--- title: "Deploy Ubuntu Claude Code Desktop (GUI)" description: "Ubuntu desktop in your browser with VS Code, Chrome and Claude Code ready." category: "Other" url: https://railway.com/deploy/claude-code-desktop --- # Deploy Ubuntu Claude Code Desktop (GUI) Ubuntu desktop in your browser with VS Code, Chrome and Claude Code ready. **[Deploy Ubuntu Claude Code Desktop (GUI) on Railway](https://railway.com/template/claude-code-desktop)** Machine-readable deploy manifest (JSON, validated by TemplateCI): https://railway.com/deploy/claude-code-desktop/manifest.json - **Creator:** darseen - **Category:** Other ## Template content ### desktop https://devicons.railway.com/i/ubuntu.svg - **Image:** kasmweb/ubuntu-noble-desktop:1.19.0-rolling-weekly - **Start command:** `bash -c 'set -e [ -n "${ANTHROPIC_API_KEY:-}" ] || unset ANTHROPIC_API_KEY if [ ${#VNC_PW} -lt 6 ]; then echo "FATAL: VNC_PW must be at least 6 characters (KasmVNC requirement). Set a longer password and redeploy." >&2; exit 1; fi echo "kasm-user ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD:ALL" > /etc/sudoers.d/kasm-user chmod 0440 /etc/sudoers.d/kasm-user chown 1000:1000 /home/kasm-user if [ ! -f /home/kasm-user/.railway-owned ]; then chown -R 1000:1000 /home/kasm-user; touch /home/kasm-user/.railway-owned; chown 1000:1000 /home/kasm-user/.railway-owned; fi sed -i "s|function wait_for_network_devices() {|function wait_for_network_devices() { return 0;|" /dockerstartup/vnc_startup.sh grep -q "wait_for_network_devices() { return 0;" /dockerstartup/vnc_startup.sh || { echo FATAL: Kasm startup changed, wait_for_network_devices patch no longer applies >&2; exit 1; } ln -sf /home/kasm-user/.local/bin/claude /usr/local/bin/claude for b in node npm npx corepack; do ln -sf /home/kasm-user/.local/node/bin/$b /usr/local/bin/$b; done cat > /dockerstartup/provision.sh <<"PROVEOF" set -u export HOME=/home/kasm-user cd $HOME for i in $(seq 1 60); do [ -f $HOME/.bashrc ] && break; sleep 1; done log() { echo "[provision] $*"; } NODE_DIR=$HOME/.local/node if [ ! -x $NODE_DIR/bin/node ]; then log installing Node.js 24 LTS TARBALL=$(curl -fsSL https://nodejs.org/dist/latest-v24.x/SHASUMS256.txt | grep -o "node-v[0-9.]*-linux-x64.tar.xz" | head -1) mkdir -p $NODE_DIR curl -fsSL "https://nodejs.org/dist/latest-v24.x/$TARBALL" | tar -xJ -C $NODE_DIR --strip-components=1 || log Node.js install failed fi if [ ! -x $HOME/.local/bin/claude ]; then log installing Claude Code curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash || log Claude Code install failed fi grep -q "local/node/bin" $HOME/.bashrc || echo "export PATH=\$HOME/.local/bin:\$HOME/.local/node/bin:\$PATH" >> $HOME/.bashrc if ! ls $HOME/.vscode/extensions 2>/dev/null | grep -q anthropic.claude-code; then log installing the Claude Code VS Code extension code --no-sandbox --user-data-dir $HOME/.config/Code --install-extension anthropic.claude-code || log VS Code extension install failed fi if [ ! -f $HOME/.config/Code/User/settings.json ]; then mkdir -p $HOME/.config/Code/User cat > $HOME/.config/Code/User/settings.json <<"JSONEOF" { "chat.disableAIFeatures": true, "workbench.startupEditor": "none", "telemetry.telemetryLevel": "off", "update.mode": "none" } JSONEOF fi if [ ! -f $HOME/Desktop/claude-code.desktop ]; then mkdir -p $HOME/.local/share/icons $HOME/Desktop curl -fsSL https://cdn.simpleicons.org/claude/D97757 -o $HOME/.local/share/icons/claude.svg || true ICON=utilities-terminal [ -s $HOME/.local/share/icons/claude.svg ] && ICON=$HOME/.local/share/icons/claude.svg cat > $HOME/Desktop/claude-code.desktop < /home/kasm-user/.provision.log 2>&1" & exec setpriv --reuid=1000 --regid=1000 --init-groups /dockerstartup/kasm_default_profile.sh /dockerstartup/vnc_startup.sh /dockerstartup/kasm_startup.sh --tail-log'` ### proxy https://github.com/caddyserver.png?size=460 - **Image:** caddy:2-alpine - **Start command:** `sh -c 'printf "%s" "$CADDYFILE" > /etc/caddy/Caddyfile && exec caddy run --config /etc/caddy/Caddyfile --adapter caddyfile'` - **Health check:** /proxy-healthz - **Public domain:** Yes ## Documentation # Deploy and Host Ubuntu Claude Code Desktop (GUI) on Railway ![Ubuntu Claude Code Desktop (GUI) running in the browser, with the Claude Code launcher on the desktop](https://vaze.up.railway.app/api/hosting/railway-templates/claude-code-desktop/claude-code-desktop.png) ![Claude Code opened from its desktop icon](https://vaze.up.railway.app/api/hosting/railway-templates/claude-code-desktop/claude-code-desktop-terminal.png) Ubuntu Claude Code Desktop (GUI) is a full Ubuntu 24.04 XFCE desktop that runs in your browser with Claude Code, VS Code, Chrome and Node.js already set up. It is the graphical version of the "Ubuntu + Claude Code over SSH" boxes: the same cloud dev machine, but with a real editor, a real browser for OAuth logins and previewing what you build, and no SSH key or VNC client. ## About Hosting Ubuntu Claude Code Desktop (GUI) Deploying runs two services: the desktop itself, and a small Caddy proxy that is the only public surface. The desktop image is Kasm's Ubuntu Noble workspace (about 2.6 GB compressed), which already ships VS Code, Chrome, Chromium, Firefox, git, tmux and Python. On first boot a background job installs Node.js 24 LTS, the Claude Code CLI and the Claude Code VS Code extension into the home directory, which lives on a Railway volume, so later boots skip the download. The login page appears within a minute or two; the tools finish installing shortly after, and `~/.provision.log` shows their progress. Cost is the thing to plan for. A graphical desktop idles near 1 GB of RAM with a session attached, and more with Chrome and VS Code open. Enabling Railway's app sleep is strongly recommended so the desktop suspends when you close the tab. ## Common Use Cases - A persistent Claude Code workstation reachable from a tablet, a Chromebook or a locked-down work laptop - Letting Claude Code run long agentic tasks on a machine that stays up after you close your laptop - A disposable, isolated box for trying Claude Code on an untrusted repo, away from your own credentials and files ## Dependencies for Ubuntu Claude Code Desktop (GUI) Hosting - A Railway volume mounted at `/home/kasm-user`, which holds the desktop's home directory, the installed tools and Claude Code's login. Without it, everything is lost on redeploy. - A Claude account (Pro, Max, Team or Enterprise) or an Anthropic API key. Sign in from the desktop's terminal with `claude` on first use, or set `ANTHROPIC_API_KEY` at deploy time to skip the browser login. - No GitHub repo backs this template. Both services boot from public images. ### Deployment Dependencies - [kasmweb/ubuntu-noble-desktop](https://hub.docker.com/r/kasmweb/ubuntu-noble-desktop) - the upstream desktop image - [Claude Code](https://docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/claude-code) - installed with Anthropic's native installer - [Claude Code for VS Code](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=anthropic.claude-code) - the editor extension - [Node.js](https://nodejs.org/) - 24 LTS, installed as a tarball into the home directory - [KasmVNC](https://github.com/kasmtech/KasmVNC) - the streaming layer - [Caddy](https://caddyserver.com/) - the TLS-terminating proxy ### Implementation Details **Signing in.** Double-click the Claude Code icon on the desktop, or open a terminal and run `claude`. It opens the sign-in page in Chrome inside the desktop; log in with your Claude account and the CLI is authenticated. The session is stored under `~/.claude` on the volume, so you sign in once. If you set `ANTHROPIC_API_KEY` instead, the CLI uses it directly and bills the API; leave it blank to use a Claude subscription. An empty key is unset at boot so it can never shadow the browser login. **Where the tools live.** Node.js is unpacked to `~/.local/node`, Claude Code to `~/.local/bin/claude`, and the VS Code extension to `~/.vscode/extensions`. All three are on the volume. The boot script links `node`, `npm`, `npx` and `claude` into `/usr/local/bin` so terminals and VS Code find them without any shell profile, and appends both directories to `~/.bashrc` so `npm install -g` binaries are found too. Claude Code updates itself in place from then on. **VS Code.** The Claude Code extension is installed, and the built-in Copilot chat is turned off in the seeded `settings.json` so Claude Code is the only assistant in the editor. The extension does not run in Restricted Mode, so when you open a folder for the first time, choose "Trust" in VS Code's workspace prompt and the Claude Code icon appears in the activity bar. **Why there is a proxy service.** Kasm's startup script passes `-sslOnly` to `vncserver`, so the desktop always serves HTTPS on 6901 and the documented `network.ssl.require_ssl: false` setting is ignored. Railway speaks plain HTTP to containers, so Caddy accepts Railway's HTTP and re-encrypts to Kasm, skipping verification because the certificate is self-signed and regenerated on every boot. Only the proxy has a public domain. **`VNC_PW` has a 6-character minimum.** KasmVNC's password tool silently rejects anything shorter, which would leave the desktop unable to start and the URL serving 502. The template validates the length at boot and fails with an explicit message instead. **Passwordless sudo is enabled deliberately.** Kasm ships `kasm-user` with a locked password and no sudo rights, so a stock container cannot `apt install` anything. A dev box needs that, so the template grants passwordless sudo at boot. To lock it back down, remove `/etc/sudoers.d/kasm-user` inside the desktop. **Security model.** `VNC_PW` is the only thing between the public Railway URL and a root-capable desktop holding your Claude login. Set a strong one. Anyone who reaches the URL with it can run anything as you, including Claude Code against your account. ## Why Deploy Ubuntu Claude Code Desktop (GUI) on Railway? Railway is a singular platform to deploy your infrastructure stack. Railway will host your infrastructure so you don't have to deal with configuration, while allowing you to vertically and horizontally scale it. By deploying Ubuntu Claude Code Desktop (GUI) on Railway, you are one step closer to supporting a complete full-stack application with minimal burden. Host your servers, databases, AI agents, and more on Railway. ## Similar templates - [Rocky Linux](https://railway.com/deploy/rocky-linux) — Hosted Rocky Linux 9 workspace with SSH and persistent storage. 🚀 - [Foundry Virtual Tabletop](https://railway.com/deploy/X5tR6G) — A Self-Hosted & Modern Roleplaying Platform - [Letta Code Remote](https://railway.com/deploy/letta-code-remote) — Run a Letta Code agent 24/7. No inbound ports, just deploy. Open this page in a browser: https://railway.com/deploy/claude-code-desktop