{

"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"]

},

Use Coder Desktop to work on your workspaces as though they're on your LAN, no

port-forwarding required.

<div class="tabs">

You can install Coder Desktop on macOS or Windows.

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).

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>

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**:


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**:


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!

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`.


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

```

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.

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">

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.


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.

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.


1. Web apps accessed on the configured hostnames will now function correctly in a secure context without requiring a restart.

</div>