codebuff login command for remote people that can't copy

Author: jahooma

cli/src/components/login-modal.tsx

@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ import {
   calculateResponsiveLayout,
 } from '../login/utils'
 import { useLoginStore } from '../state/login-store'
-import { copyTextToClipboard } from '../utils/clipboard'
+import { copyTextToClipboard, isRemoteSession } from '../utils/clipboard'
 import { logger } from '../utils/logger'
 import { getLogoBlockColor, getLogoAccentColor } from '../utils/theme-system'
 
@@ -437,6 +437,17 @@ export const LoginModal = ({
                   Waiting for login...
                 </span>
               </text>
+              {isRemoteSession() && !isVerySmall && (
+                <text style={{ wrapMode: 'word' }}>
+                  <span fg={theme.secondary}>
+                    Tip: Can't copy? Exit and run{' '}
+                  </span>
+                  <span fg={theme.primary}>codebuff login</span>
+                  <span fg={theme.secondary}>
+                    {' '}instead.
+                  </span>
+                </text>
+              )}
             </box>
           </box>
         )}

cli/src/index.tsx

@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import React from 'react'
 
 import { App } from './app'
 import { handlePublish } from './commands/publish'
+import { runPlainLogin } from './login/plain-login'
 import { initializeApp } from './init/init-app'
 import { getProjectRoot, setProjectRoot } from './project-files'
 import { initAnalytics, trackEvent } from './utils/analytics'
@@ -174,11 +175,18 @@ async function main(): Promise<void> {
     initialMode,
   } = parseArgs()
 
+  const isLoginCommand = process.argv[2] === 'login'
   const isPublishCommand = process.argv.includes('publish')
   const hasAgentOverride = Boolean(agent && agent.trim().length > 0)
 
   await initializeApp({ cwd })
 
+  // Handle login command before rendering the app
+  if (isLoginCommand) {
+    await runPlainLogin()
+    return
+  }
+
   // Show project picker only when user starts at the home directory or an ancestor
   const projectRoot = getProjectRoot()
   const homeDir = os.homedir()

cli/src/login/plain-login.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,92 @@
+import open from 'open'
+import { cyan, green, red, yellow, bold } from 'picocolors'
+
+import { WEBSITE_URL } from './constants'
+import { generateLoginUrl, pollLoginStatus } from './login-flow'
+import { generateFingerprintId } from './utils'
+import { saveUserCredentials } from '../utils/auth'
+import { logger } from '../utils/logger'
+
+import type { User } from '../utils/auth'
+
+/**
+ * Plain-text login flow that runs outside the TUI.
+ * Prints the login URL as plain text so the user can select and copy it
+ * using normal terminal text selection (Cmd+C / Ctrl+Shift+C).
+ *
+ * This is the escape hatch for remote/SSH environments where the TUI's
+ * clipboard and browser integration don't work.
+ */
+export async function runPlainLogin(): Promise<void> {
+  const fingerprintId = generateFingerprintId()
+
+  console.log()
+  console.log(bold('Codebuff Login'))
+  console.log()
+  console.log('Generating login URL...')
+
+  let loginData
+  try {
+    loginData = await generateLoginUrl(
+      { logger },
+      { baseUrl: WEBSITE_URL, fingerprintId },
+    )
+  } catch (error) {
+    console.error(
+      red(
+        `Failed to generate login URL: ${
+          error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error)
+        }`,
+      ),
+    )
+    process.exit(1)
+  }
+
+  console.log()
+  console.log('Open this URL in your browser to log in:')
+  console.log()
+  console.log(cyan(loginData.loginUrl))
+  console.log()
+
+  // Try to open browser, silently ignore failure (expected on remote servers)
+  try {
+    await open(loginData.loginUrl)
+    console.log(green('Browser opened. Waiting for login...'))
+  } catch {
+    console.log(yellow('Could not open browser — please open the URL above manually.'))
+  }
+
+  console.log()
+  console.log('Waiting for login...')
+
+  const sleep = (ms: number) =>
+    new Promise<void>((resolve) => {
+      setTimeout(resolve, ms)
+    })
+
+  const result = await pollLoginStatus(
+    { sleep, logger },
+    {
+      baseUrl: WEBSITE_URL,
+      fingerprintId,
+      fingerprintHash: loginData.fingerprintHash,
+      expiresAt: loginData.expiresAt,
+    },
+  )
+
+  if (result.status === 'success') {
+    const user = result.user as User
+    saveUserCredentials(user)
+    console.log()
+    console.log(green(`✓ Logged in as ${user.name} (${user.email})`))
+    console.log()
+    console.log('You can now run ' + cyan('codebuff') + ' to start.')
+    process.exit(0)
+  } else if (result.status === 'timeout') {
+    console.error(red('Login timed out. Please try again.'))
+    process.exit(1)
+  } else {
+    console.error(red('Login was aborted.'))
+    process.exit(1)
+  }
+}

cli/src/utils/clipboard.ts

@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ export function clearClipboardMessage() {
 // because the client terminal handles clipboard. Format: ESC ] 52 ; c ; <base64> BEL
 // tmux/screen require passthrough wrapping to forward the sequence.
 
-function isRemoteSession(): boolean {
+export function isRemoteSession(): boolean {
   const env = getCliEnv()
   return !!(env.SSH_CLIENT || env.SSH_TTY || env.SSH_CONNECTION)
 }