verify

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
# … drive …
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"   # any target id
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.