
Your company can enable split tunnel for your vpn profile on the pulse secure appliance gui their side, but i imagine you are part of a generic staff profile and wont do it.
Why aren’t you using a corporate device for this?
Much easier to create a second user than putting it in a VM. But maybe not an option if OP is gaming while working. 
I don’t get it. Are you making an ethical point or are you telling me that it’s not technically feasable?
1 screen vs 3 screens
Exactly.
Instead of turning off-on the VPN constantly, the VSCode would stay connected constantly to VPN while I can seamlessly web browse or game.
So fundamentally, the VPN would only be touching VSCode and nothing else on my computer.
The VPN software likely uses various hacks to get the “enterprise features” working. So technically working around this is probably a nightmare, even more so on Windows. Even if you got something working today, it’ll likely break tomorrow.
But yeah, mixing private and corporate stuff is problematic as well but this really depends on de facto company policy. (I never heard of any company that forbids doing private stuff on the work device but in case of a security breach expect your personal data not to be private anymore if IT tries to fix your laptop…)
That said, your best bet might be checking if it’s possible to do some sort of Manual Connect with Wireguard, OpenVPN or whatever may be supported
Do they sanction this?
Better option: Use your work machine for work, and personal for personal. There shouldn’t be any overlap.
You would have to put it in VM. Fairly easy, but not really a great option. I would suggest not using your personal machine for work. Using pulse gives them access to pretty much everything you are doing. It’s also crazy they are even allowing this type of work on a personal PC.
What do you mean specifically?