Code-server provides a VS Code-style editor in a web browser. On Android, it can run inside an Ubuntu environment provided by UserLAnd.

  1. Install UserLAnd and create an Ubuntu session.

  2. Open its terminal and install the basic packages:

    sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y nodejs npm curl

  3. Code-server currently requires Node.js 22. Download the nvm installer instead of piping it directly into a shell:

    curl -fsSLo /tmp/nvm-install.sh \
  https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.39.0/install.sh
less /tmp/nvm-install.sh
bash /tmp/nvm-install.sh
rm /tmp/nvm-install.sh

    Review the script before running it. Exit the Ubuntu terminal and reopen it when the installation completes.

  4. Install Node.js 22 and code-server:

    nvm install 22
nvm use 22
npm install --global code-server

  5. Start code-server:

    code-server
  6. Open http://127.0.0.1:8080 in the Android browser. Use the password stored in ~/.config/code-server/config.yaml.

Leave code-server bound to 127.0.0.1 and keep password authentication enabled. Do not use --auth none or expose port 8080 to the network. Press Ctrl+C in the Ubuntu terminal to stop it.