run-citadel

name	run-citadel
description	Launch and drive the Citadel Tauri desktop app to verify changes — start the dev build, then drive it headlessly via the embedded WebDriver plugin (DOM queries, clicks, typing, screenshots over plain HTTP), or via Orca computer-use for native-chrome interactions. Use when asked to run the app, verify a UI or backend change end-to-end, screenshot Citadel, or test the desktop app. Use when this capability is needed.
metadata	{"author":"every-day-things"}

Running and driving Citadel (Tauri) for verification

Launch

bun run dev   # run with run_in_background: true

This runs tauri dev --config src-tauri/tauri.dev.conf.json: Vite serves the frontend at http://localhost:1420, then cargo builds and runs the desktop shell (target/debug/citadel-rs). Incremental Rust rebuild is ~30s; a cold build takes minutes. The app is up once the output shows Running \/Users/phil/dev/citadel/target/debug/citadel-rs``.

Hot reload is automatic both ways: frontend edits apply via Vite HMR; edits under src-tauri/ or crates/libcalibre/ trigger a cargo rebuild and app restart. You usually don't need to relaunch anything after editing code.

Primary method: embedded WebDriver plugin (fully background)

Debug builds embed tauri-plugin-webdriver-automation (registered debug-only in src-tauri/src/main.rs). On launch it starts an HTTP server on a dynamic port, printed in the dev output:

[webdriver] listening on port 58367

Grab it with: rg -o 'listening on port \d+' <dev-task-output-file> | tail -1. The port changes on every app (re)start, including watcher-triggered Rust rebuilds — re-check it after any Rust edit.

Everything is plain HTTP POST with JSON (no session handshake needed against the plugin directly). Verified working 2026-06-11, including with the window minimized — no focus stealing, no foregrounding, no macOS permissions:

P=58367  # the dynamic port

# Find elements (CSS selectors; also xpath/tag/link text via "using")
curl -s -X POST http://127.0.0.1:$P/element/find -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"using":"css","value":"a[href=\"/authors\"]"}'

# Click (drives React Router etc. correctly)
curl -s -X POST http://127.0.0.1:$P/element/click -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"selector":"a[href=\"/authors\"]","index":0}'

# Read state
curl -s -X POST http://127.0.0.1:$P/navigate/current -H 'Content-Type: application/json' -d '{}'
curl -s -X POST http://127.0.0.1:$P/element/text -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"selector":"h1","index":0}'

# Arbitrary JS in the app's main world (window.__TAURI_INTERNALS__ is visible)
curl -s -X POST http://127.0.0.1:$P/script/execute -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"script":"return document.body.innerText.match(/Showing[^\\n]*/)[0]","args":[]}'

# Screenshot (base64 PNG; works even minimized). Caveat: this is a WKWebView
# snapshot, not real window pixels — it renders light-scheme regardless of the
# app theme and drops vibrancy/translucent layers (sidebar) and some images.
# Good for layout/DOM-presence checks; for faithful pixels use Orca's
# get-app-state screenshot instead.
curl -s -X POST http://127.0.0.1:$P/screenshot -H 'Content-Type: application/json' -d '{}' \
  | jq -r '.data' | base64 -d > /tmp/shot.png

# Window control: /window/minimize, /window/maximize, /window/set-rect, /window/rect

null responses mean success. Other useful endpoints: /element/attribute, /element/property, /element/displayed, /element/computed-role, /navigate/url|back|forward|refresh, /element/active. Full list: https://github.com/danielraffel/tauri-webdriver/blob/main/SPEC.md

Text input into React controlled inputs (IMPORTANT)

Do NOT use /element/send-keys or /element/clear — they write through React's instrumented value setter, which updates React's internal value tracker without firing onChange. The value sticks in the DOM but React state never updates, and worse, it poisons the tracker so later attempts with the same string are swallowed as no-ops. Use the prototype-setter recipe instead (verified against the Mantine search field):

curl -s -X POST http://127.0.0.1:$P/script/execute -H 'Content-Type: application/json' -d '{
  "script": "const el = document.querySelector(arguments[0]); const setter = Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptor(window.HTMLInputElement.prototype, \"value\").set; setter.call(el, arguments[1]); el.dispatchEvent(new Event(\"input\", { bubbles: true })); return el.value;",
  "args": ["input[placeholder*=\"Search book\"]", "the text"]
}'

Clear a field by passing "". Always verify the effect afterward (e.g. the status-bar book count), not just the field value.

More gotchas (verified 2026-06-11)

• Plugin crash: navigating (/navigate/url) while a script/execute callback is pending can panic the plugin ("no pending script with that id" → poisoned lock); every later request then fails (curl exit 52). Recover by touching src-tauri/src/main.rs so the watcher rebuilds and relaunches the app (~40s), then re-read the new port from the dev output.
• Mantine Menus/popovers do not open from synthetic events (webdriver clicks, AX presses, dispatched PointerEvents all fail). Plain buttons, links, inputs, SegmentedControls, and modals work fine. Drive around menus.
• Recording demos: screencapture -v -l<windowId> -x out.mov works (window id from orca computer list-windows); it starts ~7s late, so pad the start and use a fresh filename each take (it refuses to overwrite).
• Config gotchas: tauri.dev.conf.json is merged at tauri CLI startup only — watcher rebuilds reuse the cached merge, so after editing either conf file, kill and restart bun run dev. The dev conf's windows array replaces the base array wholesale (window flags like titleBarStyle/transparent must be duplicated there). Cargo features must match conf allowlists (e.g. macos-private-api ↔ app.macOSPrivateApi) or the build script fails.
• Vibrancy/translucency never shows in WebDriver /screenshot or when the window appearance mismatches: core-plugin calls like setTheme need their capability (core:window:allow-set-theme in capabilities/minimal.json).

tauri-wd CLI (for WebDriverIO/Selenium suites)

tauri-wd (installed at ~/.local/share/cargo/bin/tauri-wd) exposes a W3C WebDriver server on :4444 that launches its own app instance. Only useful for real test-runner suites. Never run it while bun run dev has the app open — two instances would fight over the settings store and SQLite library.

Fallback: Orca computer-use (native chrome, OS-level interaction)

The WebDriver plugin only sees the webview DOM. For native bits — window traffic lights, native menus/dialogs, drag-and-drop onto the window — use Orca computer-use. Note it foregrounds the app when acting, which the user finds annoying; prefer the WebDriver plugin whenever the target is in the DOM.

The dev build has no bundle id; it appears as name citadel-rs:

orca computer get-app-state --app citadel-rs --json

The accessibility tree lives at .result.snapshot.treeText (indexed elements; there is no .result.elements), focus at .result.snapshot.focusedElementId, screenshot at .result.screenshot.path. Use the snapshot → act → snapshot loop; indexes go stale after navigation. set-value does not work on React inputs; click-to-focus (confirm via focusedElementId) then hotkey CmdOrCtrl+A / press-key Delete / type-text. Keys without confirmed focus land garbled — verify every action in the next snapshot.

macOS permissions for Orca (known trap, hit and resolved 2026-06-10)

Needs Accessibility + Screen Recording for "Orca Computer Use" (orca computer permissions --json). The check can report granted while real calls fail with permission_denied. Fix requires BOTH: toggling the grants in System Settings → Privacy & Security AND fully quitting and reopening Orca (its runtime caches the denial; restarting the helper alone does not clear it). Only the user can do this — ask and stop.

Data: which library the app opens

Dev app identifier is software.everydaythings.citadel.dev; settings live at ~/Library/Application Support/software.everydaythings.citadel.dev/settings.json. Do not print this file — it contains the user's Hardcover API key. Query it with jq for specific keys (e.g. jq '.libraryPaths, .activeLibraryId') instead.

• The active dev library is a disposable sample library (/Users/phil/dev/macos-book-app/sample-library, ~190 books) — fine to read and mutate during testing.
• The user's real library may also be registered (paths under ~/Seafile). Never switch to it or write to it during testing.
• For a pristine fixture, unzip src-tauri/resources/empty_7_2_calibre_lib.zip into a temp dir and add it through the UI. test-library/ at the repo root is loose fixture files, not a Calibre library.
• Leave the app tidy when done: clear search filters, navigate back to All Books, restore the window if you minimized it.

Lighter alternatives

• vitest (frontend) and cargo test (Rust) for unit tests.
• bun run storybook (port 6006) for component-level visual checks.
• bun run dev:web — frontend only in a plain browser; Tauri IPC is absent and most library features break. Rarely useful.

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Source: every-day-things/citadel — distributed by TomeVault.