desktop-app-flows

name	desktop-app-flows
description	Understand and explore the Omi desktop macOS app's UI flows, navigation patterns, and SwiftUI architecture. Use when developing features, fixing bugs, or verifying changes in desktop/ Swift files. Provides agent-swift commands to explore the live app, understand how screens connect, and verify your work. Use when this capability is needed.
metadata	{"author":"BasedHardware"}

Omi Desktop App — Flows & Exploration

This skill teaches you the Omi desktop macOS app's navigation structure, screen architecture, and SwiftUI patterns. Use it when developing features (to understand how the app works), fixing bugs (to navigate to the affected screen), or verifying changes (to confirm your code works in the live app).

Fast-Path for Local Iteration (start here)

Two things make iterating on the desktop app slow: signing in (web OAuth) and clicking through the UI to reach a screen. Both are solved — use these before reaching for agent-swift.

1. Skip the web login (seed auth/settings once, reuse forever)

Dev/named bundles store auth and common developer settings in UserDefaults (not Keychain), so a signed-in session and shortcuts can be cloned between bundles. Sign in once in "Omi Dev", then replay it into any test bundle:

cd desktop/macos
./scripts/omi-auth-dump.sh                                  # capture Omi Dev's session -> tmp/desktop-auth.json
./scripts/omi-auth-seed.sh com.omi.omi-myfeature           # replay into a named bundle (run BEFORE launch)
./scripts/omi-settings-seed.sh com.omi.omi-myfeature       # replay shortcuts/settings

The seeded bundle boots already signed-in and past onboarding, with Omi Dev's shortcuts/settings — no browser. The captured Firebase idToken expires (~1h); re-run omi-auth-dump.sh after signing in again if backend calls start 401ing. Scope: this is for dev iteration only — when validating the onboarding or auth flows themselves (or running flow-walker E2E), use the real flow per Guard Conditions below.

2. Jump straight to any screen (automation bridge)

The app runs a local HTTP control bridge (DesktopAutomationBridge.swift) that auto-enables on every non-production bundle (off on prod). scripts/omi-ctl drives it — jump to a screen in ~150ms instead of clicking through the sidebar:

./scripts/omi-ctl wait-ready                 # block until app reaches "main" state
./scripts/omi-ctl navigate rewind            # jump to the Rewind screen
./scripts/omi-ctl navigate settings rewind   # Settings page, Rewind sub-section
./scripts/omi-ctl state                       # read selected tab / auth / onboarding state as JSON
./scripts/omi-ctl screens                     # list valid targets

Disable with OMI_DISABLE_LOCAL_AUTOMATION=1 to run a dev build "clean". Running several named bundles at once? Give each its own OMI_AUTOMATION_PORT (default 47777).

2b. Run semantic actions (cursor-free, in-process)

Beyond navigation, the bridge exposes named actions that invoke the app's real code paths directly — no synthetic mouse events, so they never grab the cursor (the deterministic equivalent of the Flutter app's Marionette driver). Prefer these over agent-swift click/coordinate clicking for anything they cover.

./scripts/omi-ctl actions                          # discover available actions + params
./scripts/omi-ctl action refresh_all_data          # same as Cmd+R
./scripts/omi-ctl action toggle_transcription enabled=false

Add new actions in DesktopAutomationActionRegistry (registerBuiltins() for global ones, or register(name:summary:params:handler:) from a view model for screen-scoped ones). GET /actions lists them; POST /action {name, params} runs one and returns the resulting state snapshot.

The full loop

cd desktop/macos
OMI_APP_NAME="omi-myfeature" ./run.sh &                 # build + launch once
./scripts/omi-auth-seed.sh com.omi.omi-myfeature        # (first run, or after re-dump) — relaunch to apply
./scripts/omi-settings-seed.sh com.omi.omi-myfeature    # copy shortcuts/settings from Omi Dev
./scripts/omi-ctl wait-ready
./scripts/omi-ctl navigate memories                      # jump to the screen you changed
agent-swift connect --bundle-id com.omi.omi-myfeature    # then drive/inspect with agent-swift
agent-swift snapshot -i --json

After a code change, an incremental xcrun swift build + relaunch is fast — the slow parts (login, navigation) are gone. For pure visual checks without launching at all, SwiftUI snapshot tests are an option, but most pages are entangled with AppState.shared/Firebase singletons, so the live-app bridge loop above is usually the better path.

How to Explore the App

You can interact with the running app via agent-swift — a CLI that clicks elements, reads the accessibility tree, and captures screenshots through the macOS Accessibility API. Works with any macOS app, no app-side instrumentation needed.

Setup

# App must be running via ./run.sh from desktop/macos/
agent-swift doctor                                   # check Accessibility permission
agent-swift connect --bundle-id com.omi.desktop-dev  # connect to Omi Dev
agent-swift snapshot -i --json                       # see what's on screen

Commands

Command	Purpose	Example
snapshot -i --json	See all interactive elements with refs, types, labels	agent-swift snapshot -i --json
click @ref	CGEvent click — SwiftUI elements (NavigationLink, gestures)	agent-swift click @e3
press @ref	AXPress — AppKit buttons, Settings sidebar items	agent-swift press @e5
find role/text/key VALUE	Find element and chain action	agent-swift find text "Settings" click
fill @ref "text"	Type into text field	agent-swift fill @e7 "search"
scroll down/up	Scroll current view	agent-swift scroll down
wait text "X"	Wait for element to appear	agent-swift wait text "Loading" --timeout 5000
is exists @ref	Assert element exists (exit 0/1)	agent-swift is exists @e3
get PROP @ref	Read property value	agent-swift get value @e5 --json
screenshot PATH	Capture app window	agent-swift screenshot /tmp/screen.png

Key rules:

• click = CGEvent mouse click (SwiftUI). Use for main sidebar icons, NavigationLink.
• press = AXPress action (AppKit). Use for Settings sidebar sections.
• Refs go stale after any mutation — always re-snapshot before the next interaction.
• find with chained action is more stable than hardcoded @ref numbers.
• --json flag on any command gives structured output for parsing.

App Navigation Architecture

Screen Map

Main Window
├── Sidebar (SidebarView.swift) — use `click`
│   ├── Home (DesktopHomeView.swift)
│   ├── Conversation (ChatSessionsSidebar.swift)
│   ├── brain → Memories
│   ├── checklist → Action Items
│   ├── puzzlepiece.fill → Integrations
│   └── gearshape.fill → Settings
│
└── Settings (SettingsPage.swift) — use `press` for sidebar sections
    ├── General — app preferences
    ├── Rewind — screenshot/timeline settings
    ├── Transcription — Language Mode (Auto-Detect / Single Language)
    │   └── Language picker (popupbutton or button)
    ├── Notifications — alert preferences
    ├── Privacy — data settings
    ├── Account — user info
    ├── AI Chat — chat model settings
    ├── Advanced — developer options
    └── About — version info

System Tray Menu
├── openOmi — Open Omi
├── checkFor — Check for Updates
├── resetOnb — Reset Onboarding
├── reportIs — Report Issue
├── signOut — Sign Out
└── quitApp — Quit

Interaction Patterns

Main sidebar navigation:

• Icons are image type elements with accessibility identifiers: sidebar_dashboard, sidebar_chat, sidebar_memories, sidebar_tasks, sidebar_rewind, sidebar_apps, sidebar_settings
• Use find key sidebar_dashboard click for reliable navigation (survives UI changes)
• Keyboard shortcuts: Cmd+1 (Dashboard), Cmd+2 (Chat), Cmd+3 (Memories), Cmd+4 (Tasks), Cmd+5 (Rewind), Cmd+6 (Apps), Cmd+, (Settings)
• Use click — these are SwiftUI views with onTapGesture

Settings sidebar navigation:

• Sections are button type elements with section name labels
• Use press — these are SwiftUI Button views that respond to AXPress

Transcription language mode:

• Two radio-button-style options: "Auto-Detect Multi-Language" and "Single Language Better Accuracy"
• click on the text to switch modes
• Single Language mode shows a language picker (popupbutton)
• Click popupbutton → menu items appear as menuitem elements

System tray menu:

• Menu items have identifier prefixes for detection
• Access via snapshot --json (includes menu bar items)

Known Flows

Reference flows in desktop/macos/e2e/flows/*.yaml describe the app's key user journeys. Read these to understand navigation paths, expected elements, and UI state at each step.

Flow	Covers	Steps	Report
flows/navigation.yaml	SidebarView, DesktopHomeView	6/6 PASS	report
flows/dashboard.yaml	DashboardPage, GoalsWidget, TasksWidget	3/6 (3 skipped)	report
flows/chat.yaml	ChatPage, ChatProvider	5/5 PASS	report
flows/memories.yaml	MemoriesPage, MemoryGraphPage	5/6 (1 skipped)	report
flows/tasks.yaml	TasksPage, TasksStore	4/5 (1 skipped)	report
flows/settings.yaml	SettingsPage, SettingsSidebar	9/9 PASS	report
flows/language.yaml	SettingsPage, SettingsSidebar	5 steps	—
flows/rewind.yaml	RewindPage	4/4 PASS	report
flows/apps.yaml	IntegrationsPage	6/6 PASS	report
flows/refer.yaml	ReferPage	3/3 PASS	report
flows/screen-recording-permission.yaml	RewindPage, ScreenCaptureService, PermissionsPage	7/7 PASS	report
flows/audio-recording.yaml	ConversationsPage, AudioCaptureService, AppState

When you modify a Swift file, check if any flow's covers: includes it. That flow describes the user journey your change affects.

Adding a New Flow

Create desktop/macos/e2e/flows/<name>.yaml in v2 format:

version: 2
name: my-flow
description: What this flow covers
app: com.omi.computer-macos
covers:
  - desktop/Desktop/Sources/path/to/YourView.swift
preconditions:
  - auth_ready
steps:
  - id: S1
    name: Step description
    do: "Click the element (identifier: my_element). Verify the page loads."
    expect:
      interactive_count: { min: 5 }
      text_visible:
        - Expected Text

Important: Always use quoted strings for do: fields (not YAML > or |).

Verification & Evidence

After making changes, verify them in the live app:

1. Navigate to the affected screen using the commands above
2. Check that your changes appear (snapshot, screenshot)
3. Test interactions (click buttons, fill fields, scroll)
4. Capture evidence: agent-swift screenshot /tmp/evidence.png
5. Generate video: ffmpeg -framerate 1 -pattern_type glob -i '/tmp/e2e-*.png' -vf "scale=1280:720:force_original_aspect_ratio=decrease,pad=1280:720:-1:-1" -c:v libx264 -pix_fmt yuv420p /tmp/report.mp4

Decision Tree

Problem	Solution
Element not found	Re-snapshot, try scrolling, check if on wrong screen
Click doesn't navigate	Try press instead (Settings sidebar = press, main sidebar = click)
Picker not responding	SwiftUI Picker .menu style may not expose as popupbutton — look for button with value label
App seems frozen	Check agent-swift status --json, re-connect, check /private/tmp/omi-dev.log

Guard Conditions

NEVER:

• Kill or restart the production Omi app
• Enable the automation bridge or seed auth on the production bundle (com.omi.computer-macos) — both are gated to non-production builds; keep it that way
• Modify source code to make tests pass — report the failure instead

When validating auth or onboarding themselves, or running flow-walker E2E: drive the real flows — do NOT use the seeded-auth / hasCompletedOnboarding fast-path, which exists only for iterating on other screens. The beta app (com.omi.computer-macos) is the standard target for flow-walker E2E testing; the dev app (com.omi.desktop-dev) and named omi-* bundles are for local development only.

---

Source: BasedHardware/omi — distributed by TomeVault.