claude-engineering-plugin/plugins/compound-engineering/skills/ce-demo-reel/references/tier-browser-reel.md

Tier: Browser Reel

Capture 3-5 browser screenshots at key UI states and stitch into an animated GIF.

Best for: Web apps, desktop apps accessible via localhost or CDP. Output: GIF (PNG screenshots stitched via ffmpeg two-pass palette) Label: "Demo" Required tools: agent-browser, ffmpeg

If agent-browser is not installed, inform the user: "agent-browser is not installed. Run /ce-setup to install required dependencies." Then fall back to a lower tier (static screenshots or skip).

Step 1: Connect to the Application

For web apps -- verify the dev server is accessible:

• Read package.json scripts for dev, start, serve commands
• Check Procfile, Procfile.dev, or bin/dev if they exist
• Check Gemfile for Rails (bin/rails server) or Sinatra
• Check for running processes on common ports (3000, 5000, 8080)

If the server is not running, tell the user what start command was detected and ask them to start it. Do not start it automatically (it may require environment variables, database setup, etc.).

If the server cannot be reached after the user confirms it should be running, fall back to static screenshots tier.

Once accessible, note the base URL (e.g., http://localhost:3000).

For Electron/desktop apps -- connect via Chrome DevTools Protocol (CDP):

1. Check if the app is already running with CDP enabled by probing common ports:

   curl -s http://localhost:9222/json/version
   

   If that returns a JSON response, the app is ready -- connect agent-browser to it:

   agent-browser connect 9222
   

2. If not running, the app needs to be launched with --remote-debugging-port. Detect the entry point from package.json (look for the main field or electron in scripts), then ask the user to launch it with:

   your-electron-app --remote-debugging-port=9222
   

   If port 9222 is busy, try 9223-9230.

3. Poll until CDP is ready (timeout after 30 seconds):

   curl -s http://localhost:9222/json/version
   

4. Connect agent-browser:

   agent-browser connect 9222
   

CDP advantages: Screenshots come from the renderer's frame buffer, not macOS screen capture -- no Accessibility or Screen Recording permissions needed.

If CDP connection fails: Fall back to static screenshots tier. Tell the user: "Could not connect to the app via CDP. Falling back to static screenshots."

Step 2: Capture Screenshots

Navigate to the relevant pages and capture 3-5 screenshots at key UI states:

1. Initial/empty state -- Before the feature is used
2. Navigation -- How the user reaches the feature (if not the landing page)
3. Feature in action -- The hero shot showing the feature working
4. Result state -- After interaction (data present, items created, success message)
5. Detail view (optional) -- Expanded item, settings panel, modal

For each screenshot, write to the concrete RUN_DIR created by the parent skill:

agent-browser open [URL]

agent-browser wait 2000

agent-browser screenshot [RUN_DIR]/frame-01-initial.png

Capture tips:

• Use URL navigation (agent-browser open URL) rather than clicking SPA elements (clicks often fail on React/Vue/Svelte SPAs)
• Wait 2-3 seconds after navigation for the page to settle
• Capture the full viewport (sidebar, header give reviewers context)

Step 3: Stitch into GIF

Use the capture pipeline script to normalize frame dimensions, stitch with two-pass palette, and auto-reduce if over 10 MB:

python3 scripts/capture-demo.py stitch [RUN_DIR]/demo.gif [RUN_DIR]/frame-*.png

The script handles dimension normalization (via ffprobe + ffmpeg padding), concat demuxer stitching, palette generation, and automatic frame reduction if the GIF exceeds GitHub's 10 MB inline limit. Default is 3 seconds per frame. To adjust:

python3 scripts/capture-demo.py stitch --duration 2.0 [RUN_DIR]/demo.gif [RUN_DIR]/frame-*.png

If stitching fails: Fall back to static screenshots tier using the individual PNGs already captured. If no PNGs were captured, report the failure.

Step 4: Cleanup

After successful GIF creation, remove individual PNG frames. Keep only the final GIF for upload.

Proceed to references/upload-and-approval.md.