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.
About
Coder is a self-hosted platform for running AI coding agents and cloud development environments on infrastructure you control. It works with any cloud, IDE, OS, Git provider, and IDP.
Coder Workspaces
Coder Workspaces are cloud development environments defined with Terraform, connected through a secure Wireguard tunnel, and automatically shut down when not in use. Agents and developers share the same workspace infrastructure.
- Defined in Terraform: Templates describe the infrastructure for each workspace, from EC2 VMs and Kubernetes Pods to Docker containers.
- Any architecture and OS: Support ARM and x86-64 across Windows, Linux, and macOS from a single deployment.
- Managed by admins: Platform teams create and maintain templates that enforce approved images, resource limits, and security policies.
- Accessed from any IDE: Connect through VS Code, JetBrains, Cursor, a web terminal, remote desktop, or SSH.
- Automatic shutdown: Idle workspaces stop automatically to reduce cloud spend, and restart in seconds when needed.
Coder Agents
Coder Agents is a native AI coding agent built into Coder. The agent loop runs in the Coder control plane on your infrastructure, not in the workspace and not in a vendor's cloud. Developers interact with agents through the web UI or the REST API for programmatic and CI-driven workflows.
- Self-hosted agent loop: The control plane handles planning, model calls, and tool dispatch. Workspaces have zero AI awareness.
- No API keys in workspaces: LLM credentials stay in the control plane.
- Any model: Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, Bedrock, or self-hosted endpoints. Switching is a configuration change.
- Governance and cost controls: Centralized model approval, per-user spend limits, and audit logging.
- Open source and inspectable: The full platform is available to audit and extend.
IDE support
You can use:
-
Any Web IDE, such as
- code-server
- JetBrains Projector
- Jupyter
- And others
-
Your existing remote development environment:
-
A file sync such as Mutagen
Why remote development
Provisioning consistent development environments for a large engineering team is difficult. Each developer has preferences for operating systems, editors, and toolchains, and ensuring a reliable build environment across all of them is a maintenance burden. A missed step during onboarding or an unsupported local configuration can cost hours of debugging.
Remote development solves this by moving the environment off the developer's machine and into managed infrastructure. The developer's laptop becomes a portal into the actual compute where work happens. If a device is lost or replaced, access is simply revoked; no source code or credentials are stored locally.
This approach provides:
- Speed: Server-grade hardware accelerates builds, tests, and large workloads without requiring expensive local machines.
- Consistency: Infrastructure tools such as Terraform, nix, Docker, and Dev Containers produce identical environments for every developer.
- Security: Source code stays on private servers. Users and groups are managed through SSO and RBAC.
- Compatibility: Workspaces share infrastructure configurations with staging and production, reducing configuration drift.
- Accessibility: Browser-based IDEs and remote IDE extensions let developers work from any device, including lightweight laptops, Chromebooks, and tablets.
Read more on the Coder blog, the Slack engineering blog, or from Alex Ellis at OpenFaaS.
Why Coder
The key difference between Coder and other platforms is that the entire system, agent loop, control plane, model routing, and workspace provisioning, runs on infrastructure you control.
For agents, this means platform teams can:
- Run the entire agent loop on their infrastructure, with no SaaS dependency for orchestration.
- Define MCP servers, skills, and system prompts centrally so every agent session starts with the same tools, policies, and context.
- Keep LLM credentials out of workspaces entirely.
- Tie every agent action to an authenticated user identity.
- Support air-gapped and restricted-network deployments with self-hosted models.
For workspaces, this means admins can:
- Support any architecture (ARM, x86-64) and operating system (Windows, Linux, macOS).
- Modify pod/container specs, such as adding disks, managing network policies, or setting/updating environment variables.
- Use VM or dedicated workspaces, developing with Kernel features (no container knowledge required).
- Enable persistent workspaces, which are like local machines, but faster and hosted by a cloud service.
Pricing
Coder is free and open source under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0. All developer productivity features are included in the open source version. A Premium license is available for enhanced support and custom deployments.
How Coder works
Coder workspaces are represented with Terraform, but you do not need to know Terraform to get started. The Coder Registry provides production-ready templates for AWS EC2, Azure, Google Cloud, Kubernetes, and other providers.
Providers and compute environments
Workspaces can include more than just compute. Terraform can add storage buckets, secrets, sidecars, and other resources.
See the templates documentation for details.
What Coder is not
-
Coder is not an infrastructure as code (IaC) platform.
- Terraform is the first IaC provisioner in Coder, allowing Coder admins to define Terraform resources as Coder workspaces.
-
Coder is not a DevOps/CI platform.
- Coder workspaces can be configured to follow best practices for cloud-service-based workloads, but Coder is not responsible for how you define or deploy the software you write.
-
Coder is not an online IDE.
- Coder supports common editors, such as VS Code, vim, and JetBrains, all over HTTPS or SSH.
-
Coder is not a collaboration platform.
- You can use Git with your favorite Git platform and dedicated IDE extensions for pull requests, code reviews, and pair programming.
-
Coder is not a SaaS/fully-managed offering.
- Coder is a self-hosted solution. You must host Coder in a private data center or on a cloud service, such as AWS, Azure, or GCP.