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

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

bash

# Launch an Electron app with remote debugging
open -a "Slack" --args --remote-debugging-port=9222

# Connect agent-browser to the app
agent-browser connect 9222

# Standard workflow from here
agent-browser snapshot -i
agent-browser click @e5
agent-browser screenshot slack-desktop.png

Launching Electron Apps with CDP

Every Electron app supports the

--remote-debugging-port

flag since it's built into Chromium.

macOS

bash

# Slack
open -a "Slack" --args --remote-debugging-port=9222

# VS Code
open -a "Visual Studio Code" --args --remote-debugging-port=9223

# Discord
open -a "Discord" --args --remote-debugging-port=9224

# Figma
open -a "Figma" --args --remote-debugging-port=9225

# Notion
open -a "Notion" --args --remote-debugging-port=9226

# Spotify
open -a "Spotify" --args --remote-debugging-port=9227

Linux

bash

slack --remote-debugging-port=9222
code --remote-debugging-port=9223
discord --remote-debugging-port=9224

Windows

bash

"C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Local\slack\slack.exe" --remote-debugging-port=9222
"C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Code\Code.exe" --remote-debugging-port=9223

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

bash

# Connect to a specific port
agent-browser connect 9222

# Or use --cdp on each command
agent-browser --cdp 9222 snapshot -i

# Auto-discover a running Chromium-based app
agent-browser --auto-connect snapshot -i

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:

bash

# List all available targets (windows, webviews, etc.)
agent-browser tab

# Switch to a specific tab by index
agent-browser tab 2

# Switch by URL pattern
agent-browser tab --url "*settings*"

Common Patterns

Inspect and Navigate an App

bash

open -a "Slack" --args --remote-debugging-port=9222
sleep 3  # Wait for app to start
agent-browser connect 9222
agent-browser snapshot -i
# Read the snapshot output to identify UI elements
agent-browser click @e10  # Navigate to a section
agent-browser snapshot -i  # Re-snapshot after navigation

Take Screenshots of Desktop Apps

bash

agent-browser connect 9222
agent-browser screenshot app-state.png
agent-browser screenshot --full full-app.png
agent-browser screenshot --annotate annotated-app.png

Extract Data from a Desktop App

bash

agent-browser connect 9222
agent-browser snapshot -i
agent-browser get text @e5
agent-browser snapshot --json > app-state.json

Fill Forms in Desktop Apps

bash

agent-browser connect 9222
agent-browser snapshot -i
agent-browser fill @e3 "search query"
agent-browser press Enter
agent-browser wait 1000
agent-browser snapshot -i

Run Multiple Apps Simultaneously

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

bash

# Connect to Slack
agent-browser --session slack connect 9222

# Connect to VS Code
agent-browser --session vscode connect 9223

# Interact with each independently
agent-browser --session slack snapshot -i
agent-browser --session vscode snapshot -i

Color Scheme

Playwright overrides the color scheme to

light

by default when connecting via CDP. To preserve dark mode:

bash

agent-browser connect 9222
agent-browser --color-scheme dark snapshot -i

Or set it globally:

bash

AGENT_BROWSER_COLOR_SCHEME=dark agent-browser connect 9222

Troubleshooting

"Connection refused" or "Cannot connect"

Make sure the app was launched with
```
--remote-debugging-port=NNNN
```
If the app was already running, quit and relaunch with the flag
Check that the port isn't in use by another process:
```
lsof -i :9222
```

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.

electron

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content

Electron App Automation

Core Workflow

Launching Electron Apps with CDP

macOS

Linux

Windows

Connecting

Tab Management

Common Patterns

Inspect and Navigate an App

Take Screenshots of Desktop Apps

Extract Data from a Desktop App

Fill Forms in Desktop Apps

Run Multiple Apps Simultaneously

Color Scheme

Troubleshooting

"Connection refused" or "Cannot connect"

App launches but connect fails

Elements not appearing in snapshot

Cannot type in input fields

Supported Apps