coder/docs/user-guides/desktop/index.md

Coder Desktop

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

Tip

Coder Desktop provides automatic port forwarding to every service running in your workspace. Any port your application listens on is instantly accessible at workspace-name.coder:PORT with no manual setup required. For a comparison of all port forwarding methods, see Workspace Ports.

What You'll Need

• A Coder deployment running v2.20.0 or later
• Administrator privileges on your local machine (for VPN extension installation)
• Access to your Coder deployment URL

Quick Start

1. Install: brew install --cask coder/coder/coder-desktop (macOS) or winget install Coder.CoderDesktop (Windows)
2. Open Coder Desktop and approve any system prompts to complete the installation.
3. Sign in with your deployment URL and session token
4. Enable "Coder Connect" toggle
5. Access workspaces at workspace-name.coder

How It Works

Coder Connect, the primary component of Coder Desktop, creates a secure tunnel to your Coder deployment, allowing you to:

• Access workspaces directly: Connect via workspace-name.coder hostnames
• Automatic port forwarding: All workspace ports are available at workspace-name.coder:PORT with no configuration
• Use any application: SSH clients, browsers, IDEs work seamlessly
• Sync files: Bidirectional sync between local and remote directories
• Work offline: Edit files locally, sync when reconnected

The VPN extension routes only Coder traffic—your other internet activity remains unchanged.

Installation

macOS

Homebrew (Recommended)

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

Manual Installation

1. Download the latest release from coder-desktop-macos releases
2. Run Coder-Desktop.pkg and follow the prompts to install
3. Coder Desktop.app will be installed to your Applications folder

Coder Desktop requires VPN extension permissions:

1. When prompted with "Coder Desktop" would like to use a new network extension, select Open System Settings
2. In Network Extensions settings, enable the Coder Desktop extension
3. You may need to enter your password to authorize the extension

✅ Verify Installation: Coder Desktop should appear in your menu bar

Windows

WinGet (Recommended)

winget install Coder.CoderDesktop

Manual Installation

1. Download the latest CoderDesktop installer (.exe) from coder-desktop-windows releases
2. Choose the correct architecture (x64 or arm64) for your system
3. Run the installer and accept the license terms
4. If prompted, install the .NET Windows Desktop Runtime
5. Install Windows App Runtime SDK if prompted

• .NET Windows Desktop Runtime (installed automatically if not present)
• Windows App Runtime SDK (may require manual installation)

✅ Verify Installation: Coder Desktop should appear in your system tray (you may need to click ^ to show hidden icons)

Testing Your Connection

Once connected, test access to your workspaces:

SSH Connection

ssh your-workspace.coder

Ping Test

# macOS
ping6 -c 3 your-workspace.coder

# Windows
ping -n 3 your-workspace.coder

Web Services

Open http://your-workspace.coder:PORT in your browser, replacing PORT with the specific service port you want to access (e.g. 3000 for frontend, 8080 for API)

Administrator Configuration

Organizations that manage Coder Desktop deployments can configure the application using MDM (Mobile Device Management) or group policy.

Disable Automatic Updates

Administrators can disable the built-in auto-updater to manage updates through their own software distribution system.

macOS

Set the disableUpdater preference to true using the defaults command:

defaults write com.coder.Coder-Desktop disableUpdater -bool true

Organization administrators can also enforce this setting across managed devices using MDM (Mobile Device Management) software by deploying a configuration profile that sets this preference.

Windows

Set the Updater:Enable registry value to 0 under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Coder Desktop\App:

New-Item -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Coder Desktop\App" -Force
New-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Coder Desktop\App" -Name "Updater:Enable" -Value 0 -PropertyType DWord -Force

You can also configure a Updater:ForcedChannel string value to lock users to a specific update channel (e.g. stable).

Note

For security, updater settings can only be configured at the machine level (HKLM), not per-user (HKCU).

Troubleshooting

Connection Issues

Can't connect to workspace

• Verify Coder Connect is enabled (toggle should be ON)
• Check that your deployment URL is correct
• Ensure your session token hasn't expired
• Try disconnecting and reconnecting Coder Connect

VPN extension not working

• Restart Coder Desktop
• Check system permissions for network extensions
• Ensure only one copy of Coder Desktop is installed

Recover from a stale tunnel

If the menu bar or tray shows Coder Connect as enabled but workspaces are unreachable (SSH hangs, workspace.coder fails to resolve, or file sync cannot list the workspace directory), the embedded tunnel may be in a stale state. Restart the helper components first. If that doesn't resolve the issue, reboot your computer.

macOS

Run the following commands in a terminal. These steps leave the app and helper daemon installed. They only restart the running tunnel and flush DNS caches.

1. Stop the Coder VPN configuration:

   vpn_name=$(scutil --nc list | grep "com.coder.Coder-Desktop" | awk -F'"' '{print $2}' | tail -n1)
   if [ -n "$vpn_name" ]; then scutil --nc stop "$vpn_name"; fi
   

2. Quit the Coder Desktop app:

   osascript -e 'tell application id "com.coder.Coder-Desktop" to quit'
   

3. Restart the helper daemon in place:

   sudo launchctl kickstart -k system/com.coder.Coder-Desktop.Helper
   

   Warning

   Do not use launchctl bootout here. bootout removes the daemon from launchd's system domain entirely, and relaunching the app does not re-bootstrap it. Use kickstart -k to restart it in place.

4. Flush DNS caches:

   sudo dscacheutil -flushcache
   sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder
   

5. Confirm the stale tunnel is gone (the command should print nothing):

   scutil --nc list | grep "com.coder.Coder-Desktop"
   

6. Relaunch Coder Desktop from your /Applications folder and toggle Coder Connect back on.

To verify the tunnel is healthy after relaunching, query the built-in sentinel hostname against Coder Desktop's embedded DNS server:

dig @fd60:627a:a42b::53 AAAA is.coder--connect--enabled--right--now.coder +short
dscacheutil -q host -a name is.coder--connect--enabled--right--now.coder

Both commands should return an fd60:627a:a42b::/48 address. If dig returns nothing or dscacheutil reports no entries, Coder Connect is not publishing DNS. Collect logs and file an issue.

Windows

Run the following in an elevated PowerShell session. The service restart clears the embedded DNS state. The NRPT and adapter checks confirm the system routing policy is intact.

1. Stop the app and the VPN service:

   Get-Process -Name "Coder Desktop" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Stop-Process -Force
   Stop-Service -Name "Coder Desktop" -Force
   

2. Flush DNS caches:

   ipconfig /flushdns
   Clear-DnsClientCache
   

3. Start the service again and relaunch the app:

   Start-Service -Name "Coder Desktop"
   Start-Process "C:\Program Files\Coder Desktop\CoderDesktop.exe"
   

4. After re-enabling Coder Connect in the tray, verify the NRPT rule and the Wintun adapter exist:

   Get-DnsClientNrptRule | Where-Object { $_.Namespace -like "*.coder" }
   Get-NetAdapter | Where-Object { $_.InterfaceDescription -like "*Wintun*" }
   

   If either command returns nothing while Coder Connect shows as enabled, the tunnel did not finish coming up. Disable and re-enable the toggle, or repeat the steps above.

Note

ipconfig /flushdns does not reset Coder Desktop's embedded DNS resolver; restarting the service is what clears its internal cache. If you are running a network filtering agent (for example, Zscaler), it may shadow .coder lookups even after the tunnel comes back. Check with your IT team if DNS still fails after a clean restart.

Collect logs

When reporting an issue, attach the relevant log files so we can diagnose it faster.

macOS

Coder Desktop and its network extension write to the Apple unified logging system. The file sync (Mutagen) daemon writes to a separate log file.

1. Export the unified logs for the last hour with the log command:

   log show --predicate 'subsystem BEGINSWITH "com.coder.Coder-Desktop"' \
     --info --debug --last 1h > ~/Desktop/coder-desktop.log
   

   The BEGINSWITH predicate captures the app, the helper daemon, and the network extension, which all log under subsystems prefixed with com.coder.Coder-Desktop. Adjust --last (e.g. 30m, 2h, 1d) to cover the time the issue occurred.

   You can stream the logs live while reproducing an issue:

   log stream --predicate 'subsystem BEGINSWITH "com.coder.Coder-Desktop"' --info --debug
   

   You can also view the same logs interactively in Console.app by filtering on subsystem:com.coder.Coder-Desktop with Info and Debug messages enabled.

2. If you're using file sync, also collect the Mutagen daemon log:

   ~/Library/Application\ Support/Coder\ Desktop/Mutagen/daemon.log
   

   Coder Desktop also opens this file in Console automatically when the file sync daemon fails.

Windows

Coder Desktop has three components that write logs: the app (UI), the VPN service, and the file sync (Mutagen) daemon.

1. App log (daily rolling):

   %LOCALAPPDATA%\CoderDesktop\app.log
   

2. VPN service log (default install path):

   C:\Program Files\Coder Desktop\coder-desktop-service.log
   

3. File sync (Mutagen) daemon log, if you use file sync:

   %LOCALAPPDATA%\CoderDesktop\mutagen\daemon.log
   

You can quickly open the app log directory by pasting %LOCALAPPDATA%\CoderDesktop into File Explorer.

Tip

Before attaching logs to a public issue, review them for any sensitive information (deployment URLs, usernames, hostnames) and redact as needed.

Getting Help

If you encounter issues not covered here:

• File an issue: macOS | Windows | General
• Community support: Discord

Uninstalling

macOS

1. Disable Coder Connect in the app menu
2. Quit Coder Desktop completely
3. Remove VPN extension from System Settings > Network Extensions
4. Delete the app from Applications folder
5. Remove configuration (optional): rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/Coder\ Desktop

Windows

1. Disable Coder Connect in the app menu
2. Quit Coder Desktop from system tray
3. Uninstall via Settings > Apps or Control Panel
4. Remove configuration (optional): Delete %APPDATA%\Coder Desktop

Next Steps

• Using Coder Connect and File Sync
• Compare port forwarding methods