This guide walks you through your first time using Coder — the team's online coding tool that runs VS Code (Visual Studio Code, a popular code editor) right inside your browser tab, with everything pre-installed for FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) robot programming. You won't install anything; the whole thing runs in a browser.

Most students start on their school-issued iPad using Safari (or Chrome). If you have a laptop and prefer to use it, that works too — the steps are the same. If you get stuck on any step, ask a mentor (one of the adult coaches in the room). The screens may have moved slightly since this was written.

Before you start

You need:

• Your school iPad, or a laptop / Chromebook with a modern browser.
• Your Zitadel username and one-time password. Zitadel is the team's login server — one account gets you into Coder, Forgejo, and everything else. If you don't have a username and password yet, ask a mentor; accounts are created by hand, so there is no sign-up button.

Tip for iPad users: A Bluetooth keyboard makes everything below dramatically easier — typing code on the on-screen keyboard works, but it's slow and the editor scrolls awkwardly. The team has a few loaner keyboards if you don't have one.

Step 1 — Set your password

1. Open Safari (or Chrome) and go to https://login.bert133.dev.
2. Type the username your mentor gave you. Tap Next.
3. Type the one-time password. Tap Next.
4. The site will tell you that you need to choose a new password. Pick something:
   • At least 8 characters
   • Mix of upper- and lower-case letters
   • At least one number
   • Don't reuse a password you use elsewhere
5. Type the new password twice and submit.

You're now logged in to your account dashboard. Keep this tab open — leaving it open keeps you signed in for the rest of the steps.

Recommended (not required): While you're here, add a second factor (an authenticator app like Google Authenticator, or a passkey on your phone). Look for a section called "Multi-Factor" or "Authenticators" on your profile page. Adding a second factor means even if someone learns your password, they still can't get into your account.

Step 2 — Log in to Coder

1. In a new tab, go to https://code.bert133.dev.
2. You'll see a login screen. Tap the button that says "Sign in with BERT 133" — that's the single sign-on option (the same Zitadel login you set up in Step 1), not the username and password fields underneath it.

3. Because you're already logged in to Zitadel from Step 1, you'll be sent straight to Coder. No need to type your password again.

You should now see the Coder dashboard with two main areas: Workspaces (empty for now) and Templates.

Step 3 — Connect Coder to Forgejo

Your Coder workspace needs permission to read and write the team's code on Forgejo — the website where the team stores all of its code. (You'll see and use it directly later when you open a pull request.) You only do this once.

1. Tap your profile icon in the top-right corner of the Coder dashboard, then choose Account (or Settings).

2. In the left sidebar, tap External Authentication.
3. Find the entry for Gitea in the list (this is the team's Forgejo server — Forgejo is built on Gitea, so Coder labels the button Gitea). Tap it.

4. A new window pops up on forge.bert133.dev. Choose Sign in with BERT 133, then confirm that you want to authenticate.

5. The window closes and you're sent back to Coder. The Gitea entry should now say Authenticated next to it.

If you skip this step, your workspace will still open, but commands like git push will fail because Coder won't have credentials to talk to Forgejo on your behalf.

Step 4 — Create your workspace

A workspace is your personal cloud computer. It runs on the team's server and gives you a copy of VS Code with all the FRC tools already installed. Think of it like a school laptop that lives in the cloud — you can open it from any browser and your files stay where you left them.

1. From the Coder dashboard, tap Workspaces in the top nav, then Create Workspace (or tap the big + New workspace button).
2. You'll see a list of templates. Pick the one named frc-2026 (or whichever year matches the current competition season — ask a mentor if you're unsure).

3. Give your workspace a name. Use only letters, numbers, and hyphens. Something simple like robot or my-workspace is fine. You can't change this later.
4. You may see other settings (disk size, repo URL). The defaults are fine. Leave them alone unless a mentor told you otherwise.
5. Tap Create Workspace at the bottom.

Coder now builds your workspace. This takes about 2–5 minutes the first time. You'll see a progress log scroll by — that's normal. You don't need to do anything; just wait until the status changes to Running.

Step 5 — Open VS Code

Once your workspace says Running:

1. On the workspace page, find the row of buttons or icons labeled with apps. One of them says code-server — that's the version of VS Code that runs in a browser tab. It has a blue VS Code icon.
2. Tap code-server. A new browser tab opens.

3. After a few seconds you'll see the VS Code interface — file explorer on the left, a welcome page in the middle.

You're in. This is VS Code, running in your browser, on the team's server. Everything you save is stored on the server (in your /home/coder folder) and will still be there next time you log in.

Stopping and starting your workspace

You don't have to leave your workspace running 24/7. To save the team's resources:

• Stop when you're done coding for the day. From the Coder dashboard, find your workspace and tap Stop. Your files are saved.

• Start the next time you want to code. Tap Start on the workspace. It comes back up in about a minute with all your work intact.
• Don't tap Delete — that erases your files permanently.

Coder will also stop your workspace automatically if you forget and walk away (idle for several hours).

What's next?

Now that you have a workspace, learn how to save your code changes back to the team's repository: Your first Git workflow.