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Coder Desktop

Coder Desktop provides seamless access to your remote workspaces without the need to install a CLI or configure manual port forwarding. Connect to workspace services using simple hostnames like myworkspace.coder, launch native applications with one click, and synchronize files between local and remote environments.

Note

Coder Desktop requires a Coder deployment running v2.20.0 or later.

Install Coder Desktop

  1. Use Homebrew to install Coder Desktop:

    brew install --cask coder/coder/coder-desktop

    Alternatively, you can manually install Coder Desktop from the releases page.

  2. Open Coder Desktop from the Applications directory.

  3. The application is treated as a system VPN. macOS will prompt you to confirm with:

    "Coder Desktop" would like to use a new network extension

    Select Open System Settings.

  4. In the Network Extensions system settings, enable the Coder Desktop extension.

  5. Continue to the configuration section.

Configure

Before you can use Coder Desktop, you will need to sign in.

  1. Open the Desktop menu and select Sign in:

    Coder Desktop menu before the user signs in

  2. In the Sign In window, enter your Coder deployment's URL and select Next:

    Coder Desktop sign in

  3. macOS: Select the link to your deployment's /cli-auth page to generate a session token.

    Windows: Select Generate a token via the Web UI.

  4. In your web browser, you may be prompted to sign in to Coder with your credentials.

  5. Copy the session token to the clipboard:

    Copy session token

  6. Paste the token in the Session Token field of the Sign In screen, then select Sign In:

    Paste the session token in to sign in

  7. macOS: Allow the VPN configuration for Coder Desktop if you are prompted:

    Copy session token

  8. Select the Coder icon in the menu bar (macOS) or system tray (Windows), and click the Coder Connect toggle to enable the connection.

    Coder Desktop on Windows - enable Coder Connect

    This may take a few moments, as Coder Desktop will download the necessary components from the Coder server if they have been updated.

  9. macOS: You may be prompted to enter your password to allow Coder Connect to start.

  10. Coder Connect is now running!

Troubleshooting

Do not install more than one copy of Coder Desktop. To avoid system VPN configuration conflicts, only one copy of Coder Desktop.app should exist on your Mac, and it must remain in /Applications.

Next Steps