Coder

Is this going to allow multi select? Maybe to generate dynamic Terraform blocks?

if you need programming help, sorry, we're not the place

This is the wrong server, you are looking at the <https://coder.com> discord server, which is a product that lets you use remote machines as development environments.

you can ask in <https://discord.gg/code> or <https://discord.gg/programming>

Is there any way to allow port forwarded irl access without coder authentication so that others can preview apps?

I often run my apps in incognito and logging in everytime is not optimal

not currently unless you add the ports you want to use as an app and then share that app publicly. There's an issue for allowing sharing arbitrary ports though

Are you meant to be able to use CTRL+C and V in the web terminal?

Does anyone know why the coder provider doesn’t show up on releases.hashicorp.com?

Only official Terraform providers that are built by HashiCorp will show up there I believe.

You can download a release manually here: https://github.com/coder/terraform-provider-coder

<@206225075026788353> I have an additional question for you.

Why doesn’t coder v2 run envbox like coder v1 did?

You can just run `sysbox` on the Kubernetes cluster itself with v2, because templates are editable by you.

We'll have some improved documentation here soon.

Got it. One of the pros for us with Coder v1 was that we didn’t have to have customized AMIs with sysbox.

Sorry just for reference, I work for an enterprise customer.

Gotcha. Sysbox can install with a DaemonSet instead, which would let you get around requiring a custom AMI.

https://github.com/nestybox/sysbox/blob/master/docs/user-guide/install-k8s.md

This is jogging my memory now. The problem was that we leverage Calico as our CNI. Calico only supports sysbox as a runtime if you pay for the enterprise version.

So if we lose envbox and have to switch to sysbox it increases overhead/cost of the solution for us.

Sysbox is actually moving the Enterprise features to free (they said this month)! So that shouldn't be an issue soon.

Oh dang! That is phenomenal news. That may ease my concerns a bit! Any chance you have a link to that handy?

It was in DMs with myself and the creator of sysbox, Cesar.

Does anyone know how to get the VS Code Desktop button to appear when using the coder-vscode extension?

The button should appear in the dash on >=0.15.2

Totally missed this but I got it fixed. Thanks

I have a hacky solution, but hoping for a better one

What would be the best practice to pull in a code repository into a running container? Let's say, the source of the repo will be dynamic, so that a single template can run the container, yet different devs can develop with different repos  in different workspaces. And the knowledge of which repo to pull in would be part of the automation. In other words, the dev shouldn't have to deal directly with git. Is anyone doing anything like this? I have some ideas, just wondering if there is a "best path to success". 🙂

You may get the repo URL as a terraform variable and then clone it in `startup_script`

The devs would have to type it while creating their workspace.

<@267661647785623572> 
> Yeah. That was a contemplation of mine too. However, I'm not totally aware of how to set the variable at the time of running the template.

why do you need to set the variable at runtime ?

Because the data about how to select the source repo would be dynamic. I'm new to Terraform and Coder, so I might be overlooking the obvious.

So, my goal is the following. The container would be built with a basis code set. Stuff that would be generated automatically. The dev's repo, would be a subset of the application in the end. Basically. the core business logic parts. This would be sourced from one repo only.

alright, I will make a quick template for you

I already do this type of stuff in my template

Oh. Didn't expect a whole template. But, that would be great as an example.

well, I'm making a partial template really

but without abstracting arguments so you can adapt it to your own template

Ok. Yeah, don't need a full template. Just the good parts. 🙂

```c
locals {
  git_repos = {
    "Repository 1" = "https://git.mycompany.tld/1.git"
    "Repository 2" = "https://git.mycompany.tld/2.git"
    "Repository hello" = "https://git.mycompany.tld/hell.git"
  }
}

variable "git_source" {
  description = "Which Git repository do you want?"
  default     = "Repository 1"

  nullable = false

  validation {
    condition     = contains(["Repository 1", "Repository 2", "Repository hello"], var.git_source)
    error_message = "Invalid repository!"
  }
}

resource "coder_agent" "dev" {
  arch = "amd64"
  os   = "linux"

  startup_script = <<EOT
#!/bin/bash
git clone ${lookup(local.git_repos, var.git_source)}
EOT
}
```

so basically, at the top I define an object with "human" names and their raw equivalent, that way I can establish a relationship between what the user inputted and the real value behind that,

terraform's lookup is basically ``lookup(obj, childname)``, so if you selected "Repository 1", it'd do ``lookup(local.git_repos, "Repository 1")`` and return  ``https://git.mycompany.tld/1.git``

also for the git cloning, you might want the git repo to be an env variable instead, depending on your use-case :
```c
resource "coder_agent" "dev" {
  arch = "amd64"
  os   = "linux"

  env = {
    "GIT_REPO" = lookup(local.git_repos, var.git_source)
  }

  startup_script = <<EOT
#!/bin/bash
git clone $GIT_REPO
EOT
}
```

Is there a way to set up env vars in the container via Coder? And does Coder pass through any info about the dev/ user starting the workspace?

otherwise if not, you can still pass it to the CT with ``env``

```c
env = {
    "WORKSPACE_OWNER" = data.coder_workspace.me.owner,
    "WORKSPACE_NAME" = data.coder_workspace.me.name
}
```
(see https://registry.terraform.io/providers/coder/coder/latest/docs/data-sources/workspace for the variables you can obtain)

I'd like to avoid having the user/ dev input anything other than pressing a button somewhere. That particular button will start the workspace they need, automatically.

oh yeah, don't worry, they'll only see a combo box on workspace creation

Also, you may assign different repos depending on the developer username or id.

image

I do the exact same process with shells here

it then runs ``chsh`` with the appropriate shell path

That's cool. Yet, I really want just a button (which I'll be creating myself of course. Coder will be more in the background). "Go devving" or something to that effect would be the button text. 🙂

oh yeah but nothing prevents you from selecting the dropdown value in your client then

we can abstract the whole "repository 1" stuff then,
```c
variable "git_source" {
  description = "git_source"
  default     = ""

  validation {
    condition     = var.git_source != ""
    error_message = "Invalid URL!"
  }
}

resource "coder_agent" "dev" {
  arch = "amd64"
  os   = "linux"

  startup_script = <<EOT
#!/bin/bash
git clone ${var.git_source}
EOT
}
```

then you can fill in the URL as you want from your custom client

the only things passed to the container are the following I belive
```
CODER_AGENT_URL=[...]
CODER_AGENT_AUTH=token
CODER_DONT_PASS=true
CODER=true
GIT_SSH_COMMAND=/tmp/coder.or9be1/coder gitssh --
CODER_AGENT_TOKEN=[...]
VSCODE_PROXY_URI=https://{{port}}--dev--env--[...]
```

you can still check using ``env`` in the CT's terminal

What would be cool is, if this address `https://my.sites.url/templates/my-template/workspace`  would take parameters and those then be env vars in the container.

<@363022107753578496> - When you say "CT" is that short for container?

you can do ``https://my.sites.url/templates/my-template/workspace?param.git_source=hello``

yes, since there is no short for workspace, I say CT -- be aware that I mean workspace though, even if they are technically the same thing if you're using docker/k8s/whatever

Yup. Ok. So you can add params to the URL? Let me try that and get back to you. Oh boy. That would be the key. 🙂

devs can still modify them afterward though, I'm not aware if you can have the workspace create itself

nor do I know if you can prefill the name

Do they translate to env vars? Or something else?

well, no, basically

URL's ``param.whatever`` -> terraform ``var.whatever``

Yeah, I don't care if the dev can change it. It will be cryptic for them, so they can't mess with it.

then you can have them translate to env variables, using the ``env`` directive in ``coder_agent`` as shown here

the ``var.`` logic in the template will be ditched in a bit, when rich parameters air, but the ``param.`` in url will stay the same.
https://github.com/coder/coder/issues/5574

Somehow I get the feeling I'm thinking in a totally different context than what the devs of coder are thinking. But, that's ok. My scenario/ use case is special. 🙂 And, it seems Coder is still flexible enough to allow for it, which is cool. 👍🏻 Let me investigate and experiment with the params. They seem to be the capability to allow dynamic workspace generation I'm looking for. Thanks for the help <@363022107753578496> <@989819749129138177>

clearly, Coder is intended as a dev-end product, where you make template for the devs and they pick their settings

it's cool you can manage to use it in your scenario

also, if the parameters don't suit your use-case 100%, you might be able to write a custom back-end that makes requests to coder, you can create workspaces for any users using an admin account

<@363022107753578496> - A custom back-end is also a goal and why I think the params will do great. 🙂

Just a quick report. I now have my own (NodeJS) container running as a coder agent/ workspace. Getting that done was relatively easy. Coder is awesome. 🙂 Next step is to experiment with the url params as we discussed here, to see if I can "pull in" the needed code into the container and have it ready and waiting for the dev. After that, I need to see how far I can take the template in terms of orchestrating the resources within the cluster to set the dev up for the platform functionality. 🙂 This is so much fun! 😄

Ok. My initial elation has come to a screeching halt. 🙂 As it seems, I'll need to use the API to generate the workspaces. My initial idea with params was actually silly for what I want to do. So, I'll move to another thread on a question I have for the API.

Next update. First workspace created and running over the API. Yeah, buddy! 😄

cool stuff, might be cool if coder had an oauth provider, that way you could create workspaces using the OAuth token, or atleast know which user you have to create the workspace for

<@206225075026788353> <@287461413675335690> thoughts?

Theoretically, as I understand the API and from what Kyle explained to me a few days ago, I can just request a token for the specific user. I'll know who the user is and will have the corresponding Coder userId. I can then create a token via the API and use it for generating the "go coding" button to open VSCode. This is the API endpoint I mean. https://coder.com/docs/v2/latest/api/users#create-token-api-key

I'm hoping that is the same token used here: https://github.com/coder/coder/blob/dad242a788898398a7826f24fdd23e2a137df26f/site/src/components/VSCodeDesktopButton/VSCodeDesktopButton.tsx#L24-L36

well yeah, but how do you know that the user visiting the page is really who they say they are ?

The page will be external to coder, not coder's UI/ app. 🙂

I'll be using the coder server as a service and running the dev process a bit differently than how coder does it. Coder's UI is "too much" for my purposes. Way too much. 🙂

Actually, pressing the (new) button to open VSCode calls directly for a new token/ key. That is the key passed into the VSCode URI for access to the workspace. I can call that same /key API endpoint with a userId. Nice. 🙂

well yeah but how do you know which coder user to give the workspace to

or are you using coder as the back-end, and your developers don't ever touch the coder UI ?

Exactly. What we are attempting to build is a very opinionated platform. The "dev instances" will be specific to each developer or group of developers and they can work on the code in their associated workspace. The workspace itself will be "connected" internally to all the other services needed to run the application being developed. So, the devs will be developing inside the platform itself.

We are a long ways off, but Coder is making a good part of it possible. 🙂

you may get the repo URL as a terraform variable and then clone it in `startup_script`

<@989819749129138177> - Yeah. That was a contemplation of mine too. However, I'm not totally aware of how to set the variable at the time of running the template.

https://registry.terraform.io/providers/coder/coder/latest/docs/resources/app

does code-server have a concept of "disable-hardware-acceleration" or would that be delegated to the users browser

It'll certainly improve performance when using hardware acceleration in code-server though. Specifically on canvas-rendered objects, like the terminal.

We have a bit of lag on the terminal and one of our devs said that he found a SO post about disabling HA to speed it up. Given that we're running on bare metal kube there could be plenty of other stuff causing it so just want to check before doing the kube debug

Ahh, interesting. It'll likely use the DOM renderer when hardware acceleration is disabled, so it'll be faster for low-throughput sessions.

I'll update here if there are any noteworthy findings but I'd suspect this just solves itself or is a issue with the underlying kube deployment. Bare metal kube is a pain in the butt

Is anyone using https://backstage.io/ with Coder?

I'm developing a Backstage PoC for our department with our coder PoC at the moment 😉

Ahhh that is interesting. I'm curious to know what is the main use case it would solve for you.

Source code discovery, Documentation management, Test status tracking - these are the first goals

Hm... not sure if I got it, srry I never had to use something like Backstage before.

How Coder could integrate with source code discovery, documentation management and test status?

Ah, sorry, I understand that you asked what usecase we try to solve with backstage. 

For the Backstage development, Coder provides a defined workspace with enough resources to develop and run auxiliary services (postgres, elasticsearch, ...) for testing. This helped massively getting a intern up to speed who wants to implement some features in this context. And its my dogfooding of the coder-PoC 😉

<@996696516389503017> would it be possible for us to get a demo of your use-case of Coder in Backstage? We've gotten quite a few requests for an integration, and aren't exactly sure what it'd look like.

I havent rreally integrated anything, I'm just developing backstage as any old react application with a coder workspace

But I can Image that integration might be possible and actually helpful.

Backstage has the "Software Catalog" which is basically an inventory of your Software components (Services, Libraries, APIs, Websites, Components, ...) and provides  connections between them (dependencies) as well as integrations with auxilliary systems (repositories, documentation, ticket systems, ...)

I can imgaine that it would be helpful to have components with a  repository also annotated with a coder template which will then render as a "open in coder" button directly in the backstage UI if you explore the landscape.

Or it has the scaffolder - which is like a templating mechanism for new projects. I can imaginge an integration where at the end of the scaffolding process you get dropped into a coder workspace to write your code. So basically let backstage handle the lifecycle of your service and let coder be part of it for frictionless development.

Interactions with the software catalog are described here: https://backstage.io/docs/plugins/integrating-plugin-into-software-catalog#import-your-plugin-and-embed-in-the-entities-page

Maybe its also an option to upstream some well-known annotations for entities: https://backstage.io/docs/features/software-catalog/well-known-annotations#annotations

Extending the scaffolder is somehow explained here: https://backstage.io/docs/features/software-templates/writing-custom-actions

I'm asking, because there is a create workspaces POST end-point, but it needs an organization Id and I'm not seeing where that would be available.

Ok. Nevermind. I found it with GET /users

Hi can someone tell me why my page is redirecting to about:blank
very confused

also if this is programming related and not related to the Coder.com product then