@codepadding/coder

AI-powered dev launcher — one command to launch your entire multi-service project in a browser dashboard.

What it does

• One command launches your entire dev environment in a browser UI
• Auto-discovers sub-projects (Node.js, Python, Go, Rust, Ruby, PHP)
• Manages tmux sessions for each service with live health monitoring
• Git status, error log aggregation, and service restart buttons

Install

npm install -g @codepadding/coder

That's it. The coder command is now available globally.

Requirements

macOS

Install Node.js from nodejs.org, then install the optional tools with Homebrew:

brew install tmux ttyd

Install Coder:

npm install -g @codepadding/coder

Then run it from any project folder:

cd ~/projects/myapp
coder .

Linux (Ubuntu / Debian)

Install Node.js 18+:

curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_20.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt install -y nodejs

Install tmux:

sudo apt install -y tmux

Install ttyd (download the latest binary from github.com/tsl0922/ttyd/releases):

sudo wget -O /usr/local/bin/ttyd https://github.com/tsl0922/ttyd/releases/latest/download/ttyd.x86_64
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/ttyd

Install Coder:

npm install -g @codepadding/coder

Then run it:

cd ~/projects/myapp
coder .

Windows (via WSL)

Coder uses bash and tmux internally, which do not run natively on Windows. The supported approach is WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux), which gives you a full Linux environment inside Windows.

Step 1 — Enable WSL (run once in PowerShell as Administrator):

wsl --install

Restart your PC when prompted. This installs Ubuntu by default.

Step 2 — Open a WSL terminal and install Node.js:

curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_20.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt install -y nodejs

Step 3 — Install tmux and ttyd:

sudo apt install -y tmux
sudo wget -O /usr/local/bin/ttyd https://github.com/tsl0922/ttyd/releases/latest/download/ttyd.x86_64
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/ttyd

Step 4 — Install Coder:

npm install -g @codepadding/coder

Step 5 — Run it from your project folder inside WSL:

cd ~/projects/myapp   # or /mnt/c/Users/you/projects/myapp for Windows paths
coder .

The dashboard opens in your Windows browser automatically at http://localhost:7700.

Running coder directly in PowerShell or CMD (without WSL) is not supported.

Usage

cd /path/to/your/project
coder .          # launch from current directory
coder /abs/path  # launch for a specific path

First run

When you run coder . for the first time in a project, coder will:

1. Open a browser at http://localhost:7700
2. Show an "Initialize" button
3. Scan your project to discover all sub-projects
4. Ask you to review the discovered configuration
5. Start all services in tmux sessions
6. Show the live dashboard

Project storage

Configuration is stored in .coder/config.json within your project root. Add .coder to your .gitignore or commit it to share the config with your team.

How it works

coder starts a lightweight Node.js server that serves the dashboard UI and manages your dev services. Each service runs in its own named tmux session (coder-<name>), so you can also attach to them directly:

tmux attach -t coder-api
tmux attach -t coder-frontend

Pressing Ctrl+C in the terminal where coder is running will cleanly shut down the server, kill all coder-* tmux sessions, and free the port.

Multiple projects at once

You can run coder in several projects simultaneously — each gets its own port automatically. The first project uses 7700, the second 7701, and so on. Ports are stored in .coder/config.json so the same project always reopens on the same URL.

coder ~/projects/frontend   # → http://localhost:7700
coder ~/projects/backend    # → http://localhost:7701