coder · matifali · Mar 4, 2025 · Feb 12, 2025 · Feb 12, 2025 · Feb 12, 2025
diff --git a/docs/images/icons/computer-code.svg b/docs/images/icons/computer-code.svg
diff --git a/docs/images/templates/coder-login-web.png b/docs/images/templates/coder-login-web.png
diff --git a/docs/images/user-guides/desktop/chrome-insecure-origin.png b/docs/images/user-guides/desktop/chrome-insecure-origin.png
diff --git a/docs/images/user-guides/desktop/coder-desktop-pre-sign-in.png b/docs/images/user-guides/desktop/coder-desktop-pre-sign-in.png
diff --git a/docs/images/user-guides/desktop/coder-desktop-session-token.png b/docs/images/user-guides/desktop/coder-desktop-session-token.png
diff --git a/docs/images/user-guides/desktop/coder-desktop-sign-in.png b/docs/images/user-guides/desktop/coder-desktop-sign-in.png
diff --git a/docs/images/user-guides/desktop/coder-desktop-workspaces.png b/docs/images/user-guides/desktop/coder-desktop-workspaces.png
diff --git a/docs/images/user-guides/desktop/firefox-insecure-origin.png b/docs/images/user-guides/desktop/firefox-insecure-origin.png
diff --git a/docs/images/user-guides/desktop/mac-allow-vpn.png b/docs/images/user-guides/desktop/mac-allow-vpn.png
diff --git a/docs/manifest.json b/docs/manifest.json
@@ -163,6 +163,13 @@
 						}
 					]
 				},
+				{
+					"title": "Coder Desktop",
+					"description": "Use Coder Desktop to access your workspace like it's a local machine",
+					"path": "./user-guides/desktop/index.md",
+					"icon_path": "./images/icons/computer-code.svg",
+					"state": ["early access"]
+				},
 				{
 					"title": "Workspace Management",
 					"description": "Manage workspaces",

diff --git a/docs/user-guides/desktop/index.md b/docs/user-guides/desktop/index.md
@@ -0,0 +1,188 @@
+# Coder Desktop (Early Access)
+
+Use Coder Desktop to work on your workspaces as though they're on your LAN, no
+port-forwarding required.
+
+> ⚠️ Note: Coder Desktop requires a Coder deployment running [v2.20.0](https://github.com/coder/coder/releases/tag/v2.20.0) or later.
+
+## Install Coder Desktop
+
+<div class="tabs">
+
+You can install Coder Desktop on macOS or Windows.
+
+### macOS
+
+1. Use [Homebrew](https://brew.sh/) to install Coder Desktop:
+
+   ```shell
+   brew install --cask coder/coder/coder-desktop
+   ```
+
+   Alternatively, you can manually install Coder Desktop from the [releases page](https://github.com/coder/coder-desktop-macos/releases).
+
+1. Open **Coder Desktop** from the Applications directory. When macOS asks if you want to open it, select **Open**.
+
+1. The application is treated as a system VPN. macOS will prompt you to confirm with:
+
+   **"Coder Desktop" would like to use a new network extension**
+
+   Select **Open System Settings**.
+
+1. In the **Network Extensions** system settings, enable the Coder Desktop extension.
+
+1. Continue to the [configuration section](#configure).
+
+### Windows
+
+1. Download the latest `CoderDesktop` installer executable (`.exe`) from the [coder-desktop-windows release page](https://github.com/coder/coder-desktop-windows/releases).
+
+   Choose the architecture that fits your Windows system, `x64` or `arm64`.
+
+1. Open the `.exe` file, acknowledge the license terms and conditions, and select **Install**.
+
+1. If a suitable .NET runtime is not already installed, the installation might prompt you with the **.NET Windows Desktop Runtime** installation.
+
+   In that installation window, select **Install**. Select **Close** when the runtime installation completes.
+
+1. When the Coder Desktop installation completes, select **Close**.
+
+1. Find and open **Coder Desktop** from your Start Menu.
+
+1. Some systems require an additional Windows App Runtime SDK.
+
+   Select **Yes** if you are prompted to install it.
+   This will open your default browser where you can download and install the latest stable release of the Windows App Runtime SDK.
+
+   Reopen Coder Desktop after you install the runtime.
+
+1. Coder Desktop starts minimized in the Windows System Tray.
+
+   You might need to select the **^** in your system tray to show more icons.
+
+1. Continue to the [configuration section](#configure).
+
+</div>
+
+## Configure
+
+Before you can use Coder Desktop, you will need to sign in.
+
+1. Open the Desktop menu and select **Sign in**:
+
+   <Image height="325px" src="../../images/user-guides/desktop/coder-desktop-pre-sign-in.png" alt="Coder Desktop menu before the user signs in" align="center" />
+
+1. In the **Sign In** window, enter your Coder deployment's URL and select **Next**:
+
+   ![Coder Desktop sign in](../../images/user-guides/desktop/coder-desktop-sign-in.png)
+
+1. macOS: Select the link to your deployment's `/cli-auth` page to generate a [session token](../../admin/users/sessions-tokens.md).
+
+   Windows: Select **Generate a token via the Web UI**.
+
+1. In your web browser, you may be prompted to sign in to Coder with your credentials:
+
+   <Image height="412px" src="../../images/templates/coder-login-web.png" alt="Sign in to your Coder deployment" align="center" />
+
+1. Copy the session token to the clipboard:
+
+   <Image height="350px" src="../../images/templates/coder-session-token.png" alt="Copy session token" align="center" />
+
+1. Paste the token in the **Session Token** field of the **Sign In** screen, then select **Sign In**:
+
+   ![Paste the session token in to sign in](../../images/user-guides/desktop/coder-desktop-session-token.png)
+
+1. macOS: Allow the VPN configuration for Coder Desktop if you are prompted.
+
+   <Image height="350px" src="../../images/user-guides/desktop/mac-allow-vpn.png" alt="Copy session token" align="center" />
+
+1. Select the Coder icon in the menu bar (macOS) or system tray (Windows), and click the CoderVPN toggle to start the VPN.
+
+   This may take a few moments, as Coder Desktop will download the necessary components from the Coder server if they have been updated.
+
+1. macOS: You may be prompted to enter your password to allow CoderVPN to start.
+
+1. CoderVPN is now running!
+
+## CoderVPN
+
+While active, CoderVPN will list your owned workspaces and configure your system to be able to connect to them over private IPv6 addresses and custom hostnames ending in `.coder`.
+
+![Coder Desktop list of workspaces](../../images/user-guides/desktop/coder-desktop-workspaces.png)
+
+To copy the `.coder` hostname of a workspace agent, you can click the copy icon beside it.
+
+On macOS you can use `ping6` in your terminal to verify the connection to your workspace:
+
+   ```shell
+   ping6 -c 5 your-workspace.coder
+   ```
+
+On Windows, you can use `ping` in a Command Prompt or PowerShell terminal to verify the connection to your workspace:
+
+   ```shell
+   ping -n 5 your-workspace.coder
+   ```
+
+Any services listening on ports in your workspace will be available on the same hostname. For example, you can access a web server on port `8080` by visiting `http://your-workspace.coder:8080` in your browser.
+
+You can also connect to the SSH server in your workspace using any SSH client, such as OpenSSH or PuTTY:
+
+   ```shell
+   ssh your-workspace.coder
+   ```
+
+> ⚠️ Note: Currently, the Coder IDE extensions for VSCode and JetBrains create their own tunnel and do not utilize the CoderVPN tunnel to connect to workspaces.
+
+## Accessing web apps in a secure browser context
+
+Some web applications require a [secure context](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/Security/Secure_Contexts) to function correctly.
+A browser typically considers an origin secure if the connection is to `localhost`, or over `HTTPS`.
+
+As CoderVPN uses its own hostnames and does not provide TLS to the browser, Google Chrome and Firefox will not allow any web APIs that require a secure context.
+
+> Note: Despite the browser showing an insecure connection without `HTTPS`, the underlying tunnel is encrypted with WireGuard in the same fashion as other Coder workspace connections (e.g. `coder port-forward`).
+
+If you require secure context web APIs, you will need to mark the workspace hostnames as secure in your browser settings.
+
+We are planning some changes to Coder Desktop that will make accessing secure context web apps easier. Stay tuned for updates.
+
+<div class="tabs">
+
+### Chrome
+
+1. Open Chrome and visit `chrome://flags/#unsafely-treat-insecure-origin-as-secure`.
+
+1. Enter the full workspace hostname, including the `http` scheme and the port (e.g. `http://your-workspace.coder:8080`), into the **Insecure origins treated as secure** text field.
+
+   If you need to enter multiple URLs, use a comma to separate them.
+
+   ![Google Chrome insecure origin settings](../../images/user-guides/desktop/chrome-insecure-origin.png)
+
+1. Ensure that the dropdown to the right of the text field is set to **Enabled**.
+
+1. You will be prompted to relaunch Google Chrome at the bottom of the page. Select **Relaunch** to restart Google Chrome.
+
+1. On relaunch and subsequent launches, Google Chrome will show a banner stating "You are using an unsupported command-line flag". This banner can be safely dismissed.
+
+1. Web apps accessed on the configured hostnames and ports will now function correctly in a secure context.
+
+### Firefox
+
+1. Open Firefox and visit `about:config`.
+
+1. Read the warning and select **Accept the Risk and Continue** to access the Firefox configuration page.
+
+1. Enter `dom.securecontext.allowlist` into the search bar at the top.
+
+1. Select **String** on the entry with the same name at the bottom of the list, then select the plus icon on the right.
+
+1. In the text field, enter the full workspace hostname, without the `http` scheme and port (e.g. `your-workspace.coder`), and then select the tick icon.
+
+   If you need to enter multiple URLs, use a comma to separate them.
+
+   ![Firefox insecure origin settings](../../images/user-guides/desktop/firefox-insecure-origin.png)
+
+1. Web apps accessed on the configured hostnames will now function correctly in a secure context without requiring a restart.
+
+</div>