Desktop Apps

Electron Apps

Slack, VS Code, Discord, Figma, Notion, Spotify — these desktop apps are really just Chromium in a shell: they're all built on Electron. Launch them with --remote-debugging-port and chrome-use can attach exactly like it would to a web page: the same snapshot → interact → snapshot again loop, the same @ref targeting.

The core flow

Automating an Electron app is just five steps: launch (with remote debugging) → connect to the CDP port → snapshot to discover interactive elements → interact by ref → snapshot again after the state changes. It's barely any different from driving an ordinary web page.

bash · a full run

# launch the Electron app with a remote debugging port
$ open -a "Slack" --args --remote-debugging-port=9222

# attach chrome-use to that app
$ chrome-use connect 9222

# from here it's the standard workflow
$ chrome-use snapshot -i
$ chrome-use click @e5
$ chrome-use screenshot slack-desktop.png

Launch the app with CDP

Every Electron app supports --remote-debugging-port, because it's a built-in Chromium capability. Here's how to launch on all three platforms — assign a different port to each app and you can drive several at once.

macOS

bash · macOS

# 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 · Linux

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

Windows

bash · Windows

$ "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

⚠️ When the app is already running

--remote-debugging-port has to be present the moment the app launches. If the app is already open, quit it first, then relaunch it with the flag — otherwise you won't be able to connect.

Connecting

There are three ways to connect: connect <port> directly, --cdp on each command, or let it auto-discover. Once you've run connect, every subsequent command automatically targets that app — no need to repeat the port.

bash · three ways to connect

# connect to a specific port
$ chrome-use connect 9222

# or use --cdp on each command
$ chrome-use --cdp 9222 snapshot -i

# auto-discover a running Chromium-based app
$ chrome-use --auto-connect snapshot -i

Windows and tab management

Electron apps often have multiple windows or webviews. Use the tab command to list and switch between these targets. Note that tab ids look like t1, t2 — they don't accept bare integers.

bash · tab

# list all available targets (windows, webviews, etc.)
$ chrome-use tab

# switch to a tab by id (t1, t2 …; integers not accepted)
$ chrome-use tab t2

# switch by URL pattern
$ chrome-use tab --url "*settings*"

Webview support

Electron <webview> elements are discovered automatically and can be driven like any ordinary page. They show up in the tab list as independent targets, with type type: "webview".

bash · webview

# connect to the running Electron app
$ chrome-use connect 9222

# list targets — webviews appear alongside pages
$ chrome-use tab
#   [t1] [page]    Slack - Main Window     https://app.slack.com/
#   [t2] [webview] Embedded Content        https://example.com/widget

# switch to a webview
$ chrome-use tab t2

# interact as usual
$ chrome-use snapshot -i
$ chrome-use click @e3
$ chrome-use screenshot webview.png

ℹ️ Note

Webview support works over the raw CDP connection — no extra configuration needed. As long as it shows up in the tab list, you can drive it.

Common patterns

Here are a few combinations you'll reach for again and again on desktop apps. They all reuse the verbs you already know from web automation.

Explore and navigate

bash · inspect + navigate

$ open -a "Slack" --args --remote-debugging-port=9222
$ sleep 3  # wait for the app to start
$ chrome-use connect 9222
$ chrome-use snapshot -i
# read the snapshot output and identify UI elements
$ chrome-use click @e10  # jump to a section
$ chrome-use snapshot -i  # snapshot again after navigating

Screenshots

bash · screenshot

$ chrome-use connect 9222
$ chrome-use screenshot app-state.png
$ chrome-use screenshot --full full-app.png
$ chrome-use screenshot --annotate annotated-app.png

Extract data

bash · extract

$ chrome-use connect 9222
$ chrome-use snapshot -i
$ chrome-use get text @e5
$ chrome-use snapshot --json > app-state.json

Fill a form

bash · fill

$ chrome-use connect 9222
$ chrome-use snapshot -i
$ chrome-use fill @e3 "search query"
$ chrome-use press Enter
$ chrome-use wait 1000
$ chrome-use snapshot -i

Drive several apps at once

Use named sessions to control several Electron apps simultaneously without them interfering with each other. See Sessions & concurrency.

bash · --session

# connect Slack
$ chrome-use --session slack connect 9222

# connect VS Code
$ chrome-use --session vscode connect 9223

# interact with each independently
$ chrome-use --session slack snapshot -i
$ chrome-use --session vscode snapshot -i

Color scheme (dark mode)

When you connect over CDP, the default color scheme may be light. If you want to keep the app's dark mode, use --color-scheme dark, or set it globally with an environment variable.

bash · color-scheme

# keep dark for a single command
$ chrome-use connect 9222
$ chrome-use --color-scheme dark snapshot -i

# or set it globally
$ AGENT_BROWSER_COLOR_SCHEME=dark chrome-use connect 9222

Troubleshooting

"Connection refused" / can't connect

Confirm the app was launched with --remote-debugging-port=NNNN
If the app was already running, quit it and relaunch with the flag
Check the port isn't taken by another process: lsof -i :9222

App launched but connect fails

Wait a few seconds after launch before connecting (sleep 3)
Some apps need time to initialize their webviews

An element isn't showing up in the snapshot

The app may use multiple webviews. Use chrome-use tab to list targets and switch to the right one

Can't type into an input

✅ Two workarounds

Use chrome-use keyboard type "text" to type at the current focus without a selector
Some Electron apps use custom input components — use chrome-use keyboard inserttext "text" to bypass key events

Supported apps

Any app built with Electron supports --remote-debugging-port and can be automated by chrome-use. Common ones include:

💬 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

📖 Keep reading

Reading a page · The core loop