Open terminal URLs in preview or browser

apps/desktop/src/preview.ts

@@ -4,7 +4,11 @@ import type {
   DesktopPreviewErrorCode,
   DesktopPreviewState,
 } from "@okcode/contracts";
-import { sanitizeLocalPreviewBounds, validateLocalPreviewUrl } from "@okcode/shared/preview";
+import {
+  sanitizeLocalPreviewBounds,
+  validateHttpPreviewUrl,
+  validateLocalPreviewUrl,
+} from "@okcode/shared/preview";
 
 const CLOSED_PREVIEW_STATE: DesktopPreviewState = {
   status: "closed",
@@ -38,6 +42,16 @@ export function createPreviewErrorState(
 
 export function validateDesktopPreviewUrl(
   rawUrl: unknown,
+): { ok: true; url: string } | { ok: false; error: DesktopPreviewError } {
+  return validateHttpPreviewUrl(rawUrl);
+}
+
+/**
+ * Stricter validation that only allows localhost URLs.
+ * Kept for contexts where only local dev servers should be previewed.
+ */
+export function validateDesktopLocalPreviewUrl(
+  rawUrl: unknown,
 ): { ok: true; url: string } | { ok: false; error: DesktopPreviewError } {
   return validateLocalPreviewUrl(rawUrl);
 }

apps/web/src/appSettings.ts

@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@ export const AppSettingsSchema = Schema.Struct({
   confirmThreadDelete: Schema.Boolean.pipe(withDefaults(() => true)),
   diffWordWrap: Schema.Boolean.pipe(withDefaults(() => false)),
   enableAssistantStreaming: Schema.Boolean.pipe(withDefaults(() => false)),
+  openLinksExternally: Schema.Boolean.pipe(withDefaults(() => false)),
   sidebarProjectSortOrder: SidebarProjectSortOrder.pipe(
     withDefaults(() => DEFAULT_SIDEBAR_PROJECT_SORT_ORDER),
   ),

apps/web/src/components/ChatView.tsx

@@ -273,6 +273,7 @@ export default function ChatView({ threadId }: ChatViewProps) {
   const setPreviewDock = usePreviewStateStore((state) => state.setThreadDock);
   const togglePreviewLayout = usePreviewStateStore((state) => state.toggleThreadLayout);
   const setPreviewSize = usePreviewStateStore((state) => state.setThreadSize);
+  const setPreviewProjectUrl = usePreviewStateStore((state) => state.setProjectUrl);
   const previewSplitRef = useRef<HTMLDivElement | null>(null);
   const previewResizeStateRef = useRef<{
     pointerId: number;
@@ -1285,6 +1286,17 @@ export default function ChatView({ threadId }: ChatViewProps) {
     },
     [activeThread, composerCursor, composerTerminalContexts, insertComposerDraftTerminalContext],
   );
+  const handlePreviewUrl = useCallback(
+    (url: string) => {
+      if (!activeProject || !activeThread) return;
+      setPreviewProjectUrl(activeProject.id, url);
+      setPreviewOpen(activeThread.id, true);
+    },
+    [activeProject, activeThread, setPreviewProjectUrl, setPreviewOpen],
+  );
+  const openLinksExternally = settings.openLinksExternally;
+  const onPreviewUrl =
+    isElectron && activeProject && !openLinksExternally ? handlePreviewUrl : undefined;
   const setTerminalOpen = useCallback(
     (open: boolean) => {
       if (!activeThreadId) return;
@@ -4643,6 +4655,7 @@ export default function ChatView({ threadId }: ChatViewProps) {
             onCloseTerminal={closeTerminal}
             onHeightChange={setTerminalHeight}
             onAddTerminalContext={addTerminalContextToDraft}
+            onPreviewUrl={onPreviewUrl}
           />
         );
       })()}

apps/web/src/components/PreviewPanel.tsx

@@ -9,7 +9,8 @@ import {
   XIcon,
 } from "lucide-react";
 
-import { readDesktopPreviewBridge, validateLocalPreviewUrl } from "~/desktopPreview";
+import { readDesktopPreviewBridge } from "~/desktopPreview";
+import { validateHttpPreviewUrl } from "@okcode/shared/preview";
 import { readNativeApi } from "~/nativeApi";
 import { usePreviewStateStore } from "~/previewStateStore";
 
@@ -35,7 +36,7 @@ export function resolvePreviewStatusCopy(state: DesktopPreviewState): string {
     case "ready":
       return state.url ? `Rendering ${state.url}` : "Preview ready.";
     case "closed":
-      return "Enter a localhost URL to preview your app inside OK Code.";
+      return "Enter a URL to preview inside OK Code.";
     case "error":
       return "Preview failed.";
   }
@@ -186,7 +187,7 @@ export function PreviewPanel({ threadId, projectId, projectName, onClose }: Prev
 
   const onSubmit = (event: FormEvent<HTMLFormElement>) => {
     event.preventDefault();
-    const validatedUrl = validateLocalPreviewUrl(inputUrl);
+    const validatedUrl = validateHttpPreviewUrl(inputUrl);
     if (!validatedUrl.ok) {
       setInputError(validatedUrl.error.message);
       return;

apps/web/src/components/ThreadTerminalDrawer.tsx

@@ -188,6 +188,7 @@ interface TerminalViewportProps {
   runtimeEnv?: Record<string, string>;
   onSessionExited: () => void;
   onAddTerminalContext: (selection: TerminalContextSelection) => void;
+  onPreviewUrl?: ((url: string) => void) | undefined;
   focusRequestId: number;
   autoFocus: boolean;
   resizeEpoch: number;
@@ -202,6 +203,7 @@ function TerminalViewport({
   runtimeEnv,
   onSessionExited,
   onAddTerminalContext,
+  onPreviewUrl,
   focusRequestId,
   autoFocus,
   resizeEpoch,
@@ -212,6 +214,7 @@ function TerminalViewport({
   const fitAddonRef = useRef<FitAddon | null>(null);
   const onSessionExitedRef = useRef(onSessionExited);
   const onAddTerminalContextRef = useRef(onAddTerminalContext);
+  const onPreviewUrlRef = useRef(onPreviewUrl);
   const terminalLabelRef = useRef(terminalLabel);
   const hasHandledExitRef = useRef(false);
   const selectionPointerRef = useRef<{ x: number; y: number } | null>(null);
@@ -228,6 +231,10 @@ function TerminalViewport({
     onAddTerminalContextRef.current = onAddTerminalContext;
   }, [onAddTerminalContext]);
 
+  useEffect(() => {
+    onPreviewUrlRef.current = onPreviewUrl;
+  }, [onPreviewUrl]);
+
   useEffect(() => {
     terminalLabelRef.current = terminalLabel;
   }, [terminalLabel]);
@@ -393,12 +400,17 @@ function TerminalViewport({
               if (!latestTerminal) return;
 
               if (match.kind === "url") {
-                void api.shell.openExternal(match.text).catch((error) => {
-                  writeSystemMessage(
-                    latestTerminal,
-                    error instanceof Error ? error.message : "Unable to open link",
-                  );
-                });
+                const previewHandler = onPreviewUrlRef.current;
+                if (previewHandler) {
+                  previewHandler(match.text);
+                } else {
+                  void api.shell.openExternal(match.text).catch((error) => {
+                    writeSystemMessage(
+                      latestTerminal,
+                      error instanceof Error ? error.message : "Unable to open link",
+                    );
+                  });
+                }
                 return;
               }
 
@@ -662,6 +674,7 @@ interface ThreadTerminalDrawerProps {
   onCloseTerminal: (terminalId: string) => void;
   onHeightChange: (height: number) => void;
   onAddTerminalContext: (selection: TerminalContextSelection) => void;
+  onPreviewUrl?: ((url: string) => void) | undefined;
 }
 
 interface TerminalActionButtonProps {
@@ -712,6 +725,7 @@ export default function ThreadTerminalDrawer({
   onCloseTerminal,
   onHeightChange,
   onAddTerminalContext,
+  onPreviewUrl,
 }: ThreadTerminalDrawerProps) {
   const [drawerHeight, setDrawerHeight] = useState(() => clampDrawerHeight(height));
   const [resizeEpoch, setResizeEpoch] = useState(0);
@@ -1013,6 +1027,7 @@ export default function ThreadTerminalDrawer({
                         {...(runtimeEnv ? { runtimeEnv } : {})}
                         onSessionExited={() => onCloseTerminal(terminalId)}
                         onAddTerminalContext={onAddTerminalContext}
+                        onPreviewUrl={onPreviewUrl}
                         focusRequestId={focusRequestId}
                         autoFocus={terminalId === resolvedActiveTerminalId}
                         resizeEpoch={resizeEpoch}
@@ -1033,6 +1048,7 @@ export default function ThreadTerminalDrawer({
                   {...(runtimeEnv ? { runtimeEnv } : {})}
                   onSessionExited={() => onCloseTerminal(resolvedActiveTerminalId)}
                   onAddTerminalContext={onAddTerminalContext}
+                  onPreviewUrl={onPreviewUrl}
                   focusRequestId={focusRequestId}
                   autoFocus
                   resizeEpoch={resizeEpoch}

apps/web/src/desktopPreview.ts

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import type { DesktopBridge } from "@okcode/contracts";
-import { validateLocalPreviewUrl } from "@okcode/shared/preview";
+import { validateHttpPreviewUrl, validateLocalPreviewUrl } from "@okcode/shared/preview";
 
 export function readDesktopPreviewBridge(): DesktopBridge["preview"] | null {
   if (typeof window === "undefined") {
@@ -12,4 +12,4 @@ export function canUseDesktopPreview(): boolean {
   return readDesktopPreviewBridge() !== null;
 }
 
-export { validateLocalPreviewUrl };
+export { validateHttpPreviewUrl, validateLocalPreviewUrl };

apps/web/src/routes/_chat.settings.tsx

@@ -258,6 +258,9 @@ function SettingsRouteView() {
     ...(settings.enableAssistantStreaming !== defaults.enableAssistantStreaming
       ? ["Assistant output"]
       : []),
+    ...(settings.openLinksExternally !== defaults.openLinksExternally
+      ? ["Open links externally"]
+      : []),
     ...(settings.defaultThreadEnvMode !== defaults.defaultThreadEnvMode ? ["New thread mode"] : []),
     ...(settings.confirmThreadDelete !== defaults.confirmThreadDelete
       ? ["Delete confirmation"]
@@ -559,6 +562,34 @@ function SettingsRouteView() {
                 }
               />
 
+              <SettingsRow
+                title="Open links externally"
+                description="Open terminal URLs in your default browser instead of the embedded preview panel."
+                resetAction={
+                  settings.openLinksExternally !== defaults.openLinksExternally ? (
+                    <SettingResetButton
+                      label="open links externally"
+                      onClick={() =>
+                        updateSettings({
+                          openLinksExternally: defaults.openLinksExternally,
+                        })
+                      }
+                    />
+                  ) : null
+                }
+                control={
+                  <Switch
+                    checked={settings.openLinksExternally}
+                    onCheckedChange={(checked) =>
+                      updateSettings({
+                        openLinksExternally: Boolean(checked),
+                      })
+                    }
+                    aria-label="Open links externally"
+                  />
+                }
+              />
+
               <SettingsRow
                 title="New threads"
                 description="Pick the default workspace mode for newly created draft threads."

packages/shared/src/preview.ts

@@ -52,6 +52,41 @@ export function validateLocalPreviewUrl(
   return { ok: true, url: parsedUrl.toString() };
 }
 
+/**
+ * Validates any http or https URL for use in the embedded preview panel.
+ * This is less restrictive than `validateLocalPreviewUrl` – it accepts any
+ * valid http/https URL, not only localhost addresses.
+ */
+export function validateHttpPreviewUrl(
+  rawUrl: unknown,
+): { ok: true; url: string } | { ok: false; error: DesktopPreviewError } {
+  if (typeof rawUrl !== "string" || rawUrl.trim().length === 0) {
+    return {
+      ok: false,
+      error: makePreviewError("invalid-url", "Preview URL must be a non-empty string."),
+    };
+  }
+
+  let parsedUrl: URL;
+  try {
+    parsedUrl = new URL(rawUrl);
+  } catch {
+    return {
+      ok: false,
+      error: makePreviewError("invalid-url", "Preview URL is not a valid URL."),
+    };
+  }
+
+  if (parsedUrl.protocol !== "http:" && parsedUrl.protocol !== "https:") {
+    return {
+      ok: false,
+      error: makePreviewError("invalid-url", "Preview only supports http and https URLs."),
+    };
+  }
+
+  return { ok: true, url: parsedUrl.toString() };
+}
+
 export function sanitizeLocalPreviewBounds(bounds: DesktopPreviewBounds): DesktopPreviewBounds {
   const width = Number.isFinite(bounds.width) ? Math.max(0, Math.round(bounds.width)) : 0;
   const height = Number.isFinite(bounds.height) ? Math.max(0, Math.round(bounds.height)) : 0;