Electron App Control

unicli compute attach makes Electron renderers scriptable through Chrome DevTools Protocol (CDP). Use it when accessibility snapshots miss web content inside apps such as VS Code, Slack, Discord, Notion, Figma, GitHub Desktop, or NeteaseMusic.

Attach

unicli compute attach --app vscode
unicli compute eval "document.title"

Attach resolves the app in Uni-CLI's Electron registry, probes the assigned CDP port, launches the app with --remote-debugging-port=<port> when the endpoint is absent, then stores the active target under the compute state directory. A later compute eval, snapshot, click, type, press, scroll, or wait command can reuse that saved target from a separate process.

Use an explicit port when the app is already running with a custom CDP port:

unicli compute attach --port 9333

Relaunch Safety

Apps marked with relaunchLosesSession: true require explicit confirmation:

unicli compute attach --app notion --confirm-relaunch

Use confirmation only when restarting that app is acceptable. Meeting apps, workspace apps, and document apps can interrupt active calls, reconnect workspaces, or refresh unsaved UI state during relaunch.

App Caveats

App	Notes
VS Code	Renderer CDP uses --remote-debugging-port=<port>. Extension-host inspection is separate.
Notion	Requires --confirm-relaunch because workspace state can refresh.
Teams / Zoom	Avoid relaunch during calls. Attach to an already-debug-enabled instance when possible.
NeteaseMusic	CDP-first inspection is preferred because the AX tree can be sparse.
Slack / Discord	CDP exposes channel and message content that desktop accessibility can miss.

Manual Launch

The registry handles launch for known apps. For manual debugging or a custom app, launch with a CDP port and then attach by port:

unicli compute launch Slack --debug-port 9241
unicli compute attach --port 9241

The equivalent host command on macOS is:

open -a "Slack" --args --remote-debugging-port=9241
unicli compute attach --port 9241

On Linux or Windows, start the app executable with the same --remote-debugging-port=<port> argument, then run compute attach --port.

Adding an App

Add a profile in src/electron-apps.ts with:

• unique port
• processName
• bundleId or executableNames
• displayName
• useful aliases
• contentHints
• relaunchLosesSession: true when relaunch can interrupt active user state

Verify the change with:

npx vitest run --project unit tests/unit/electron-apps-table.test.ts
unicli compute attach --app <id>
unicli compute eval "document.title"