opencode on Render

Run opencode as a hosted AI coding agent with the browser UI and opencode attach.

What you get

• A single Render Web Service running opencode web
• The built-in opencode web UI on your Render URL
• Remote TUI access with opencode attach
• A standard instance to avoid OOM loops on startup and active agent sessions
• A 1 GB persistent disk for opencode state and your working tree
• Optional repo cloning into /root/project-data/workspace on first boot
• The Render OpenCode plugin installed by default

How to use it

From your browser

Deploy the template, then open the Render service URL.

Log in with:

• Username: opencode
• Password: the generated OPENCODE_SERVER_PASSWORD value in the Render Dashboard

From your terminal

Install opencode locally:

npm install -g opencode-ai

Attach to your hosted backend:

opencode attach https://your-service.onrender.com

Use the generated password when prompted. You can also pass it directly:

opencode attach https://your-service.onrender.com \
  --username opencode \
  --password "$OPENCODE_SERVER_PASSWORD"

Bring your own repo

Set REPO_URL during deploy to clone a working tree into /root/project-data/workspace on first boot.

For a public repo:

REPO_URL=https://github.com/your-org/your-repo.git

For a specific branch:

REPO_URL=https://github.com/your-org/your-repo.git
REPO_BRANCH=main

For a private GitHub repo, also set GITHUB_TOKEN to a token that can read the repo.

The startup script only clones when /root/project-data/workspace is empty. If /root/project-data/workspace already has files, it leaves them alone.

If you do not set REPO_URL, the service creates a small default Git project in /root/project-data/workspace so the web UI has a project to open.

Server command

The template defaults to:

OPENCODE_SERVER_COMMAND=web

That starts opencode's web UI and API on the same Render URL.

If opencode attach returns HTML instead of API responses, switch to the headless server:

OPENCODE_SERVER_COMMAND=serve

Configured providers

Set one or more provider keys in Render:

• ANTHROPIC_API_KEY unlocks Anthropic models.
• OPENROUTER_API_KEY unlocks OpenRouter models.
• RENDER_API_KEY unlocks Render MCP tools.

The service writes these keys into /root/project-data/opencode/auth.json using opencode's API-key auth format.

Anthropic OAuth is not supported in this hosted setup. Use ANTHROPIC_API_KEY.

Security notes

This template gives you a remote coding agent, not a hardened sandbox.

The agent can read and write files in its workspace, run shell commands, and use the environment variables you provide. Treat it like a single-tenant development box that can act with your credentials.

Be careful with RENDER_API_KEY. Render API keys are broad credentials today. If you set one, opencode can use Render MCP tools with whatever access that key has. Leave RENDER_API_KEY unset unless you want the agent to manage Render resources from this service. Remove it when you do not need Render MCP, and rotate it if you expose logs, transcripts, or the service password.

Do not use this template with untrusted users, untrusted prompts, or repos you do not want an AI agent to execute code from.

Instance size

The template uses Render's standard plan by default.

opencode can exceed the memory available on starter, especially with the web UI, provider metadata, plugins, MCP tools, and active coding sessions.

What's pre-wired

The image installs the Render OpenCode plugin from GitHub. It adds:

• render_validate_blueprint
• automatic validation when an agent edits render.yaml or render.yml
• /deploy-to-render
• /check-render-status
• the @render subagent
• bundled Render skills

The startup script also merges the Render MCP server into ~/.config/opencode/opencode.json:

{
  "$schema": "https://opencode.ai/config.json",
  "mcp": {
    "render": {
      "type": "remote",
      "url": "https://mcp.render.com/mcp",
      "enabled": true,
      "oauth": false,
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer {env:RENDER_API_KEY}"
      }
    }
  }
}

Set RENDER_API_KEY in Render before asking opencode to manage Render resources.

Disk size

The template starts with a 1 GB persistent disk mounted at:

/root/project-data

The startup script uses that disk for:

• /root/project-data/opencode for opencode auth, sessions, and SQLite state
• /root/project-data/workspace for the repo or project files the agent edits

To resize it, edit render.yaml:

disk:
  name: opencode-data
  mountPath: /root/project-data
  sizeGB: 5

Then deploy the updated Blueprint.

Known limitations

• Anthropic OAuth login does not work for hosted opencode. Use ANTHROPIC_API_KEY.
• The opencode web UI fetches assets from opencode's CDN at runtime.
• This is single-tenant. Do not share one deployment with multiple users.
• /root/project-data/workspace persists across restarts and deploys, but you should still commit and push important work back to your repo.
• The image preinstalls TypeScript language server only. Other language servers can be installed in your repo or a fork of this template.

Learn more

• opencode docs
• opencode CLI docs
• opencode MCP docs
• Render OpenCode plugin