| name | machinen-desktop-rebuild |
| description | Reuses or rebuilds the Machinen project’s macOS Desktop app on the Mac mini, deploys it when needed, and relaunches the app currently hosting the work on either the mini or Air. Use whenever Peter asks to build, rebuild, reinstall, refresh, restart, or relaunch Machinen Desktop from source. |
Reuse, build, and relaunch Machinen Desktop
Use the bundled TypeScript script rather than manually building, copying, killing, or opening the app:
node scripts/rebuild-relaunch.ts
The default auto mode:
- Finds the current
machinen-session terminal ID in the agent's process ancestry.
- Takes Machinen Desktop snapshots on the mini and Air and selects the app containing that terminal.
- Falls back to the only running project-built
Machinen.app; fails rather than guessing when both machines remain plausible.
- Fingerprints the mini checkout's exact Git
HEAD, tracked changes, untracked files, and requested build configuration.
- Reuses a matching signed build from the mini's build cache. It only runs
apps/machinen-desktop/build-app.sh when that source fingerprint has not already been built.
- Compares the cached build's code-directory hash with the target app. If they match, it only quits and reopens the app. Otherwise it stages and deploys the cached build before relaunching.
- Verifies the relaunched process and local API, and restores the previous bundle if a replacement fails.
Builds always happen in /Users/p4p8/gh/redwoodjs/machinen on the mini. The Air is only a deployment and launch target. Persistent PTY workers survive the Desktop relaunch, including the terminal running this agent.
Build artifacts and history are stored on the mini under:
/Users/p4p8/.local/state/machinen-desktop-rebuild/
The history records source fingerprints, Git revisions, build times, cached artifact paths, deployment targets, and whether each invocation deployed or only relaunched.
Options
Only override automatic targeting when Peter explicitly identifies the machine:
node scripts/rebuild-relaunch.ts --target mini
node scripts/rebuild-relaunch.ts --target air
Use a debug build or force a fresh build only when requested:
node scripts/rebuild-relaunch.ts --configuration debug
node scripts/rebuild-relaunch.ts --force-build
Inspect decisions or history without changing the app:
node scripts/rebuild-relaunch.ts --detect-only
node scripts/rebuild-relaunch.ts --history
Report the selected machine, bundle path, source fingerprint, whether the build was reused or created, whether deployment was skipped, and relaunch verification. Never build from the Air checkout or deploy to a Machinen app outside a gh/redwoodjs/*/apps/machinen-desktop project tree.
