mirror of
https://github.com/coder/coder.git
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Nick Vigilante
61e52532c0
## Problem
Generated reference docs (`docs/reference/cli/*`,
`docs/reference/api/*`) contained raw placeholder and JSON syntax that
came straight from Go CLI help strings and swagger annotations. HTML
renderers treat the angle-bracket tokens (`<team-slug>`, `<uuid>`,
`<KEY>`, etc.) as unknown tags and drop them, so readers see
broken/half-missing text today. The same strings also break MDX parsing.
## Fix
Wrap the placeholder/JSON syntax in backticks **at the source** (Go help
strings and swagger annotation comments), then `make gen`. Rendered docs
now show the placeholders as inline code instead of dropping them.
### Source changes
| File | Placeholder wrapped | Surfaces in |
|------|--------------------|-------------|
| `codersdk/deployment.go` | `` `<organization-name>/<team-slug>` `` |
`cli/server.md`, `coder --help`, settings UI |
| `codersdk/deployment.go` | `` `CODER_AI_GATEWAY_PROVIDER_<N>_*` ``, ``
`CODER_AI_GATEWAY_PROVIDER_<N>_<KEY>` `` | `api/schemas.md` |
| `cli/tokens.go` | `` `<type>:<uuid>` `` | `cli/tokens_create.md`,
`coder --help` |
| `coderd/aitasks.go` | `` `owner:<…>` ``, `` `organization:<…>` ``, ``
`status:<status>` `` | `api/tasks.md` |
| `coderd/exp_chats.go` | `` `pr_status:<…>` `` and sibling filter
tokens | `api/chats.md` |
| `coderd/provisionerdaemons.go`, `coderd/provisionerjobs.go` | ``
`{'tag1':'value1','tag2':'value2'}` `` | `api/organizations.md`,
`api/provisioning.md` |
Everything else in the diff (`coderd/apidoc/*`, `docs/reference/**`,
`*.golden`, `site/src/api/typesGenerated.ts`) is `make gen` output.
## Reviewer notes (the "considered pass" from the ticket)
- **Product-visible:** this changes `coder server --help` and `coder
tokens create --help` output, and the `server-config.yaml` reference
comment. Backticks in terminal help are literal but read fine as
placeholder markers.
- **Settings UI:** the `deployment.go` `Description` also renders in the
deployment settings page. If that field is not Markdown-rendered,
literal backticks will show there. Happy to drop the `deployment.go`
change if you'd rather keep the UI text clean and fix `server.md`
another way.
- **Out of scope here:** `docs/reference/cli/agent-firewall.md`
(`<host>`/`<glob>`) is generated from the external
`github.com/coder/boundary` module, not this repo. It needs an upstream
fix + module bump; not included in this PR.
<details>
<summary>Implementation notes / decision log</summary>
- Scope taken from DOCS-551: source-level backtick pass for generated
reference docs only. Hand-written Markdown fixes are tracked separately
(companion ticket).
- Swagger `@Param` descriptions are Go comments, so the existing `\|`
pipe-escaping in the chats `q` filter is preserved inside the new
backticks (still required for the Markdown table cell to render `|`).
- Verified after `make gen`: generated docs render placeholders as code
spans, table pipes intact; `gofmt` clean; changed Go packages build; no
emdash/endash introduced.
- Deliberately left the `AIProviderConfig` type-level doc comment
untouched because it does not surface in any generated doc (kept the
diff to doc-feeding comments).
</details>
Linear: DOCS-551
---
_Opened by Coder Agents on behalf of @nickvigilante._
---
## Evidence: placeholders dropped on the live docs site
Verified **2026-07-14** against the live site (`coder.com/docs`, i.e.
`main`, pre-merge) by loading each affected page in headless Chrome and
reading the post-hydration DOM (confirmed identical in the raw page
payload). Each simple `<token>` placeholder is parsed as an **empty
custom HTML element**, so the browser renders nothing for it and the
placeholder text disappears from the page.
### What readers see today (before this PR)
| Page (live) | Source Markdown | Rendered on the live site |
|-------------|-----------------|---------------------------|
| [`cli/server`](https://coder.com/docs/reference/cli/server) — OAuth2
GitHub Allowed Teams | `Structured as: <organization-name>/<team-slug>.`
| `Structured as: /.` |
|
[`cli/tokens_create`](https://coder.com/docs/reference/cli/tokens_create)
— `--allow` | `Repeatable allow-list entry (<type>:<uuid>, e.g.
workspace:1234-...).` | `Repeatable allow-list entry (:, e.g.
workspace:1234-...).` |
| [`api/tasks`](https://coder.com/docs/reference/api/tasks) — `q` | `...
status:<status>` | `... status:` (nothing after the colon) |
| [`api/schemas`](https://coder.com/docs/reference/api/schemas) —
AIBridgeConfig (`anthropic`/`bedrock`/`openai`) |
`CODER_AI_GATEWAY_PROVIDER_<N>_*` | `CODER_AI_GATEWAY_PROVIDER__*` |
| [`api/schemas`](https://coder.com/docs/reference/api/schemas) —
AIBridgeConfig (`providers`) | `CODER_AI_GATEWAY_PROVIDER_<N>_<KEY>` |
`CODER_AI_GATEWAY_PROVIDER__` |
[`api/chats`](https://coder.com/docs/reference/api/chats) (`q`) drops
five tokens the same way — `title:<substring>`, `diff_url:<url>`,
`pr:<number>`, `pr_title:<text>`, and the trailing `title:<value>`. The
live parameter description reads (note the dangling `title:`,
`diff_url:`, `pr:`, `pr_title:`):
```text
Search query. Supports title: (case-insensitive, quote multi-word values), archived:bool, has_unread:bool, pr_status:<draft|open|merged|closed> as repeated or comma-separated values, source:<created_by_me|shared_with_me>, diff_url: (quote values containing colons), pr: (exact PR number match), repo:<owner/repo> (case-insensitive substring match against git remote origin or URL), pr_title: (case-insensitive PR title substring). Bare terms are not supported; use title: for title filtering.
```
<details>
<summary>Raw rendered DOM from the live site (headless Chrome,
post-hydration)</summary>
```html
<!-- reference/cli/server -->
Structured as: <organization-name>/<team-slug>.</team-slug></organization-name>
<!-- reference/cli/tokens_create -->
Repeatable allow-list entry (<type>:<uuid>, e.g. workspace:1234-...).</uuid></type>
<!-- reference/api/tasks : only status:<status> drops; the /-containing tokens are escaped and survive -->
Search query for filtering tasks. Supports: owner:<username/uuid/me>, organization:<org-name/uuid>, status:<status></status>
<!-- reference/api/schemas : anthropic / bedrock / openai rows -->
Deprecated: Use Providers with indexed CODER_AI_GATEWAY_PROVIDER_<n>_* env vars instead.</n>
<!-- reference/api/schemas : providers row -->
Providers holds provider instances populated from CODER_AI_GATEWAY_PROVIDER_<n>_<key> env vars and/or the deprecated LegacyOpenAI/LegacyAnthropic/LegacyBedrock fields above.</key></n>
```
The parser auto-inserts closing tags
(`</team-slug></organization-name>`) and lowercases the tag name (`<N>`
becomes `<n>`), leaving `__` where `<N>_` used to be. Every wrapped
placeholder renders correctly as inline code on the [docs preview for
this
branch](https://coder.com/docs/@vigilante%2Fdocs-551-backtick-placeholder-syntax-in-generated-reference-docs-cli/reference/cli/server).
</details>
### Accuracy note — cases that do *not* drop on live
These render fine today, so they are **not** evidence of dropping (the
PR still wraps them for consistency / MDX-safety):
-
[`api/organizations`](https://coder.com/docs/reference/api/organizations)
and
[`api/provisioning`](https://coder.com/docs/reference/api/provisioning):
`{'tag1':'value1','tag2':'value2'}` renders verbatim — curly braces are
not an HTML tag.
- Tokens containing `/` or `|` are escaped by the renderer and stay
visible (as literal `<...>`): `<username/uuid/me>`, `<org-name/uuid>`,
`<owner/repo>`, `<draft|open|merged|closed>`,
`<created_by_me|shared_with_me>`. Backticks still improve their
readability, but they were never dropped.
Coder is a self-hosted platform for cloud development environments and AI coding agents. Workspaces are defined with Terraform, connected through a secure Wireguard® tunnel, and automatically shut down when not used. Coder Agents runs a native AI coding agent whose loop executes in the control plane on your infrastructure, with no API keys in workspaces.
- Define cloud development environments in Terraform
- EC2 VMs, Kubernetes Pods, Docker Containers, etc.
- Automatically shutdown idle resources to save on costs
- Onboard developers in seconds instead of days
- Delegate coding work to AI agents on your infrastructure
- Bring any model (Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, Bedrock, self-hosted)
- No LLM credentials in workspaces, user identity on every action
- Centralized model governance, cost tracking, and audit logging
Quickstart
The most convenient way to try Coder is to install it on your local machine and experiment with provisioning cloud development environments using Docker (works on Linux, macOS, and Windows).
# First, install Coder
curl -L https://coder.com/install.sh | sh
# Start the Coder server (caches data in ~/.cache/coder)
coder server
# Navigate to http://localhost:3000 to create your initial user,
# create a Docker template and provision a workspace
Install
The easiest way to install Coder is to use the
install script for Linux
and macOS. For Windows, use the latest ..._installer.exe file from GitHub
Releases.
curl -L https://coder.com/install.sh | sh
You can run the install script with --dry-run to see the commands that will be used to install without executing them. Run the install script with --help for additional flags.
See install for additional methods.
Once installed, you can start a production deployment with a single command:
# Automatically sets up an external access URL on *.try.coder.app
coder server
# Requires a PostgreSQL instance (version 13 or higher) and external access URL
coder server --postgres-url <url> --access-url <url>
Use coder --help to get a list of flags and environment variables. See the install guides for a complete tutorial.
Documentation
Browse the documentation or visit a specific section below:
- Workspaces: Workspaces contain the IDEs, dependencies, and configuration information needed for software development
- Templates: Templates are written in Terraform and describe the infrastructure for workspaces
- Coder Agents: Delegate coding work to AI agents running on your self-hosted infrastructure
- Administration: Learn how to operate Coder
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- IDEs: Connect your existing editor to a workspace
Support
Feel free to open an issue if you have questions, run into bugs, or have a feature request.
Join our Discord to provide feedback on in-progress features and chat with the community using Coder!
Integrations
New integrations are always in progress. Open an issue to request one. Contributions are welcome in any official or community repository.
Official
- Coder Registry: Templates, modules, and integrations for common development environments
- VS Code Extension: Open any Coder workspace in VS Code with a single click
- JetBrains Toolbox Plugin: Open any Coder workspace from JetBrains Toolbox with a single click
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- Dev Containers: Build development environments using
devcontainer.jsonon Docker, Kubernetes, and OpenShift - Kubernetes Log Stream: Stream Kubernetes Pod events to the Coder startup logs
- Self-Hosted VS Code Extension Marketplace: A private extension marketplace that works in restricted or airgapped networks integrating with code-server.
- GitHub Actions: An action to set up the Coder CLI in GitHub workflows
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- Community Templates: Community-contributed workspace templates in the Coder Registry
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New contributors are always welcome. If you are new to the Coder codebase, see the contribution guide to get started.
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