blog: coder.ddev.com #569
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| title: "Introducing coder.ddev.com: DDEV in the Cloud" | ||
| pubDate: 2026-03-11 | ||
| summary: "coder.ddev.com provides free, experimental cloud-based DDEV workspaces powered by Coder. Start a Drupal contribution environment in under 30 seconds, with full VS Code, Xdebug, and CLI support." | ||
| author: Randy Fay | ||
| featureImage: | ||
| src: /img/blog/2026/03/start-coder-ddev-com.png | ||
| alt: start.coder.ddev.com — Coder Workspaces landing page showing the DDEV logo and Open in Coder button | ||
| categories: | ||
| - Announcements | ||
| - Community | ||
| --- | ||
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| ## What is coder.ddev.com? | ||
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| [coder.ddev.com](https://coder.ddev.com) is a free, experimental cloud DDEV service. You log in with GitHub, create a workspace, and get a full DDEV environment in the cloud — no local Docker, no local installation needed. | ||
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| :::warning[Experimental Service] | ||
| This is an experimental service with no guarantees of data retention, uptime, or long-term availability. The future of its maintenance and sustainability is uncertain. Do not store irreplaceable work here without pushing it to Git. Treat it as a convenience, not a platform to depend on. | ||
| ::: | ||
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| Want a quick overview? Watch the 6-minute intro video starting from the very beginning: | ||
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| <div class="video-container"> | ||
| <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TPz2xnFdQLk?si=r8MroZZjOjx7OToK" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe> | ||
| </div> | ||
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| ## Table of Contents | ||
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| ## How It Works | ||
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| coder.ddev.com runs on [Coder](https://coder.com), an open-source platform for remote development environments. Each workspace is an isolated container (using the [Sysbox](https://github.com/nestybox/sysbox) runtime for secure Docker-in-Docker) with DDEV, Docker, and VS Code pre-installed. | ||
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| Your files persist on a remote volume across workspace restarts. When you delete a workspace, the data is gone — so push your work to Git before deleting. But until you delete the workspace, or it's garbage-collected (not yet implemented), your work persists.. | ||
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| The source code for the templates and Docker image is at [github.com/ddev/coder-ddev](https://github.com/ddev/coder-ddev). Other projects can use this and deploy their own fully-DDEV-capable Coder instances. | ||
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| ## Getting Started | ||
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| ### 1. Log In with GitHub | ||
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| Go to [coder.ddev.com](https://coder.ddev.com) and click **Login with GitHub**. No separate account needed. `coder.ddev.com` receives read-only access to your email addresses, public profile, and GitHub organization membership — no code access, no write access. | ||
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| ### 2. Create a Workspace | ||
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| From the dashboard, click **Create Workspace** and choose a template: | ||
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| - **drupal-core** — automated Drupal core development environment | ||
| - **user-defined-web** — general-purpose DDEV for any project | ||
| - **freeform** — DDEV with Traefik routing integration for stable URLs | ||
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| Give your workspace a name and click **Create Workspace**. Most workspaces start in under a minute. The drupal-core template (with seed cache) is ready in about 30 seconds. | ||
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| ### 3. Access Your Workspace | ||
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| Once running, you have several options to use your workspace: | ||
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| - **Web Browser**: From `coder.ddev.com`, use the many options, including web-based terminal, VS Code for Web, and VS Code Desktop. | ||
| - **SSH with `coder` CLI**: Install the Coder CLI, then `coder login https://coder.ddev.com` and `coder ssh <workspace-name>`. | ||
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| ## Template Overview | ||
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| ### drupal-core | ||
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| The drupal-core template sets up a complete Drupal core contribution environment automatically using [joachim-n/drupal-core-development-project](https://github.com/joachim-n/drupal-core-development-project). Drupal core is cloned, Composer dependencies are installed, and a demo site is installed — all in about 30 seconds when a seed cache is available. | ||
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| Choose your Drupal version when creating the workspace: | ||
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| - **main (12.x / HEAD)** — latest development (default) | ||
| - **11.x** — current stable branch | ||
| - **10.x** — previous stable branch | ||
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| The template automatically selects the correct PHP version and DDEV project type for the chosen branch. | ||
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| Log in to the site with `admin` / `admin`. | ||
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| This takes less than 4 minutes, try it out: | ||
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| <div class="video-container"> | ||
| <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/IAF_CyzR6_g?si=q-cr63OxnWq4mX4g" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe> | ||
| </div> | ||
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| ### freeform | ||
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| The freeform template adds Traefik routing integration so your DDEV project and services like Mailpit get stable subdomain URLs (no port numbers). After creating a workspace, run `ddev coder-setup` once in your project directory, then `ddev start`. Routing updates automatically on every start. | ||
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| ## The Drupal Issue Picker | ||
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Contributor
There was a problem hiding this comment. I would add a brief section about the template from joachim that is used. that is important to find your way within coder.ddev.com as well as sort of foundational information before using the issue tracker. so you know what the repo folder actually mean. and why there is also the web folder.
Member
Author
There was a problem hiding this comment. I think that's too much for people, but we do link to it. Most people won't want to understand it the way you do. |
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| One of the most useful features for Drupal contributors is the **Drupal Issue Picker** at [start.coder.ddev.com/drupal-issue](https://start.coder.ddev.com/drupal-issue). | ||
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|  | ||
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| Paste any drupal.org issue URL (for example, `https://www.drupal.org/project/drupal/issues/3568144`) and the picker launches a drupal-core workspace with: | ||
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| - The correct Drupal version (10.x, 11.x, or main) detected from the issue | ||
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Collaborator
There was a problem hiding this comment. ooo that's nice. So that basically takes out the choice. Though what happens if one wants to test it with a version up or down? i guess you need a new branch for it.
Member
Author
There was a problem hiding this comment. You can open anything you want, you can check out any issue fork you want, it's just ddev. |
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| - The issue fork branch already checked out | ||
| - Composer dependencies resolved | ||
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| This replaces the workflow that DrupalPod (Gitpod-based) provided for contribution days. You can hand someone an issue URL, they paste it into the picker, and within 30 seconds they have a working environment with the issue branch ready. | ||
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| Demonstrating this from start to finish in about 6 minutes: | ||
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| <div class="video-container"> | ||
| <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/M48zdeqNXlA?si=15tSEqIuHDHXaAg1" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe> | ||
| </div> | ||
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| ## Development Tools | ||
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| ### VS Code Web | ||
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| "VS Code Web" runs in the browser and supports most extensions. You can install extensions from the marketplace, configure settings, and use the integrated terminal — all without installing anything locally. | ||
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| ### VS Code Desktop | ||
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| Clicking on "VS Code Desktop" opens up your local installation of VS Code and then automatically uses the [**Remote-SSH** extension](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=ms-vscode-remote.remote-ssh) to connect to your Coder workspace. It's nice, I used it a lot in preparing this blog and even in some recent work on Coder.ddev.com itself. All VS Code features work. | ||
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| ### Xdebug | ||
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| Xdebug works in Coder workspaces the same way as local DDEV with the DDEV VS Code Extension. | ||
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| ### Coder CLI | ||
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| The Coder CLI provides SSH access, port forwarding, file transfer, and workspace management. It's a completely different way of interacting with your workspace. Install with `brew install coder` or [other options](https://coder.com/docs/install). | ||
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| ```bash | ||
| # Login | ||
| coder login https://coder.ddev.com | ||
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| # List workspaces | ||
| coder list | ||
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| # SSH into workspace | ||
| coder ssh my-workspace | ||
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| # Forward a port locally | ||
| coder port-forward my-workspace --tcp 8080:80 | ||
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| # Stop workspace (preserves data) | ||
| coder stop my-workspace | ||
| ``` | ||
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| ## Accessing Your Project | ||
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| Because DDEV runs inside a cloud container, the usual `*.ddev.site` URLs don't work. Instead, access your project via the **DDEV Web** app link in the Coder dashboard, or use port forwarding, and `ddev start`, `ddev launch` and `ddev describe` also give URL information. | ||
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| The freeform template handles this automatically with Traefik routing — you get stable subdomain URLs like `https://<workspace>--<workspace>--<owner>.coder.ddev.com/`. | ||
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| ## Stopping and Deleting Workspaces | ||
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| **Stop**: Stops the container and frees compute resources. All files in `/home/coder` are preserved. Use this when you are done for the day. | ||
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| **Delete**: Permanently removes the workspace and all data. Always push your code to Git before deleting. | ||
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| This can also be done from the command-line on your local machine (after `coder login https://coder.ddev.com`): | ||
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| ```bash | ||
| coder list | ||
| coder stop my-workspace # Stop (data preserved) | ||
| coder delete my-workspace # Delete (data lost permanently) | ||
| ``` | ||
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| ## FAQ | ||
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| - **How do I pull/push to GitHub/GitLab/Drupalcode? (or use SSH)?** | ||
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| Use the `coder publickey` command to get the publickey associated with your coder.ddev.com projects (it's the same for all projects). You can then add that to GitHub/GitLab/Drupalcode/Remote SSH to allow you to access those resources. | ||
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| - **How do I set this up myself for my own initiative?** | ||
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| The full details are in the repository at [github.com/ddev/coder-ddev](https://github.com/ddev/coder-ddev). | ||
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| - **Where is this running?** | ||
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| This is running on a 64GB Hetzner bare-metal Ubuntu 24.04 machine in Helsinki, Finland. It has lots of disk and costs about $50/month. | ||
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| ## Thanks to Coder.com | ||
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| The world of open source is amazing. Coder.com is a shockingly mature project, and so many of these things worked just great out of the box. | ||
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| ## What's Next | ||
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| The templates and image are open source at [github.com/ddev/coder-ddev](https://github.com/ddev/coder-ddev). Contributions, bug reports, and feature requests are welcome. | ||
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| ## Getting Help | ||
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| - **Documentation**: [github.com/ddev/coder-ddev/docs](https://github.com/ddev/coder-ddev/tree/main/docs) | ||
| - **DDEV Discord**: [Discord](https://ddev.com/s/discord) — `#support-and-discussion` channel | ||
| - **Issues**: [github.com/ddev/coder-ddev/issues](https://github.com/ddev/coder-ddev/issues) | ||
| - **DDEV Docs**: [docs.ddev.com](https://docs.ddev.com) | ||
| - **Coder.com**: [coder.com](https://coder.com) or [github.com/coder/coder](https://github.com/coder/coder) | ||
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I would move the template overview up to the create workspace section. in there in context the information about the different templates is needed and valuable. currently you have a brief gist under create workspace, then you access the workspace after creating it based on the template and then you get explained what two of the templates are made of and capable of. that order is suboptimal.