feat(cli): use system default browser with real user profile + nodeExec adapter mode#190
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bobleer wants to merge 3 commits intoepiral:mainfrom
Open
feat(cli): use system default browser with real user profile + nodeExec adapter mode#190bobleer wants to merge 3 commits intoepiral:mainfrom
bobleer wants to merge 3 commits intoepiral:mainfrom
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added 3 commits
April 12, 2026 12:57
- Detect the system default browser on macOS/Linux/Windows via OS APIs (LaunchServices on macOS, xdg-settings on Linux, registry on Windows) - Prefer the detected browser if it is Chromium-based; warn and fall back to the existing candidate list if it is not (e.g. Firefox/Safari) - Launch the browser with the user's real user-data-dir so history, bookmarks, passwords and cookies are available to adapters - If the real browser is already running without CDP, gracefully shut it down (SIGTERM all processes sharing the app bundle, wait up to 5 s, SIGKILL stragglers) then restart with --remote-debugging-port - Fix SingletonLock detection: use lstatSync instead of existsSync because Chromium's SingletonLock is a dangling symlink whose target is a "hostname-pid" string, not a real file path - Do not pass a URL argument when launching with the real profile so the browser restores the previous session (tabs) per the user's startup settings; keep about:blank only for the isolated managed profile - Increase launch timeout from 8 s to 15 s to accommodate real profiles with large amounts of data
Some adapters call third-party APIs that do not return Access-Control-Allow-Origin headers, causing fetch() to fail when executed inside a browser page via CDP Runtime.evaluate. Add a nodeExec: boolean field to the @meta block. When true, the adapter function is executed directly in the Node.js process using new Function(), bypassing the browser entirely. This eliminates CORS restrictions and the 30-second CDP command timeout for API-only adapters that do not require browser DOM or user cookies. The Node.js execution path supports the same jq/--json output flags as the browser path, and propagates structured { error, hint, action } objects the same way.
…estart When the user enables remote debugging in chrome://inspect or edge://inspect, the browser writes a DevToolsActivePort file containing the dynamic CDP port. bb-browser now reads this file to connect directly without restarting the browser. Changes: - Add readDevToolsActivePortFile() to parse DevToolsActivePort files - Add discoverViaDevToolsActivePort() scanning all known browser user-data dirs (Edge, Chrome, Brave, Chromium, Arc, Opera, Vivaldi on macOS/Linux/Windows) - Insert as priority 5 in discoverCdpPort(), before launchManagedBrowser() - In launchManagedBrowser(), reuse running browser with CDP instead of restarting - Fix tsup.config.ts: mark Node.js built-ins as external so readFileSync is emitted as ESM static import instead of __require() which fails at runtime
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Summary
This PR adds three improvements to browser control in bb-browser:
1. Use system default browser (with Chromium fallback)
Instead of hardcoding Chrome as the only option, bb-browser now:
2. Use real user profile (with history, bookmarks, passwords)
Previously bb-browser launched a blank isolated profile. Now it:
--remote-debugging-portwhile keeping the real profileabout:blankoverride)lstatSyncinstead ofexistsSyncto correctly detectSingletonLock(which is a dangling symlink on macOS/Linux)3. Attach to already-running browser via DevToolsActivePort (no restart needed)
When the user enables remote debugging in
chrome://inspect/#remote-debuggingoredge://inspect/#remote-debugging, the browser writes aDevToolsActivePortfile containing the dynamic CDP port. bb-browser now:DevToolsActivePortfiles (Edge, Chrome, Brave, Chromium, Arc, Opera, Vivaldi on macOS/Linux/Windows)DevToolsActivePortis foundThis means users who enable remote debugging once never need to have their browser restarted again.
One-time setup: Open
edge://inspect/#remote-debugging(orchrome://inspect), enable remote debugging, restart the browser once. After that, bb-browser connects instantly without ever restarting the browser.4.
nodeExecadapter mode to bypass browser CORSSite adapters that only need HTTP APIs (no DOM interaction) can now set
"nodeExec": truein their@metablock. bb-browser will execute them directly in the Node.js process instead of viaRuntime.evaluate, bypassing browser CORS restrictions entirely.Bug fix:
tsup.config.tsNode.js built-ins as ESM externalsNode.js built-in modules (
fs,path,os,child_process) are now marked asexternalin tsup config. This ensures they are emitted as ESM static imports (import { readFileSync } from "fs") rather than bundled via__require(), which throws'Dynamic require of "fs" is not supported'at runtime in ESM context.Test plan
DevToolsActivePortdiscovery connects without restarting browser (tested: Edge PID unchanged)DevToolsActivePortpresentnodeExecadapters run in Node.js context with no CORS errorspnpm test: 119 daemon + 24 cli tests, 0 failures)