Add support for CLI global flag configurations and update all CLI invocations (#577)

#500

Author: EhabY

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -6,6 +6,10 @@
 
 - Always enable verbose (`-v`) flag when a log directory is configured (`coder.proxyLogDir`).
 
+### Added
+
+- Add support for CLI global flag configurations through the `coder.globalFlags` setting.
+
 ## [1.10.1](https://github.com/coder/vscode-coder/releases/tag/v1.10.1) 2025-08-13
 
 ### Fixed

package.json

@@ -119,6 +119,13 @@
 					"markdownDescription": "Disable Coder CLI signature verification, which can be useful if you run an unsigned fork of the binary.",
 					"type": "boolean",
 					"default": false
+				},
+				"coder.globalFlags": {
+					"markdownDescription": "Global flags to pass to every Coder CLI invocation. Enter each flag as a separate array item; values are passed verbatim and in order. Do **not** include the `coder` command itself. See the [CLI reference](https://coder.com/docs/reference/cli) for available global flags.\n\nNote that for `--header-command`, precedence is: `#coder.headerCommand#` setting, then `CODER_HEADER_COMMAND` environment variable, then the value specified here. The `--global-config` flag is explicitly ignored.",
+					"type": "array",
+					"items": {
+						"type": "string"
+					}
 				}
 			}
 		},

src/api.ts

@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ import * as ws from "ws";
 import { errToStr } from "./api-helper";
 import { CertificateError } from "./error";
 import { FeatureSet } from "./featureSet";
-import { getHeaderArgs } from "./headers";
+import { getGlobalFlags } from "./globalFlags";
 import { getProxyForUrl } from "./proxy";
 import { Storage } from "./storage";
 import { expandPath } from "./util";
@@ -186,9 +186,7 @@ export async function startWorkspaceIfStoppedOrFailed(
 
 	return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
 		const startArgs = [
-			"--global-config",
-			globalConfigDir,
-			...getHeaderArgs(vscode.workspace.getConfiguration()),
+			...getGlobalFlags(vscode.workspace.getConfiguration(), globalConfigDir),
 			"start",
 			"--yes",
 			workspace.owner_name + "/" + workspace.name,
@@ -197,7 +195,7 @@ export async function startWorkspaceIfStoppedOrFailed(
 			startArgs.push(...["--reason", "vscode_connection"]);
 		}
 
-		const startProcess = spawn(binPath, startArgs);
+		const startProcess = spawn(binPath, startArgs, { shell: true });
 
 		startProcess.stdout.on("data", (data: Buffer) => {
 			data

src/commands.ts

@@ -10,8 +10,9 @@ import * as vscode from "vscode";
 import { makeCoderSdk, needToken } from "./api";
 import { extractAgents } from "./api-helper";
 import { CertificateError } from "./error";
+import { getGlobalFlags } from "./globalFlags";
 import { Storage } from "./storage";
-import { toRemoteAuthority, toSafeHost } from "./util";
+import { escapeCommandArg, toRemoteAuthority, toSafeHost } from "./util";
 import {
 	AgentTreeItem,
 	WorkspaceTreeItem,
@@ -503,12 +504,16 @@ export class Commands {
 						this.restClient,
 						toSafeHost(url),
 					);
-					const escape = (str: string): string =>
-						`"${str.replace(/"/g, '\\"')}"`;
+
+					const configDir = path.dirname(
+						this.storage.getSessionTokenPath(toSafeHost(url)),
+					);
+					const globalFlags = getGlobalFlags(
+						vscode.workspace.getConfiguration(),
+						configDir,
+					);
 					terminal.sendText(
-						`${escape(binary)} ssh --global-config ${escape(
-							path.dirname(this.storage.getSessionTokenPath(toSafeHost(url))),
-						)} ${app.workspace_name}`,
+						`${escapeCommandArg(binary)}${` ${globalFlags.join(" ")}`} ssh ${app.workspace_name}`,
 					);
 					await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 5000));
 					terminal.sendText(app.command ?? "");

src/globalFlags.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+import { it, expect, describe } from "vitest";
+import { WorkspaceConfiguration } from "vscode";
+import { getGlobalFlags } from "./globalFlags";
+
+describe("Global flags suite", () => {
+	it("should return global-config and header args when no global flags configured", () => {
+		const config = {
+			get: () => undefined,
+		} as unknown as WorkspaceConfiguration;
+
+		expect(getGlobalFlags(config, "/config/dir")).toStrictEqual([
+			"--global-config",
+			'"/config/dir"',
+		]);
+	});
+
+	it("should return global flags from config with global-config appended", () => {
+		const config = {
+			get: (key: string) =>
+				key === "coder.globalFlags"
+					? ["--verbose", "--disable-direct-connections"]
+					: undefined,
+		} as unknown as WorkspaceConfiguration;
+
+		expect(getGlobalFlags(config, "/config/dir")).toStrictEqual([
+			"--verbose",
+			"--disable-direct-connections",
+			"--global-config",
+			'"/config/dir"',
+		]);
+	});
+
+	it("should not filter duplicate global-config flags, last takes precedence", () => {
+		const config = {
+			get: (key: string) =>
+				key === "coder.globalFlags"
+					? [
+							"-v",
+							"--global-config /path/to/ignored",
+							"--disable-direct-connections",
+						]
+					: undefined,
+		} as unknown as WorkspaceConfiguration;
+
+		expect(getGlobalFlags(config, "/config/dir")).toStrictEqual([
+			"-v",
+			"--global-config /path/to/ignored",
+			"--disable-direct-connections",
+			"--global-config",
+			'"/config/dir"',
+		]);
+	});
+
+	it("should not filter header-command flags, header args appended at end", () => {
+		const config = {
+			get: (key: string) => {
+				if (key === "coder.headerCommand") {
+					return "echo test";
+				}
+				if (key === "coder.globalFlags") {
+					return ["-v", "--header-command custom", "--no-feature-warning"];
+				}
+				return undefined;
+			},
+		} as unknown as WorkspaceConfiguration;
+
+		const result = getGlobalFlags(config, "/config/dir");
+		expect(result).toStrictEqual([
+			"-v",
+			"--header-command custom", // ignored by CLI
+			"--no-feature-warning",
+			"--global-config",
+			'"/config/dir"',
+			"--header-command",
+			"'echo test'",
+		]);
+	});
+});

src/globalFlags.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+import { WorkspaceConfiguration } from "vscode";
+import { getHeaderArgs } from "./headers";
+import { escapeCommandArg } from "./util";
+
+/**
+ * Returns global configuration flags for Coder CLI commands.
+ * Always includes the `--global-config` argument with the specified config directory.
+ */
+export function getGlobalFlags(
+	configs: WorkspaceConfiguration,
+	configDir: string,
+): string[] {
+	// Last takes precedence/overrides previous ones
+	return [
+		...(configs.get<string[]>("coder.globalFlags") || []),
+		...["--global-config", escapeCommandArg(configDir)],
+		...getHeaderArgs(configs),
+	];
+}

src/remote.ts

@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ import { extractAgents } from "./api-helper";
 import * as cli from "./cliManager";
 import { Commands } from "./commands";
 import { featureSetForVersion, FeatureSet } from "./featureSet";
-import { getHeaderArgs } from "./headers";
+import { getGlobalFlags } from "./globalFlags";
 import { Inbox } from "./inbox";
 import { SSHConfig, SSHValues, mergeSSHConfigValues } from "./sshConfig";
 import { computeSSHProperties, sshSupportsSetEnv } from "./sshSupport";
@@ -758,19 +758,15 @@ export class Remote {
 		const sshConfig = new SSHConfig(sshConfigFile);
 		await sshConfig.load();
 
-		const headerArgs = getHeaderArgs(vscode.workspace.getConfiguration());
-		const headerArgList =
-			headerArgs.length > 0 ? ` ${headerArgs.join(" ")}` : "";
-
 		const hostPrefix = label
 			? `${AuthorityPrefix}.${label}--`
 			: `${AuthorityPrefix}--`;
 
+		const globalConfigs = this.globalConfigs(label);
+
 		const proxyCommand = featureSet.wildcardSSH
-			? `${escapeCommandArg(binaryPath)}${headerArgList} --global-config ${escapeCommandArg(
-					path.dirname(this.storage.getSessionTokenPath(label)),
-				)} ssh --stdio --usage-app=vscode --disable-autostart --network-info-dir ${escapeCommandArg(this.storage.getNetworkInfoPath())}${await this.formatLogArg(logDir)} --ssh-host-prefix ${hostPrefix} %h`
-			: `${escapeCommandArg(binaryPath)}${headerArgList} vscodessh --network-info-dir ${escapeCommandArg(
+			? `${escapeCommandArg(binaryPath)}${globalConfigs} ssh --stdio --usage-app=vscode --disable-autostart --network-info-dir ${escapeCommandArg(this.storage.getNetworkInfoPath())}${await this.formatLogArg(logDir)} --ssh-host-prefix ${hostPrefix} %h`
+			: `${escapeCommandArg(binaryPath)}${globalConfigs} vscodessh --network-info-dir ${escapeCommandArg(
 					this.storage.getNetworkInfoPath(),
 				)}${await this.formatLogArg(logDir)} --session-token-file ${escapeCommandArg(this.storage.getSessionTokenPath(label))} --url-file ${escapeCommandArg(
 					this.storage.getUrlPath(label),
@@ -828,6 +824,15 @@ export class Remote {
 		return sshConfig.getRaw();
 	}
 
+	private globalConfigs(label: string): string {
+		const vscodeConfig = vscode.workspace.getConfiguration();
+		const args = getGlobalFlags(
+			vscodeConfig,
+			path.dirname(this.storage.getSessionTokenPath(label)),
+		);
+		return ` ${args.join(" ")}`;
+	}
+
 	// showNetworkUpdates finds the SSH process ID that is being used by this
 	// workspace and reads the file being created by the Coder CLI.
 	private showNetworkUpdates(sshPid: number): vscode.Disposable {