fix(tui): show /browser connect progress like CLI

Return CLI-style browser connect status messages from the gateway and render them in the TUI so local Chrome launch attempts are visible instead of ending in a silent delayed failure.

tests/test_tui_gateway_server.py

@@ -2811,7 +2811,8 @@ def test_browser_manage_status_reads_env_var(monkeypatch):
         {"id": "1", "method": "browser.manage", "params": {"action": "status"}}
     )
 
-    assert resp["result"] == {"connected": True, "url": "http://127.0.0.1:9222"}
+    assert resp["result"]["connected"] is True
+    assert resp["result"]["url"] == "http://127.0.0.1:9222"
 
 
 def test_browser_manage_status_falls_back_to_config_cdp_url(monkeypatch):
@@ -2874,7 +2875,9 @@ def test_browser_manage_connect_sets_env_and_cleans_twice(monkeypatch):
             }
         )
 
-    assert resp["result"] == {"connected": True, "url": "http://127.0.0.1:9222"}
+    assert resp["result"]["connected"] is True
+    assert resp["result"]["url"] == "http://127.0.0.1:9222"
+    assert resp["result"]["messages"] == ["Chrome is already listening on port 9222"]
     assert os.environ.get("BROWSER_CDP_URL") == "http://127.0.0.1:9222"
     # First cleanup runs against the OLD env (none here), second against the NEW.
     assert cleanup_calls == ["", "http://127.0.0.1:9222"]
@@ -2892,7 +2895,9 @@ def test_browser_manage_connect_defaults_to_loopback(monkeypatch):
             {"id": "1", "method": "browser.manage", "params": {"action": "connect"}}
         )
 
-    assert resp["result"] == {"connected": True, "url": "http://127.0.0.1:9222"}
+    assert resp["result"]["connected"] is True
+    assert resp["result"]["url"] == "http://127.0.0.1:9222"
+    assert resp["result"]["messages"] == ["Chrome is already listening on port 9222"]
     assert urls[0] == "http://127.0.0.1:9222/json/version"
 
 
@@ -2907,12 +2912,18 @@ def test_browser_manage_connect_default_local_reports_launch_hint(monkeypatch):
         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"}}
+                {
+                    "id": "1",
+                    "method": "browser.manage",
+                    "params": {"action": "connect", "url": "http://localhost:9222"},
+                }
             )
 
-    assert resp["error"]["code"] == 5031
+    assert resp["result"]["connected"] is False
-    assert "No Chrome/Chromium executable was found" in resp["error"]["message"]
+    assert resp["result"]["url"] == "http://127.0.0.1:9222"
-    assert "--remote-debugging-port=9222" in resp["error"]["message"]
+    assert resp["result"]["messages"][0] == "Chrome isn't running with remote debugging — attempting to launch..."
+    assert any("No Chrome/Chromium executable was found" in line for line in resp["result"]["messages"])
+    assert any("--remote-debugging-port=9222" in line for line in resp["result"]["messages"])
     assert "BROWSER_CDP_URL" not in os.environ
 
 
@@ -2950,7 +2961,12 @@ def test_browser_manage_connect_default_local_retries_after_launch(monkeypatch):
                 {"id": "1", "method": "browser.manage", "params": {"action": "connect"}}
             )
 
-    assert resp["result"] == {"connected": True, "url": "http://127.0.0.1:9222"}
+    assert resp["result"]["connected"] is True
+    assert resp["result"]["url"] == "http://127.0.0.1:9222"
+    assert resp["result"]["messages"] == [
+        "Chrome isn't running with remote debugging — attempting to launch...",
+        "Chrome launched and listening on port 9222",
+    ]
     assert os.environ["BROWSER_CDP_URL"] == "http://127.0.0.1:9222"
 
 

tui_gateway/server.py

@@ -4777,6 +4777,15 @@ def _browser_connect_error(url: str, port: int) -> str:
     )
 
 
+def _browser_connect_failure_messages(url: str, port: int) -> list[str]:
+    command = _browser_connect_error(url, port)
+    return [
+        "Chrome isn't running with remote debugging — attempting to launch...",
+        *command.splitlines(),
+        "Browser not connected — start Chrome with remote debugging and retry /browser connect",
+    ]
+
+
 @method("browser.manage")
 def _(rid, params: dict) -> dict:
     action = params.get("action", "status")
@@ -4793,6 +4802,7 @@ def _(rid, params: dict) -> dict:
         from hermes_cli.browser_connect import DEFAULT_BROWSER_CDP_URL
 
         url = params.get("url", DEFAULT_BROWSER_CDP_URL)
+        messages: list[str] = []
         try:
             import urllib.request
             from urllib.parse import urlparse
@@ -4801,6 +4811,9 @@ def _(rid, params: dict) -> dict:
             parsed = urlparse(url if "://" in url else f"http://{url}")
             if parsed.scheme not in {"http", "https", "ws", "wss"}:
                 return _err(rid, 4015, f"unsupported browser url: {url}")
+            if _is_default_local_cdp(parsed):
+                url = DEFAULT_BROWSER_CDP_URL
+                parsed = urlparse(url)
 
             # A concrete ``ws[s]://.../devtools/browser/<id>`` endpoint is
             # already directly connectable — those are the URLs Browserbase
@@ -4846,8 +4859,10 @@ def _(rid, params: dict) -> dict:
                         from hermes_cli.browser_connect import try_launch_chrome_debug
 
                         port = parsed.port or 9222
-                        if try_launch_chrome_debug(port, platform.system()):
+                        messages.append("Chrome isn't running with remote debugging — attempting to launch...")
-                            for _ in range(10):
+                        launched = try_launch_chrome_debug(port, platform.system())
+                        if launched:
+                            for _ in range(20):
                                 time.sleep(0.5)
                                 for probe in probe_urls:
                                     try:
@@ -4859,10 +4874,15 @@ def _(rid, params: dict) -> dict:
                                         continue
                                 if ok:
                                     break
+                            if ok:
+                                messages.append(f"Chrome launched and listening on port {port}")
                         if not ok:
-                            return _err(rid, 5031, _browser_connect_error(url, port))
+                            messages.extend(_browser_connect_failure_messages(url, port)[1:])
+                            return _ok(rid, {"connected": False, "url": url, "messages": messages})
                     else:
                         return _err(rid, 5031, f"could not reach browser CDP at {url}")
+                elif _is_default_local_cdp(parsed):
+                    messages.append(f"Chrome is already listening on port {parsed.port or 9222}")
 
             # Persist a normalized URL for downstream CDP resolution.
             # Discovery-style inputs (`http://host:port` or
@@ -4898,7 +4918,10 @@ def _(rid, params: dict) -> dict:
             cleanup_all_browsers()
         except Exception as e:
             return _err(rid, 5031, str(e))
-        return _ok(rid, {"connected": True, "url": normalized})
+        payload = {"connected": True, "url": normalized}
+        if messages:
+            payload["messages"] = messages
+        return _ok(rid, payload)
     if action == "disconnect":
         try:
             from tools.browser_tool import cleanup_all_browsers

ui-tui/src/__tests__/createSlashHandler.test.ts

@@ -207,6 +207,33 @@ describe('createSlashHandler', () => {
     expect(ctx.gateway.gw.request).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
   })
 
+  it('renders browser connect progress messages from the gateway', async () => {
+    const rpc = vi.fn(() =>
+      Promise.resolve({
+        connected: false,
+        messages: [
+          "Chrome isn't running with remote debugging — attempting to launch...",
+          'Browser not connected — start Chrome with remote debugging and retry /browser connect'
+        ],
+        url: 'http://127.0.0.1:9222'
+      })
+    )
+    const ctx = buildCtx({ gateway: { ...buildGateway(), rpc } })
+
+    expect(createSlashHandler(ctx)('/browser connect')).toBe(true)
+    expect(ctx.transcript.sys).toHaveBeenCalledWith('checking Chrome remote debugging at http://127.0.0.1:9222...')
+
+    await vi.waitFor(() => {
+      expect(ctx.transcript.sys).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+        "Chrome isn't running with remote debugging — attempting to launch..."
+      )
+      expect(ctx.transcript.sys).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+        'Browser not connected — start Chrome with remote debugging and retry /browser connect'
+      )
+      expect(ctx.transcript.sys).not.toHaveBeenCalledWith('browser connect failed')
+    })
+  })
+
   it('routes /rollback through native RPC when a session is active', () => {
     patchUiState({ sid: 'sid-abc' })
     const rpc = vi.fn(() => Promise.resolve({}))

ui-tui/src/app/slash/commands/ops.ts

@@ -108,12 +108,15 @@ export const opsCommands: SlashCommand[] = [
 
       if (action === 'connect') {
         payload.url = requested || 'http://127.0.0.1:9222'
+        ctx.transcript.sys(`checking Chrome remote debugging at ${payload.url}...`)
       }
 
       ctx.gateway
         .rpc<BrowserManageResponse>('browser.manage', payload)
         .then(
           ctx.guarded<BrowserManageResponse>(r => {
+            r.messages?.forEach(message => ctx.transcript.sys(message))
+
             if (action === 'status') {
               return ctx.transcript.sys(
                 r.connected
@@ -124,13 +127,14 @@ export const opsCommands: SlashCommand[] = [
 
             if (action === 'connect') {
               if (r.connected) {
-                ctx.transcript.sys(`browser connected: ${r.url || '(url unavailable)'}`)
+                ctx.transcript.sys(`Browser connected to live Chrome via CDP`)
+                ctx.transcript.sys(`Endpoint: ${r.url || '(url unavailable)'}`)
                 ctx.transcript.sys('next browser tool call will use this CDP endpoint')
 
                 return
               }
 
-              return ctx.transcript.sys('browser connect failed')
+              return
             }
 
             ctx.transcript.sys('browser disconnected')

ui-tui/src/gatewayTypes.ts

@@ -314,6 +314,7 @@ export interface ProcessStopResponse {
 
 export interface BrowserManageResponse {
   connected?: boolean
+  messages?: string[]
   url?: string
 }