| name | verify |
| description | Build, install, and drive BrowBro to observe a change at its real surface (picker, launches). Use when verifying that a code change works end-to-end. |
Verifying BrowBro changes
Build + install + launch
./build.sh — xcodegen + xcodebuild + install to /Applications + relaunch. This is the
whole handle; there is no test target.
Back up prefs first
Verification usually means mutating prefs. Snapshot and restore exactly:
defaults export so.aca.browbro /tmp/browbro-prefs-backup.plist
defaults delete so.aca.browbro && defaults import so.aca.browbro /tmp/browbro-prefs-backup.plist
Drive a link WITHOUT changing the default browser
open -a BrowBro "https://example.com/my-test"
The picker pops at the cursor. Dismiss without launching by activating another app
(osascript -e 'tell application "Finder" to activate').
Drive a launch with NO UI interaction
Modifier mode opens defaultTargetID directly on a plain link — a programmatic path
through BrowserLauncher.launch:
defaults write so.aca.browbro requireModifierForPicker -bool true
defaults write so.aca.browbro defaultTargetID "app:com.google.Chrome"
open -a BrowBro "https://example.com/launch-test"
Observe
- Decisions:
/usr/bin/log show --last 5m --info --predicate 'subsystem == "so.aca.browbro"'
— the picker logs presented targets and which target a launch resolved to. Use the full
path (log is a zsh builtin) and remember --info.
- Pixels:
screencapture -x /tmp/shot.png then Read the image. Fails silently to a
lock-screen shot if the screen locked mid-run — check what you captured.
- Window titles (works even when AppleScript to Chrome times out — it does when a
devtools-automation Chrome instance is around): CGWindowList via a scratch Swift script;
Chrome's owner name is "Google Chrome", Firefox's is "Firefox". Firefox private windows
are titled "… — Private Browsing".
- Incognito proof: incognito writes no history. Copy the profile's
~/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome/<Profile>/History and
sqlite3 … "SELECT count(*) FROM urls WHERE url LIKE '%my-test%'" — 0 hits while the
window exists is the signature.
Gotchas
- Target ids:
app:<bundleID>, chrome:<profile dir>, private:<base-id>.
defaults write while BrowBro runs is fine — the catalog refreshes on every link.- Debug build replaces the installed app; that's the sanctioned dev loop.
