An ophthalmic laser surgical system, comprising: a chassis comprising a pulsed laser source configured to generate a laser beam of laser pulses; a gantry coupled to the chassis, wherein the position of the gantry with respect to the chassis is adjustable; a reference interface coupled to the gantry, the reference interface comprising an attachment interface configured to couple to a patient interface for docking with an eye, wherein the attachment interface is attached to or integrated in the reference interface, and wherein the attachment interface is located at a distal portion of the reference interface; and an optical head unit coupled to the reference interface and mounted on an optical head positioning stage wherein the optical head positioning stage is configured to position the optical head unit at different positions, and wherein the optical, head unit is configured to direct the laser beam to the eye and wherein the optical head unit comprises: a laser scanner (206, 208) configured to scan the scan the laser beam of pulsed laser pulses to a target region of an eye docked to the patient interface; and a beam splitter configured to multiplex the scanned laser beam of pulsed laser pulses with an imaging beam path of an external imaging system (102, 106); and wherein the gantry is configured to support and move the reference interface relative to the laser chassis; the reference interface is configured to move to a first reference interface position in which the attachment interface is proximal to the chassis and a second reference interface position in which the attachment interface is distal from the chassis; the optical head unit is configured to move to a first optical head unit position near a proximal end of the reference interface, withdrawn towards chassis and a second optical head unit position which is a lockable surgical position near a distal end of the reference interface near the attachment interface; and the optical head positioning stage, on which the optical head unit is mounted, is configured to move relative to the reference interface, which is configured to couple to a patient interface. a chassis comprising a pulsed laser source configured to generate a laser beam of laser pulses; a gantry coupled to the chassis, wherein the position of the gantry with respect to the chassis is adjustable; a reference interface coupled to the gantry, the reference interface comprising an attachment interface configured to couple to a patient interface for docking with an eye, wherein the attachment interface is attached to or integrated in the reference interface, and wherein the attachment interface is located at a distal portion of the reference interface; and an optical head unit coupled to the reference interface and mounted on an optical head positioning stage wherein the optical head positioning stage is configured to position the optical head unit at different positions, and wherein the optical, head unit is configured to direct the laser beam to the eye and wherein the optical head unit comprises: a laser scanner (206, 208) configured to scan the scan the laser beam of pulsed laser pulses to a target region of an eye docked to the patient interface; and a beam splitter configured to multiplex the scanned laser beam of pulsed laser pulses with an imaging beam path of an external imaging system (102, 106); and wherein a laser scanner (206, 208) configured to scan the scan the laser beam of pulsed laser pulses to a target region of an eye docked to the patient interface; and a beam splitter configured to multiplex the scanned laser beam of pulsed laser pulses with an imaging beam path of an external imaging system (102, 106); and wherein the gantry is configured to support and move the reference interface relative to the laser chassis; the reference interface is configured to move to a first reference interface position in which the attachment interface is proximal to the chassis and a second reference interface position in which the attachment interface is distal from the chassis; the optical head unit is configured to move to a first optical head unit position near a proximal end of the reference interface, withdrawn towards chassis and a second optical head unit position which is a lockable surgical position near a distal end of the reference interface near the attachment interface; and the optical head positioning stage, on which the optical head unit is mounted, is configured to move relative to the reference interface, which is configured to couple to a patient interface.