gannonh/electron

Electron App Automation

Automate any Electron desktop app using agent-browser. Electron apps are built on Chromium and expose a Chrome DevTools Protocol (CDP) port that agent-browser can connect to, enabling the same snapshot-interact workflow used for web pages.

Core Workflow

1. Launch the Electron app with remote debugging enabled
2. Connect agent-browser to the CDP port
3. Snapshot to discover interactive elements
4. Interact using element refs
5. Re-snapshot after navigation or state changes

# Launch an Electron app with remote debugging
open -a "Slack" --args --remote-debugging-port=9222

# Connect agent-browser to the app
agent-browser connect 9222

# Standard workflow from here
agent-browser snapshot -i
agent-browser click @e5
agent-browser screenshot slack-desktop.png

Launching Electron Apps with CDP

Every Electron app supports the --remote-debugging-port flag since it's built into Chromium.

macOS

# Slack
open -a "Slack" --args --remote-debugging-port=9222

# VS Code
open -a "Visual Studio Code" --args --remote-debugging-port=9223

# Discord
open -a "Discord" --args --remote-debugging-port=9224

# Figma
open -a "Figma" --args --remote-debugging-port=9225

# Notion
open -a "Notion" --args --remote-debugging-port=9226

# Spotify
open -a "Spotify" --args --remote-debugging-port=9227

Linux

slack --remote-debugging-port=9222
code --remote-debugging-port=9223
discord --remote-debugging-port=9224

Windows

"C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Local\slack\slack.exe" --remote-debugging-port=9222
"C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Code\Code.exe" --remote-debugging-port=9223

Important: If the app is already running, quit it first, then relaunch with the flag. The --remote-debugging-port flag must be present at launch time.

Connecting

# Connect to a specific port
agent-browser connect 9222

# Or use --cdp on each command
agent-browser --cdp 9222 snapshot -i

# Auto-discover a running Chromium-based app
agent-browser --auto-connect snapshot -i

After connect, all subsequent commands target the connected app without needing --cdp.

Tab Management

Electron apps often have multiple windows or webviews. Use tab commands to list and switch between them:

# List all available targets (windows, webviews, etc.)
agent-browser tab

# Switch to a specific tab by index
agent-browser tab 2

# Switch by URL pattern
agent-browser tab --url "*settings*"

Webview Support

Electron <webview> elements are automatically discovered and can be controlled like regular pages. Webviews appear as separate targets in the tab list with type: "webview":

# Connect to running Electron app
agent-browser connect 9222

# List targets -- webviews appear alongside pages
agent-browser tab
# Example output:
#   0: [page]    Slack - Main Window     https://app.slack.com/
#   1: [webview] Embedded Content        https://example.com/widget

# Switch to a webview
agent-browser tab 1

# Interact with the webview normally
agent-browser snapshot -i
agent-browser click @e3
agent-browser screenshot webview.png

Note: Webview support works via raw CDP connection.

Common Patterns

Inspect and Navigate an App

open -a "Slack" --args --remote-debugging-port=9222
sleep 3  # Wait for app to start
agent-browser connect 9222
agent-browser snapshot -i
# Read the snapshot output to identify UI elements
agent-browser click @e10  # Navigate to a section
agent-browser snapshot -i  # Re-snapshot after navigation

Take Screenshots of Desktop Apps

agent-browser connect 9222
agent-browser screenshot app-state.png
agent-browser screenshot --full full-app.png
agent-browser screenshot --annotate annotated-app.png

Extract Data from a Desktop App

agent-browser connect 9222
agent-browser snapshot -i
agent-browser get text @e5
agent-browser snapshot --json > app-state.json

Fill Forms in Desktop Apps

agent-browser connect 9222
agent-browser snapshot -i
agent-browser fill @e3 "search query"
agent-browser press Enter
agent-browser wait 1000
agent-browser snapshot -i

Run Multiple Apps Simultaneously

Use named sessions to control multiple Electron apps at the same time:

# Connect to Slack
agent-browser --session slack connect 9222

# Connect to VS Code
agent-browser --session vscode connect 9223

# Interact with each independently
agent-browser --session slack snapshot -i
agent-browser --session vscode snapshot -i

Color Scheme

The default color scheme when connecting via CDP may be light. To preserve dark mode:

agent-browser connect 9222
agent-browser --color-scheme dark snapshot -i

Or set it globally:

AGENT_BROWSER_COLOR_SCHEME=dark agent-browser connect 9222

Troubleshooting

"Connection refused" or "Cannot connect"

• Make sure the app was launched with --remote-debugging-port=NNNN
• If the app was already running, quit and relaunch with the flag
• Check that the port isn't in use by another process: lsof -i :9222

App launches but connect fails

• Wait a few seconds after launch before connecting (sleep 3)
• Some apps take time to initialize their webview

Elements not appearing in snapshot

• The app may use multiple webviews. Use agent-browser tab to list targets and switch to the right one

Cannot type in input fields

• Try agent-browser keyboard type "text" to type at the current focus without a selector
• Some Electron apps use custom input components; use agent-browser keyboard inserttext "text" to bypass key events

Supported Apps

Any app built on Electron works, including:

• Communication: Slack, Discord, Microsoft Teams, Signal, Telegram Desktop
• Development: VS Code, GitHub Desktop, Postman, Insomnia
• Design: Figma, Notion, Obsidian
• Media: Spotify, Tidal
• Productivity: Todoist, Linear, 1Password

If an app is built with Electron, it supports --remote-debugging-port and can be automated with agent-browser.