tanishqkancharla Halo app and browser control
Use pnpm halo from the repository root, or the installed halo command from a workspace. The CLI connects to the running Halo server. It does not build, launch, restart, or quit the app.
Inspect Halo
pnpm halo status
pnpm halo app snapshot
pnpm halo app exec 'return await page.title()'
pnpm halo app exec 'await page.getByRole("button", { name: "New session", exact: true }).click()'
pnpm halo app screenshot
halo app targets the Halo renderer, not DevTools. It requires a development build with its debug port on 127.0.0.1:4445. If the app is not running and the task calls for live testing, start pnpm --filter @halo/desktop dev in a long-running terminal.
Test an extension independently
halo browser open http://127.0.0.1:3000/view/
halo browser exec <id> 'await page.getByRole("textbox", { name: "Your name" }).fill("Ada")'
halo browser snapshot <id>
halo browser screenshot <id>
halo browser close <id>
Each open returns a browser ID, URL, title, accessibility tree, and runtime errors. It creates a private browser with isolated state; open the same extension twice to test collaboration. The page survives commands, while JavaScript variables do not. Each exec receives a live Playwright page and captures console output and accessibility changes. Use return to report a result. halo browser list finds existing sessions.
Prefer accessible names, labels, and roles. Wait for the visible effect of an action before inspecting it. For longer scripts, pass --file checks.js or --stdin to either target's exec command. Screenshots return a workspace PNG path; read that file to inspect the actual layout.
Use private browser sessions for extension testing so the user's Halo navigation stays theirs. A hosted extension still shares its data through Tandem, so use a standalone preview with isolated data for test mutations. Close every browser opened for testing. Halo also closes them when the workspace changes or the app quits.
Use halo browser --help and halo app --help for command discovery. Output uses TOON by default; add --json when another command must parse it. Halo provisions Chromium once on first browser use; extensions do not need their own browser tooling installation.