coder/docs/reference/cli/index.md at 97cb722fb87faa513bc3372eda24799b8dbaef41

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Nick Vigilante 0a7bb80a1e feat: make CLI/API doc generators emit front-matter metadata (Phase 2) (#27246 )

## Summary

Phase 2 of the H1 → front-matter migration (`DOCS-483`; parent
`DOCS-477`). Makes the two reference-doc generators emit per-page
metadata as YAML front matter instead of a leading `# H1`, so generated
pages are self-describing and `make gen` stops reverting migrated pages
(Phase 3).

Phase 1 (`DOCS-482`) made the coder.com renderers prefer a front-matter
`title` (manifest fallback).

> [!NOTE]
> Rebased onto `main` and fully regenerated, and updated across two
rounds of Coder Agents Review — see **Review follow-ups** below.

## Changes

- **`scripts/clidocgen/command.tpl` + `gen.go` + `main.go`** — front
matter now carries `title` (from `fullName`) and `description` (from the
command's `Short`), and the leading `# H1` is dropped. The CLI index
page's front matter is taken from the manifest `Command Line` route
(title/description/icon_path).
- **`scripts/apidocgen/postprocess/main.go`** — reads the manifest and,
at write time, injects front matter carrying each section's `title` plus
any curated `description`, `state`, and `icon_path`. The API index
page's front matter is taken from the manifest `REST API` route.
- **`scripts/docgenenv`** (new shared code) — one `YAMLScalar`
front-matter escaper, one `Route`/`Manifest` schema +
`LoadManifest`/`FindRoute`, and one `FrontMatter(Route)` emitter, all
imported by both generators (no duplicated helpers, types, or emitters).
- Regenerated all **166 CLI + 31 API** reference pages.

### Metadata → front matter, and what stays in the manifest

Every *per-page* manifest field is mirrored into the page's front
matter: `title`, `description`, `state`, `icon_path`. The **structural**
fields stay in `manifest.json`:

- `children` — the nav tree (explicitly out of scope).
- `path` — the manifest's pointer to the file; a page carrying its own
path is redundant/error-prone, so it's treated like `children`.

The fields are **duplicated** into front matter and **`manifest.json` is
left unchanged**, so this is a **no-op for rendering today** (coder.com
strips front matter for `llms`, and Algolia + the renderer read only
`title`). Removing the fields from the manifest is the natural
follow-up, gated on the renderer reading them from front matter first.

### Why the API side changes the postprocessor, not the `.dot` templates

The issue text suggested editing
`scripts/apidocgen/markdown-template/*`. I deliberately did **not**,
because the postprocessor derives each page's **filename, section title,
and manifest route** from the leading `# {name}` line
(`extractSectionName`). Emitting front matter from the template would
break that extraction. Instead the widdershins templates still emit `#
{name}`, the postprocessor reads it (and now verifies it), and then
swaps the heading for a front-matter block as each section is written.

## Review follow-ups (Coder Agents Review)

### Round 1 — addressed in `e53d5e03` (all threads resolved)

- **CRF-1 / CRF-4** — de-duplicated the escaper and the
`route`/`manifest` schema + traversal into `scripts/docgenenv` (shared
by both generators).
- **CRF-2** — `YAMLScalar` now quotes YAML-reserved scalars
(`true/false/null/…`, numbers); no current value is affected.
- **CRF-3** — added unit tests: a `YAMLScalar` round-trip, `FindRoute`,
and `prependFrontMatter`.
- **CRF-5** — the CLI and API **index** pages now mirror their manifest
route's title/description/icon_path instead of a hardcoded
`coder`/`API`, fixing a rendered-heading regression (`REST API`/`Command
Line` were being overwritten).
- **CRF-6** — dropped the dead `#login` anchor in
`docs/support/support-bundle.md` (the migrated `login.md` no longer
mints that heading anchor).
- **CRF-7 / CRF-8 / CRF-11** — renamed to `prependFrontMatter`, switched
to `bytes.Cut`, and it now strips the first line only when it is the `#
{name}` heading (`extractSectionName` errors otherwise).
- **CRF-9** — removed the orphan `docs/reference/api/chat.md` (not in
the manifest, not linked; the real page is `chats.md`).
- **CRF-10** — the metadata read and the manifest rewrite now share one
`FindRoute` traversal.
- **CRF-13** — moot under squash-merge; this branch is a single
scopeless commit.
- **CRF-15** — the pre-existing `sort.Slice`/`slices.IsSorted`
comparator is left as-is per the review (out of scope; safe today
because section names are unique).

### Round 2 — addressed in `ee796e7107` (all threads resolved)

- **CRF-16** (P1) — removed three em-dashes from new doc comments (the
only `make lint` failure on the prior head); the emdash gate is green.
- **CRF-17 / CRF-18** — unified front-matter emission into one shared
`docgenenv.FrontMatter(Route)`, used by the API postprocessor directly
and by `command.tpl` via a `frontMatter` template func. This retires the
hand-written template YAML and the
`indexTitle`/`indexDescription`/`indexIconPath` closures, so a new
front-matter field is wired in one place, and it gives the CLI index the
`state` arm it previously lacked. Verified byte-identical: a full CLI +
API regen produces zero page changes.
- **CRF-19** — CLI child sort switched to `slices.SortFunc` +
`cmp.Compare` (typed comparator).
- **CRF-20** — reworded the `prependFrontMatter` comment:
`extractSectionName`'s fail-fast is the load-bearing guard; the prefix
check is a defensive backstop.
- **CRF-21** — added `icon_path`/`state` coverage in `docgenenv`'s
`TestFrontMatter/AllFields` (the branch the index page relies on,
previously at 0%).
- **CRF-22** — `YAMLScalar` no longer emits a trailing-space value as a
bare scalar (YAML strips it on read, so it would not round-trip); added
test coverage.
- **CRF-24** — the shared emitter removed the duplicated `cliIndexRoute`
doc comment; the rationale now lives in one place.
- **CRF-23** (Phase 3, out of scope here) — noted: the API generator
wipes and regenerates `reference/api/` from the manifest, so removing
curated metadata from the manifest in Phase 3 needs another source first
(a generator that preserves existing front matter, or metadata carried
alongside the swagger annotations).
- **Process (Mafu-san)** — the verification set below now leads with
`make lint`, the mandatory CI gate that the earlier list omitted.

## Cross-repo dependency

**Resolved — this PR no longer has a hard merge-ordering gate** (CRF-14
was right; the earlier "must merge after #968" note was stale).

The coder.com surfaces that would otherwise leak raw front matter from
`coder/coder` `main` are already front-matter-aware on merged PRs:

- **coder.com#964** (`DOCS-554`, llms-full.txt corpus + Algolia) —
**merged**.
- **coder.com#974** (`DOCS-574`, the `.md` proxy twin + `llms.txt` index
titles) — **merged**.

coder.com#968 (`DOCS-577`) was re-scoped to only the renderer
route-metadata generalization; it's a no-op on today's corpus and its
own description confirms the "deploy before the generators" constraint
no longer applies (that was driven by the llms corpus, now in #964).
Worth a final confirmation that #964/#974 are **deployed** before merge,
but there's no branch/PR ordering blocker left.

## Verification & evidence

AI was the primary author of this PR (see disclosure below); per the [AI
Contribution
Guidelines](https://coder.com/docs/about/contributing/AI_CONTRIBUTING)
here is manual verification.

- `make lint` (golangci-lint + the emdash gate) passes; `go build` / `go
vet` / `go test` are clean for the generators + `scripts/docgenenv`;
`pnpm check-docs` passes.
- `swagger.json`, `docs.go`, and `manifest.json` are **unchanged** —
metadata is duplicated into front matter; command/section names and
routes did not move.
- The diff is purely additive front matter
(`title`/`description`/`state`/`icon_path`) + the leading H1 removal; no
body reflow. A full CLI + API regen produces **zero** page changes
beyond the two index pages.

<details>
<summary>Terminal evidence</summary>

CLI `description` from the command's `Short` (`YAMLScalar` quotes when
needed, e.g. a `Short` with a colon):

```md
---
title: server
description: Start a Coder server
---
```

API pages inherit curated manifest metadata (only Agents/Chats have any
today):

```md
---
title: Chats
description: "REST endpoints for Coder Agents Chats API (programmatic agent sessions)."
state:
  - early access
---
```

Diff scope + "no body changes" proof (uses an explicit `base..HEAD`
range, so it actually tests the claim):

```
$ git diff --shortstat origin/main
 210 files changed, 1447 insertions(+), 344 deletions(-)
# = 166 CLI + 31 API reference pages + generators + scripts/docgenenv
# swagger.json / docs.go / manifest.json: NOT modified

# Every removed line under docs/reference is a leading "# H1"; nothing else:
$ git diff origin/main..HEAD -- docs/reference/ | grep '^-' | grep -v '^---' | grep -v '^-# '
(empty)

$ pnpm check-docs
Summary: 0 error(s)
```

</details>

Linear: DOCS-483

> This PR was created with AI assistance (Coder Agents).

2026-08-11 15:22:55 +00:00

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title, description, icon_path

title	description	icon_path
Command Line	Reference for the Coder command-line interface, with usage and flags for every command.	./images/icons/terminal.svg

Usage

coder [global-flags] <subcommand>

Description

Coder — A tool for provisioning self-hosted development environments with Terraform.
  - Start a Coder server:

     $ coder server

  - Get started by creating a template from an example:

     $ coder templates init

Subcommands

Name	Purpose
`completion`	Install or update shell completion scripts for the detected or chosen shell.
`dotfiles`	Personalize your workspace by applying a canonical dotfiles repository
`external-auth`	Manage external authentication
`login`	Authenticate with Coder deployment
`logout`	Unauthenticate your local session
`netcheck`	Print network debug information for DERP and STUN
`notifications`	Manage Coder notifications
`oauth2-provider`	Manage Coder OAuth2 provider settings
`organizations`	Organization related commands
`port-forward`	Forward ports from a workspace to the local machine. For reverse port forwarding, use "coder ssh -R".
`publickey`	Output your Coder public key used for Git operations
`reset-password`	Directly connect to the database to reset a user's password
`secret`	Manage secrets
`state`	Manually manage Terraform state to fix broken workspaces
`task`	Manage tasks
`templates`	Manage templates
`tokens`	Manage personal access tokens
`users`	Manage users
`version`	Show coder version
`autoupdate`	Toggle auto-update policy for a workspace
`config-ssh`	Add an SSH Host entry for your workspaces "ssh workspace.coder"
`create`	Create a workspace
`delete`	Delete a workspace
`favorite`	Add a workspace to your favorites
`list`	List workspaces
`logs`	View logs for a workspace
`open`	Open a workspace
`ping`	Ping a workspace
`rename`	Rename a workspace
`restart`	Restart a workspace
`schedule`	Schedule automated start and stop times for workspaces
`show`	Display details of a workspace's resources and agents
`speedtest`	Run upload and download tests from your machine to a workspace
`ssh`	Start a shell into a workspace or run a command
`start`	Start a workspace
`stat`	Show resource usage for the current workspace.
`stop`	Stop a workspace
`unfavorite`	Remove a workspace from your favorites
`update`	Will update and start a given workspace if it is out of date. If the workspace is already running, it will be stopped first.
`whoami`	Fetch authenticated user info for Coder deployment
`support`	Commands for troubleshooting issues with a Coder deployment.
`server`	Start a Coder server
`provisioner`	View and manage provisioner daemons and jobs
`ai-gateway`	Manage AI Gateway
`agent-firewall`	Network isolation tool for monitoring and restricting HTTP/HTTPS requests
`features`	List Enterprise features
`licenses`	Add, delete, and list licenses
`groups`	Manage groups
`prebuilds`	Manage Coder prebuilds
`external-workspaces`	Create or manage external workspaces

Options

--url


Type	`url`
Environment	`$CODER_URL`

URL to a deployment.

--debug-options


Type	`bool`

Print all options, how they're set, then exit.

--token


Type	`string`
Environment	`$CODER_SESSION_TOKEN`

Specify an authentication token. For security reasons setting CODER_SESSION_TOKEN is preferred.

--no-version-warning


Type	`bool`
Environment	`$CODER_NO_VERSION_WARNING`

Suppress warning when client and server versions do not match.

--no-feature-warning


Type	`bool`
Environment	`$CODER_NO_FEATURE_WARNING`

Suppress warnings about unlicensed features.

--header


Type	`string-array`
Environment	`$CODER_HEADER`

Additional HTTP headers added to all requests. Provide as key=value. Can be specified multiple times.

--header-command


Type	`string`
Environment	`$CODER_HEADER_COMMAND`

An external command that outputs additional HTTP headers added to all requests. The command must output each header as key=value on its own line.

--force-tty


Type	`bool`
Environment	`$CODER_FORCE_TTY`

Force the use of a TTY.

-v, --verbose


Type	`bool`
Environment	`$CODER_VERBOSE`

Enable verbose output.

--disable-direct-connections


Type	`bool`
Environment	`$CODER_DISABLE_DIRECT_CONNECTIONS`

Disable direct (P2P) connections to workspaces.

--disable-network-telemetry


Type	`bool`
Environment	`$CODER_DISABLE_NETWORK_TELEMETRY`

Disable network telemetry. Network telemetry is collected when connecting to workspaces using the CLI, and is forwarded to the server. If telemetry is also enabled on the server, it may be sent to Coder. Network telemetry is used to measure network quality and detect regressions.

--client-tls-ca-file


Type	`string`
Environment	`$CODER_CLIENT_TLS_CA_FILE`

Path to a CA certificate file to trust for API and DERP connections.

--client-tls-cert-file


Type	`string`
Environment	`$CODER_CLIENT_TLS_CERT_FILE`

Path to a client certificate file for mTLS authentication with API and DERP. Requires --client-tls-key-file.

--client-tls-key-file


Type	`string`
Environment	`$CODER_CLIENT_TLS_KEY_FILE`

Path to a client private key file for mTLS authentication with API and DERP. Requires --client-tls-cert-file.

--use-keyring


Type	`bool`
Environment	`$CODER_USE_KEYRING`
Default	`true`

Store and retrieve session tokens using the operating system keyring. This flag is ignored and file-based storage is used when --global-config is set or keyring usage is not supported on the current platform. Set to false to force file-based storage on supported platforms.

--global-config


Type	`string`
Environment	`$CODER_CONFIG_DIR`
Default	`~/.config/coderv2`

Path to the global coder config directory.

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