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We recommend that youuse[Nix](https://nix.dev/) package manager to

[maintain dependency versions](https://nixos.org/guides/how-nix-works).

To get started with Coder, the easiest way to set up the required environment is tousethe provided[Nix environment](https://github.com/coder/coder/tree/main/nix).

Learn more[how Nix works](https://nixos.org/guides/how-nix-works).

Alternatively if you do not want to use Nix then you'll need to install the need

the following tools by hand:

- Go 1.18+

- on macOS, run`brew install go`

- Node 14+

- on macOS, run`brew install node`

- GNU Make 4.0+

- on macOS, run`brew install make`

- on macOS, run`brew install shfmt`

- on macOS, run`brew install goreleaser/tap/nfpm && brew install nfpm`

- on macOS, run`brew install libpq zstd`

- on Linux, install[`zstd`](https://github.com/horta/zstd.install)

- PostgreSQL 13 (optional if Docker is available)

-*Note*: If you are using Docker, you can skip this step

- on macOS, run`brew install postgresql@13` and`brew services start postgresql@13`

- To enable schema generation with non-containerized PostgreSQL, set the following environment variable:

- on macOS, run`brew install pkg-config`

- on macOS, run`brew install pixman`

- on macOS, run`brew install cairo`

- on macOS, run`brew install pango`

- on macOS, run`brew install pandocomatic`

If you're not using the Nix environment, you can launch a local[DevContainer](https://github.com/coder/coder/tree/main/.devcontainer) to get a fully configured development environment.

DevContainers are supported in tools like**VS Code** and**GitHub Codespaces**, and come preloaded with all required dependencies: Docker, Go, Node.js with`pnpm`, and`make`.

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- Run`./scripts/develop.sh`

- Access`http://localhost:8080`

- The default user is`admin@coder.com` and the default password is

1. Run the development script to spin up the local environment:

./scripts/develop.sh

This will start two processes:

-http://localhost:3000 — the backend API server. Primarily used for backend development and also serves the*static* frontend build.

-http://localhost:8080 — the Node.js frontend development server. Supports*hot reloading* and is useful if you're working on the frontend as well.

Additionally, it starts a local PostgreSQL instance, creates both an admin and a member user account, and installs a default Docker-based template.

1. Verify Your Session

This mode is useful for testing HA or validating more complex setups.

./scripts/coder-dev.sh list

```

- Generate a new image from your HEAD:`make build/coder_$(./scripts/version.sh)_$(go env GOOS)_$(go env GOARCH).tag`

- This will output the name of the new image, e.g.:`ghcr.io/coder/coder:v2.19.0-devel-22fa71d15-amd64`

- Inject this image into docker-compose:`CODER_VERSION=v2.19.0-devel-22fa71d15-amd64 docker-compose up` (*note the prefix`ghcr.io/coder/coder:` was removed*)

- To use Docker, determine your host's`docker` group ID with`getent group docker | cut -d: -f3`, then update the value of`group_add` and uncomment

This shouldreturn an empty list of workspaces. If you encounter an error, review the output from the [develop.sh](https://github.com/coder/coder/blob/main/scripts/develop.sh) scriptfor issues.

>`coder-dev.sh` is a helper script that behaves like the regular coder CLI, but uses the binary built from yourlocalsource and shares the same configuration directoryset up by`develop.sh`. This ensures yourlocal changes are reflected when testing.

> The default user is`admin@coder.com` and the default password is`SomeSecurePassword!`

1. Create Your First Workspace

A template named`docker` is created automatically. To spin up a workspace quickly, use:

the [#pr-deployments](https://codercom.slack.com/archives/C05DNE982E8) Slack

channel.

Database migrations are managed with

[`migrate`](https://github.com/golang-migrate/migrate).

To add new migrations, use the following command:

./coderd/database/migrations/create_migration.sh my name

/home/coder/src/coder/coderd/database/migrations/000070_my_name.up.sql

/home/coder/src/coder/coderd/database/migrations/000070_my_name.down.sql

Then write queries into the generated`.up.sql` and`.down.sql` files and commit

them into the repository. The down script should make a best-effort to retain as

much data as possible.

Run`make gen` to generate models.

There are two types of fixtures that are used to test that migrations don't

break existing Coder deployments:

- Partial fixtures

- Full database dumps

Both types behave like database migrations (they also

[`migrate`](https://github.com/golang-migrate/migrate)). Their behavior mirrors

Coder migrations such that when migration number`000022` is applied, fixture

`000022` is applied afterwards.

Partial fixtures are used to conveniently add data to newly created tables so

that we can ensure that this data is migrated without issue.

Full database dumps are for testing the migration of fully-fledged Coder

deployments. These are usually done for a specific version of Coder and are

often fixed in time. A full database dump may be necessary when testing the

migration of multiple features or complex configurations.

To add a new partial fixture, run the following command:

./coderd/database/migrations/create_fixture.sh my fixture

/home/coder/src/coder/coderd/database/migrations/testdata/fixtures/000070_my_fixture.up.sql

Then add some queries to insert data and commit the file to the repo. See

for an example.

To create a full dump, run a fully fledged Coder deployment and use it to

generate data in the database. Then shut down the deployment and take a snapshot

of the database.

mkdir -p coderd/database/migrations/testdata/full_dumps/v0.12.2&&cd$_

pg_dump"postgres://coder@localhost:..." -a --inserts>000069_dump_v0.12.2.up.sql

Make sure sensitive data in the dump is desensitized, for instance names,

emails, OAuth tokens and other secrets. Then commit the dump to the project.

To find out what the latest migration for a version of Coder is, use the

following command:

git ls-files v0.12.2 -- coderd/database/migrations/*.up.sql

This helps in naming the dump (e.g.`000069` above).

Visit our [documentation style guide](./contributing/documentation.md).

Contributions must adhere to the guidelines outlined in

[Effective Go](https://go.dev/doc/effective_go). We prefer linting rules over

documenting styles (run ours with`make lint`); humans are error-prone!

Read

[Go's Code Review Comments Wiki](https://github.com/golang/go/wiki/CodeReviewComments)

for information on common comments made during reviews of Go code.

Coder writes packages that are used during implementation. It isn't easy to

validate whether an abstraction is valid until it's checked against an

implementation. This results in a larger changeset, but it provides reviewers

with a holistic perspective regarding the contribution.

Our frontend guide can be found[here](./contributing/frontend.md).

Frontend styling guide can be found [here](./contributing/frontend.md#styling).