| name | verify |
| description | Verify desktop-app UI changes by launching the Electron dev app and driving it over CDP (screenshots, clicks, JS eval). Use when a change to packages/desktop needs runtime/visual verification. |
Verify packages/desktop changes in the running app
Launch
From packages/desktop, run npm run dev in the background. The main process
(electron/main/index.ts) auto-enables CDP on port 9223 in dev — no extra
flags needed.
Gotchas:
- Check for leftovers first:
lsof -nP -iTCP:9223 -iTCP:5173 -sTCP:LISTEN.
A previous dev instance (possibly the user's) may hold 9223; a second launch
then fails to bind CDP with bind() failed: Address already in use but still
opens a window you can't drive. A leftover with an empty /json/list is
a windowless instance (macOS keeps the app alive after the window closes).
- Port 9222 is usually the user's Chrome — don't use it.
- Wait for a
"type": "page" target to appear before driving (~10s).
- Don't
echo === in zsh compound commands — zsh treats =word as path
expansion and kills the rest of the command.
Drive
Node ≥22 has a global WebSocket client, so a dependency-free CDP driver works.
A ready-made one may exist from a past session; otherwise recreate cdp.mjs
with commands: targets, eval <js> (Runtime.evaluate with awaitPromise),
shot <file.png> (Page.captureScreenshot), clicktext <button text>, and
tap <x> <y> (Input.dispatchMouseEvent pressed+released).
- Open Settings: dispatch ONE synthetic Cmd+, keydown on
window
(new KeyboardEvent("keydown", {key: ",", metaKey: true, bubbles: true})).
Dispatching on both window and document toggles it twice.
- Base UI Switch: synthetic
label.click() does NOT toggle it (the htmlFor
target is Base UI's hidden input). Use a trusted tap at the label's
coordinates, or switchEl.click() on the [role=switch] element.
- Rows re-sort after toggles (enabled/available lists) — re-query coordinates
before every tap; never tap the same coordinates twice.
Restore state
Toggles persist to ~/Accountant24/app-settings.json immediately. If probing
changed enabledModels / analyticsEnabled, restore the file afterwards
(all-models-enabled is stored as enabledModels: []). Kill your dev instance
when done: pkill -f "accountant24/node_modules/electron" and
pkill -f "accountant24/node_modules/.bin/electron-vite".
