manual-testing

name	manual-testing
description	Manually test acai features by running the app in tmux, interacting with the REPL, and inspecting logs and session files. Use after implementing a feature to verify it works end-to-end.

Manual Testing

Run the acai REPL in a tmux session and interact with it to verify features work correctly. Inspect application logs and session files to confirm internal behavior.

Quick Reference

• Start session: tmux new-session -d -s acai-test "node source/index.ts"
• Send text: tmux send-keys -t acai-test -l "your prompt"
• Submit (Shift+Enter): tmux send-keys -t acai-test Escape "[13;2u"
• Send Shift+Tab: tmux send-keys -t acai-test Escape "[9;2u"
• Send Ctrl+N: tmux send-keys -t acai-test C-n
• Send Ctrl+O: tmux send-keys -t acai-test C-o
• Send Escape: tmux send-keys -t acai-test Escape
• Read screen: tmux capture-pane -t acai-test -p -S -100
• Kill session: tmux kill-session -t acai-test

Workflow

1. Start the App

tmux kill-session -t acai-test 2>/dev/null
tmux new-session -d -s acai-test "node source/index.ts"
sleep 2

Wait for the welcome screen to appear before interacting:

tmux capture-pane -t acai-test -p -S -50

Confirm you see the welcome message and the editor prompt.

2. Interact with the REPL

Type text into the editor:

tmux send-keys -t acai-test -l "hello, what mode are you in?"

Submit with Shift+Enter (kitty keyboard protocol):

tmux send-keys -t acai-test Escape "[13;2u"

Wait for the agent to respond, then read the output:

sleep 5
tmux capture-pane -t acai-test -p -S -100

For longer agent runs, poll until the agent finishes (the editor prompt reappears):

for i in $(seq 1 30); do
  output=$(tmux capture-pane -t acai-test -p -S -5)
  if echo "$output" | grep -q "›"; then
    break
  fi
  sleep 2
done
tmux capture-pane -t acai-test -p -S -100

3. Send Keyboard Shortcuts

Use tmux send-keys for special keys:

Action	Command
Shift+Tab	tmux send-keys -t acai-test Escape "[9;2u"
Ctrl+N (new chat)	tmux send-keys -t acai-test C-n
Ctrl+O (verbose)	tmux send-keys -t acai-test C-o
Escape (interrupt)	tmux send-keys -t acai-test Escape
Enter	tmux send-keys -t acai-test Enter
Tab	tmux send-keys -t acai-test Tab

4. Inspect Application Logs

Logs are written to ~/.acai/logs/current.log in JSON format (one JSON object per line):

tail -20 ~/.acai/logs/current.log

Filter for specific log levels or messages:

grep '"level":"ERROR"' ~/.acai/logs/current.log | tail -10
grep '"level":"WARN"' ~/.acai/logs/current.log | tail -10

Search for specific events:

grep 'saved' ~/.acai/logs/current.log | tail -5

5. Inspect Session Files

Session files are stored at ~/.acai/sessions/ as JSON:

ls -lt ~/.acai/sessions/ | head -5

Read the most recent session:

ls -t ~/.acai/sessions/ | head -1 | xargs -I{} cat ~/.acai/sessions/{}

Check specific fields (e.g., metadata for mode state):

ls -t ~/.acai/sessions/ | head -1 | xargs -I{} node -e "
  const s = require('fs').readFileSync(process.env.HOME + '/.acai/sessions/{}', 'utf8');
  const j = JSON.parse(s);
  console.log('title:', j.title);
  console.log('modelId:', j.modelId);
  console.log('messages:', j.messages.length);
  console.log('metadata:', JSON.stringify(j.metadata, null, 2));
"

6. Cleanup

Always kill the tmux session when done:

tmux kill-session -t acai-test

Verification Patterns

Verify Footer Content

Capture the bottom of the screen where the footer renders:

tmux capture-pane -t acai-test -p -S -10

Look for mode indicators, model info, git status, and token usage in the output.

Verify Mode Cycling

# Press Shift+Tab and check footer
tmux send-keys -t acai-test Escape "[9;2u"
sleep 0.5
tmux capture-pane -t acai-test -p -S -10

Verify Session Persistence

1. Submit a prompt so the session gets saved
2. Read the session file and check for expected fields
3. Kill the session, restart, resume via /history, and verify state restored

Verify a Prompt Reaches the LLM

1. Submit a prompt
2. Wait for the agent to finish
3. Read the session file and inspect the messages array to confirm user messages, mode context messages, and assistant responses are present

Tips

• Always sleep after sending keys — the app needs time to process input and render
• Use -S -N with capture-pane to control how many lines of scrollback to read (e.g., -S -200 for 200 lines)
• If the session seems stuck, check ~/.acai/logs/current.log for errors
• The REPL uses the kitty keyboard protocol for Shift+Enter (Escape "[13;2u") and Shift+Tab (Escape "[9;2u")
• Session files may be large; use node -e or jq to extract specific fields rather than reading the whole file