fix(browser): avoid bogus Chrome launch fallback

Detect an actual Chrome/Chromium executable before printing a manual CDP launch command, including common WSL-mounted Windows browser paths, so /browser connect does not suggest google-chrome when it is unavailable.

cli.py

@@ -6630,8 +6630,12 @@ class HermesCLI:
                 else:
                     print("   ⚠ Could not auto-launch Chrome")
                     sys_name = _plat.system()
+                    chrome_cmd = manual_chrome_debug_command(_port, sys_name)
+                    if chrome_cmd:
                         print(f"     Launch Chrome manually:")
-                    print(f"     {manual_chrome_debug_command(_port, sys_name)}")
+                        print(f"     {chrome_cmd}")
+                    else:
+                        print("     No Chrome/Chromium executable found in this environment")
             else:
                 print(f"   ⚠ Port {_port} is not reachable at {cdp_url}")
 

hermes_cli/browser_connect.py

@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ from __future__ import annotations
 
 import os
 import platform
+import shlex
 import shutil
 import subprocess
 
@@ -64,6 +65,14 @@ def get_chrome_debug_candidates(system: str) -> list[str]:
             "google-chrome", "google-chrome-stable", "chromium-browser",
             "chromium", "brave-browser", "microsoft-edge",
         )
+        for base in ("/mnt/c/Program Files", "/mnt/c/Program Files (x86)"):
+            for parts in (
+                ("Google", "Chrome", "Application", "chrome.exe"),
+                ("Chromium", "Application", "chrome.exe"),
+                ("BraveSoftware", "Brave-Browser", "Application", "brave.exe"),
+                ("Microsoft", "Edge", "Application", "msedge.exe"),
+            ):
+                add(os.path.join(base, *parts))
 
     return candidates
 
@@ -72,27 +81,29 @@ def chrome_debug_data_dir() -> str:
     return str(get_hermes_home() / "chrome-debug")
 
 
-def manual_chrome_debug_command(port: int = DEFAULT_BROWSER_CDP_PORT, system: str | None = None) -> str:
+def _chrome_debug_args(port: int) -> list[str]:
+    return [
+        f"--remote-debugging-port={port}",
+        f"--user-data-dir={chrome_debug_data_dir()}",
+        "--no-first-run",
+        "--no-default-browser-check",
+    ]
+
+
+def manual_chrome_debug_command(port: int = DEFAULT_BROWSER_CDP_PORT, system: str | None = None) -> str | None:
     system = system or platform.system()
-    data_dir = chrome_debug_data_dir()
+    candidates = get_chrome_debug_candidates(system)
+    if candidates:
+        return " ".join(shlex.quote(part) for part in [candidates[0], *_chrome_debug_args(port)])
+
     if system == "Darwin":
         return (
             'open -a "Google Chrome" --args'
             f" --remote-debugging-port={port}"
-            f' --user-data-dir="{data_dir}"'
+            f' --user-data-dir="{chrome_debug_data_dir()}"'
-            " --no-first-run --no-default-browser-check"
-        )
-    if system == "Windows":
-        return (
-            f"chrome.exe --remote-debugging-port={port}"
-            f' --user-data-dir="{data_dir}"'
-            " --no-first-run --no-default-browser-check"
-        )
-    return (
-        f"google-chrome --remote-debugging-port={port}"
-        f' --user-data-dir="{data_dir}"'
             " --no-first-run --no-default-browser-check"
         )
+    return None
 
 
 def try_launch_chrome_debug(port: int = DEFAULT_BROWSER_CDP_PORT, system: str | None = None) -> bool:
@@ -105,10 +116,7 @@ def try_launch_chrome_debug(port: int = DEFAULT_BROWSER_CDP_PORT, system: str |
         subprocess.Popen(
             [
                 candidates[0],
-                f"--remote-debugging-port={port}",
+                *_chrome_debug_args(port),
-                f"--user-data-dir={chrome_debug_data_dir()}",
-                "--no-first-run",
-                "--no-default-browser-check",
             ],
             stdout=subprocess.DEVNULL,
             stderr=subprocess.DEVNULL,

tests/cli/test_cli_browser_connect.py

@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import os
 from unittest.mock import patch
 
 from cli import HermesCLI
+from hermes_cli.browser_connect import manual_chrome_debug_command
 
 
 def _assert_chrome_debug_cmd(cmd, expected_chrome, expected_port):
@@ -55,3 +56,26 @@ class TestChromeDebugLaunch:
             assert HermesCLI._try_launch_chrome_debug(9222, "Windows") is True
 
         _assert_chrome_debug_cmd(captured["cmd"], installed, 9222)
+
+    def test_manual_command_uses_detected_linux_browser(self):
+        with patch("hermes_cli.browser_connect.shutil.which", side_effect=lambda name: "/usr/bin/chromium" if name == "chromium" else None), \
+             patch("hermes_cli.browser_connect.os.path.isfile", side_effect=lambda path: path == "/usr/bin/chromium"):
+            command = manual_chrome_debug_command(9222, "Linux")
+
+        assert command is not None
+        assert command.startswith("/usr/bin/chromium --remote-debugging-port=9222")
+
+    def test_manual_command_uses_wsl_windows_chrome_when_available(self):
+        chrome = "/mnt/c/Program Files/Google/Chrome/Application/chrome.exe"
+
+        with patch("hermes_cli.browser_connect.shutil.which", return_value=None), \
+             patch("hermes_cli.browser_connect.os.path.isfile", side_effect=lambda path: path == chrome):
+            command = manual_chrome_debug_command(9222, "Linux")
+
+        assert command is not None
+        assert command.startswith(f"'{chrome}' --remote-debugging-port=9222")
+
+    def test_manual_command_returns_none_when_linux_browser_missing(self):
+        with patch("hermes_cli.browser_connect.shutil.which", return_value=None), \
+             patch("hermes_cli.browser_connect.os.path.isfile", return_value=False):
+            assert manual_chrome_debug_command(9222, "Linux") is None

tests/test_tui_gateway_server.py

@@ -2904,14 +2904,15 @@ def test_browser_manage_connect_default_local_reports_launch_hint(monkeypatch):
     )
     with patch.dict(sys.modules, {"tools.browser_tool": fake}):
         _stub_urlopen(monkeypatch, ok=False)
-        with patch("hermes_cli.browser_connect.try_launch_chrome_debug", return_value=False):
+        with patch("hermes_cli.browser_connect.try_launch_chrome_debug", return_value=False), \
+             patch("hermes_cli.browser_connect.get_chrome_debug_candidates", return_value=[]):
             resp = server.handle_request(
                 {"id": "1", "method": "browser.manage", "params": {"action": "connect"}}
             )
 
     assert resp["error"]["code"] == 5031
-    assert "Start Chrome with remote debugging" in resp["error"]["message"]
+    assert "No Chrome/Chromium executable was found" in resp["error"]["message"]
-    assert "google-chrome --remote-debugging-port=9222" in resp["error"]["message"]
+    assert "--remote-debugging-port=9222" in resp["error"]["message"]
     assert "BROWSER_CDP_URL" not in os.environ
 
 

tui_gateway/server.py

@@ -4762,10 +4762,18 @@ def _is_default_local_cdp(parsed) -> bool:
 def _browser_connect_error(url: str, port: int) -> str:
     from hermes_cli.browser_connect import manual_chrome_debug_command
 
+    command = manual_chrome_debug_command(port)
+    if not command:
+        return (
+            f"Chrome is not reachable at {url}. "
+            "No Chrome/Chromium executable was found in this environment; "
+            f"install one or start Chrome with --remote-debugging-port={port}, then retry /browser connect."
+        )
+
     return (
         f"Chrome is not reachable at {url}. "
         "Start Chrome with remote debugging, then retry /browser connect:\n"
-        f"{manual_chrome_debug_command(port)}"
+        f"{command}"
     )