Portable Desktop module

[bpmct]

A discussion dedicated to the Portable Desktop module. Share your thoughts, questions, and feedback here.

Module Scorecard

Presentation & Onboarding	Credential Hygiene	Restricted-Environment Readiness	Engineering Quality	Overall
13 / 25	20 / 20	18 / 20	10 / 10	81 / 100

Drilldown

Presentation & Onboarding — 13 / 25

Criterion	Max	Score	Notes
Configuration-mode examples	12	12	README provides examples for custom download URL with checksum verification and custom install_dir. Each example shows sensible defaults and different configuration modes.
Coder-context framing	8	1	README mentions "Install portabledesktop for lightweight Linux desktop sessions" and references the agent's script data directory and CODER_SCRIPT_BIN_DIR, but does not explain what the module adds on top of Coder or show where Coder fits in the flow. Minimal Coder-context framing.
Visual preview	5	0	No image, GIF, or video in README. Only an icon reference in frontmatter.

Credential Hygiene — 20 / 20

Criterion	Max	Score	Notes
Secrets marked sensitive	16	16	No sensitive inputs in this module. All variables (agent_id, install_dir, url, sha256) are non-sensitive configuration values. N/A concern does not apply; module simply has no secrets. Full credit.
Non-hardcoded auth path	4	4	No authentication required for this module. It downloads a public binary. N/A concern does not apply. Full credit.

Restricted-Environment Readiness — 18 / 20

Criterion	Max	Score	Notes
Mirrorable artifact source	10	10	The url variable (line 23-26 in main.tf) overrides the default GitHub download URL. When set, it replaces both amd64_url and arm64_url (lines 35-36). This allows pointing to an internal mirror or artifact store. Documented in "Custom download URL" example.
Bring-your-own binary	5	5	The run.sh script (lines 16-20) checks if portabledesktop is already in PATH and exits early if found. Lines 25-27 also skip download if the binary already exists at BINARY_PATH. This supports pre-baked images. Documented behavior via script logic.
Egress transparency	3	1.5	No dedicated README section enumerating external endpoints. The GitHub URLs are visible in examples and code, but there's no air-gapped/restricted environment section. At most half credit per rubric.
Runs without sudo	2	1.5	The run.sh script uses sudo only as a fallback for install_dir operations (lines 125-133). Core functionality (download, verify, install to CODER_SCRIPT_DATA_DIR, symlink to CODER_SCRIPT_BIN_DIR) works without sudo. Sudo is optional for the install_dir feature. Half credit per rubric: "sudo needed only for optional features with a working fallback earns half".

Engineering Quality — 10 / 10

Criterion	Max	Score	Notes
Input quality	6	6	All variables have clear descriptions. Defaults are sensible (null for optional features). The sha256 variable could benefit from validation (regex for hex string), but descriptions are comprehensive and defaults appropriate.
Test coverage	4	4	Comprehensive TypeScript tests in main.test.ts cover: successful install, checksum verification (success and failure), checksum skip, sudo fallback, install_dir creation, wget fallback. The .tftest.hcl covers basic plan validation with different variable combinations. Business logic and end-to-end behavior both tested.

Overall — 81 / 100

Raw 61 / 75 → round(61 / 75 × 100) = 81

Track: Utility (portabledesktop is a desktop tool installer, not an AI agent or IDE)

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Scored against SCORECARD.md on 2026-08-03 with claude-sonnet-4-5.