Electron App Automation

Automate any Electron desktop app using agent-browser. Electron apps are built on Chromium and expose a Chrome DevTools Protocol (CDP) port that agent-browser can connect to, enabling the same snapshot-interact workflow used for web pages.

Core Workflow

1. 1. Launch the Electron app with remote debugging enabled
2. Connect agent-browser to the CDP port
3. Snapshot to discover interactive elements
4. Interact using element refs
5. Re-snapshot after navigation or state changes

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Launching Electron Apps with CDP

Every Electron app supports the --remote-debugging-port flag since it's built into Chromium.

macOS

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Linux

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Windows

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Important: If the app is already running, quit it first, then relaunch with the flag. The --remote-debugging-port flag must be present at launch time.

Connecting

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After connect, all subsequent commands target the connected app without needing --cdp.

Tab Management

Electron apps often have multiple windows or webviews. Use tab commands to list and switch between them:

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Webview Support

Electron <webview> elements are automatically discovered and can be controlled like regular pages. Webviews appear as separate targets in the tab list with type: "webview":

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Note: Webview support works via raw CDP connection.

Common Patterns

Inspect and Navigate an App

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Take Screenshots of Desktop Apps

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Extract Data from a Desktop App

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Fill Forms in Desktop Apps

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Run Multiple Apps Simultaneously

Use named sessions to control multiple Electron apps at the same time:

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Color Scheme

The default color scheme when connecting via CDP may be light. To preserve dark mode:

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Or set it globally:

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Troubleshooting

"Connection refused" or "Cannot connect"

• - Make sure the app was launched with INLINECODE7
• If the app was already running, quit and relaunch with the flag
• Check that the port isn't in use by another process: INLINECODE8

App launches but connect fails

• - Wait a few seconds after launch before connecting (sleep 3)
• Some apps take time to initialize their webview

Elements not appearing in snapshot

• - The app may use multiple webviews. Use agent-browser tab to list targets and switch to the right one
• Use agent-browser snapshot -i -C to include cursor-interactive elements (divs with onclick handlers)

Cannot type in input fields

• - Try agent-browser keyboard type "text" to type at the current focus without a selector
• Some Electron apps use custom input components; use agent-browser keyboard inserttext "text" to bypass key events

Supported Apps

Any app built on Electron works, including:

• - Communication: Slack, Discord, Microsoft Teams, Signal, Telegram Desktop
• Development: VS Code, GitHub Desktop, Postman, Insomnia
• Design: Figma, Notion, Obsidian
• Media: Spotify, Tidal
• Productivity: Todoist, Linear, 1Password

If an app is built with Electron, it supports --remote-debugging-port and can be automated with agent-browser.