fix: make code <file> work in serve-web terminals

[venkatamutyala]

Problem

Running code <file> from the integrated terminal crashes:

[ERROR:ozone_platform_x11.cc] Missing X server or $DISPLAY
[ERROR:env.cc] The platform failed to initialize.  Exiting.

The apt code package installs the desktop (Electron) binary at /usr/bin/code. Our environments run VS Code via serve-web/tunnel with no X display, so that GUI binary can't start and dies. There's already a live IPC socket ($VSCODE_IPC_HOOK_CLI) and a proper CLI shim shipped inside the serve-web install (~/.vscode/cli/serve-web/<hash>/bin/remote-cli/code) — but it isn't what code resolves to on PATH.

Fix

Add a wrapper at $HOME/.local/bin/code (already first on the interactive PATH via the .zshrc/.bashrc line just below it) that forwards to the serve-web/remote-cli shim. The shim opens files in the already-running VS Code window via $VSCODE_IPC_HOOK_CLI — no display needed.

The wrapper:

1. Resolves the newest shim (ls -t) so it keeps working across VS Code updates when the <hash> changes. Also matches .vscode-server layouts (Remote-SSH / Codespaces), so it's a no-op improvement there. Exits with a clear message if no shim is present.
2. Recovers from a stale IPC socket after a reconnect. $VSCODE_IPC_HOOK_CLI is captured when the shell starts, so after a container/server restart it can name a socket that no longer exists. Only when that socket is gone, the wrapper falls back to the most recently created /tmp/vscode-ipc-*.sock. A still-present socket is left untouched, so routing stays correct when multiple windows (each with its own socket) are connected. Dependency-free, no double-invocation of code.

Only affects interactive shells. Build-time code --install-extension runs under /bin/sh (which doesn't include ~/.local/bin) and still resolves to /usr/bin/code, so image builds are unaffected.

Testing

Simulated the exact Dockerfile printf and verified the generated ~/.local/bin/code is byte-correct and passes sh -n, then exercised every path against a live serve-web session (3 sockets present in /tmp, i.e. a real multi-window case):

• Valid env socket → opens the file, exit 0; env socket left untouched.
• Stale socket ($VSCODE_IPC_HOOK_CLI pointed at a non-existent path) → falls back to newest socket, opens the file, exit 0.
• Unset socket → falls back to newest socket, opens the file, exit 0.
• No shim (empty $HOME) → clear error message, exit 1.
• Reproduced the original crash with /usr/bin/code <file> for comparison.

🤖 Generated with Claude Code