coder test

Spin up a local Coder server in Docker, push a Terraform template, and launch a VS Code Web workspace powered by code-server.

What’s here

• coder.sh — starts a Coder server container (ghcr.io/coder/coder:latest) on port 3000
• template.sh — logs into the Coder server (via CLI in the container) and pushes the Terraform template
• code-server.tf — Terraform template that creates a Docker-based workspace and runs code-server inside it

Prerequisites

• Docker Engine
• Port 3000 available on your host

Quickstart

1. Make scripts executable and start the Coder server

chmod +x coder.sh template.sh
./coder.sh

This runs a container named coder-server listening on http://127.0.0.1:3000 (and using CODER_ACCESS_URL for external links).

2. Open the UI and create a token

• Visit: http://127.0.0.1:3000
• Create/sign in to your account
• In the UI: Avatar → Account → Tokens → Create a session token

3. Push the Terraform template

Set your token and optionally tweak settings, then run template.sh:

# Optional overrides
# export CODER_URL="http://127.0.0.1:3000"     # Coder API endpoint used by the CLI
# export CODER_TEMPLATE_NAME="vscode-web"      # Template name to push/update
export CODER_SESSION_TOKEN="<your_token_here>"

./template.sh

You should see a success message after the template is pushed.

4. Create a workspace from the template

• In the UI: Templates → vscode-web → New Workspace
• Accept defaults and create. Coder will run the Terraform in the server container and start a workspace Docker container.
• When the workspace is ready, open the app "VS Code Web" to get a browser-based VS Code.

UI snapshots

Here are a few quick screenshots of the flow in the Coder UI:

• Templates view

• Workspaces view

• VS Code Web (code-server) app

Environment variables

• CODER_ACCESS_URL (in coder.sh): external URL Coder advertises. Default: https://your-coder.com:3000 — change to your host/IP if needed.
• CODER_URL (both scripts): API endpoint used by the CLI. Default: http://127.0.0.1:3000.
• CODER_TEMPLATE_NAME (both scripts): template name to push. Default: vscode-web.
• CODER_SESSION_TOKEN (used by template.sh): your session token from the Coder UI. Required to authenticate the CLI.

Security note: template.sh includes a hard-coded token value for convenience in local testing. Always override it with CODER_SESSION_TOKEN, and never commit real tokens.

How it works

The template (code-server.tf) uses:

• coder_agent to bootstrap a Coder agent in the workspace
• Installs and starts code-server on port 13337 inside the workspace
• Registers a Coder app so you can open VS Code Web directly from the Coder UI
• docker_container provider to create the workspace container on your host via the Docker socket mounted into the Coder server container

Cleanup

Stop and remove everything created by these scripts:

# stop coder server
docker rm -f coder-server || true

# remove coder data (removes users, templates, etc.)
rm -rf "$HOME/.config/coderv2-docker"

# remove any workspace containers named like coder-<workspace>
docker ps -a --format '{{.ID}} {{.Names}}' | awk '/^.* coder-/{print $1}' | xargs -r docker rm -f

Troubleshooting

• Port 3000 in use: stop the conflicting service or change the published port in coder.sh (-p 3000:3000).
• coder CLI not found in container: the script expects it at /opt/coder in the ghcr.io/coder/coder:latest image. Use a recent image tag.
• Template push unauthorized: set CODER_SESSION_TOKEN correctly and ensure CODER_URL points to your server.
• Workspace creation fails due to Docker permissions inside the Coder server container: the script tries to map your host Docker group into the container. If your Docker group GID differs or is missing, you may need to recreate the container after verifying DOCKER_GROUP and that /var/run/docker.sock is mounted.

Notes

• Default URLs: the UI is reachable at http://127.0.0.1:3000 locally. If accessing from another machine, set CODER_ACCESS_URL in coder.sh to the host’s reachable IP/hostname before starting the server.
• The code-server app listens on port 13337 inside the workspace and is proxied via the Coder UI app entry; you don’t need to open this port directly.

Reference

• coder-api-workspace
• coder-install-docker