Ok, but what if your colleague does not have Vim installed?

Wouldn't it make more sense to have a tool that brings files over to the local computer, starts Vim on them, and then copies them back?

That starts to sound like using VS Code in remote mode.

I can’t recall encountering a system in the last 15 years that didn’t have vim (or at least vi for esoteric things) on it.

We usually work on the VM with daily-built ISO. For example, I would compile and upload Java program to the frontend team member's VM, and type "srt" for "systemctl restart tomcat."