visual-edit

Visual Edit

Use /visual-edit when the user wants to inspect or edit a real local app visually instead of generating standalone Alpine HTML. The source of truth is the running localhost app plus its route URLs. Design shows those routes as iframe-backed screens on the infinite canvas.

Core Model

• Each screen is a URL-backed iframe, not copied HTML.
• Each screen keeps URL metadata: connectionId, routeId, path, url, bridgeUrl, title, and viewport size.
• Start in Design's screen overview mode. In overview, screens are static design frames; full-screen focus is for scrolling and app interaction.
• Alt-drag duplicates a screen. For localhost screens, duplication copies the iframe frame and URL metadata; change the copy's path/query for a new state.
• Flow visualization is multiple URL states: /checkout?step=shipping, /checkout?step=payment, /checkout?step=done, etc.
• When the user gives a named flow or numbered screen list, preserve that order and create one screen per URL/path. Shorthand like localhost:1234/onboarding/1 means http://localhost:1234/onboarding/1.

Review Quality

• Treat the running app as the truth. Preserve its component language, tokens, route state, and real content unless the user explicitly asks for a new visual direction.
• Use multiple URL states to reveal meaningful UX moments: empty/loading/error states, focused panels, modals, responsive breakpoints, and completed flow steps when those matter to the review.
• For visual edits, compare before/after at the relevant viewport sizes and check key hover/focus/scroll states when the app exposes them.

Account And Sharing Model

• The /visual-edit entry route can open before the viewer signs in. Public /design/:id editor links can also render read-only public designs without a session.
• Prefer links returned by Design actions or /_agent-native/open deep links. Do not surface URLs with _session= tokens. Query sessions are only a fallback after normal cookie resolution, so an existing browser session can still open the design as a different user and show "Design not found".
• Do not attempt anonymous write actions. Bridge registration, design creation, screen placement, generation, saving, and sharing are account-backed. If a signed-out visitor wants to save or share, send them through the framework sign-in return flow, then save or copy the design into that account before opening the share dialog.

Required Local Bridge

From the target app repo, make sure its dev server is running, then run:

npx @agent-native/core@latest design connect --url http://localhost:5173 --root . --daemon

Use the app's real port. The command starts a detached local bridge on http://127.0.0.1:7331 by default, waits for /health, prints the manifest JSON, and keeps the bridge alive after the agent command exits.

For a manual health/manifest check:

curl http://127.0.0.1:7331/manifest.json

Do not use --json for an editable session. --json, --once, and --dry-run print the manifest and exit, so Design will fall back to a non-editable live iframe as soon as it tries to refresh the snapshot.

Action Flow

Prefer the single authenticated open-visual-edit action. It registers or refreshes the localhost bridge, creates or reuses a Design project, places URL-backed screens, stores the active visual-edit context, and navigates to overview mode in one call. This avoids creating a private design under a synthetic CLI user and then handing the browser a tokenized URL that may be shadowed by an existing session.

pnpm action open-visual-edit '{
  "title": "Docs homepage visual edit",
  "devServerUrl": "http://localhost:5173",
  "bridgeUrl": "http://127.0.0.1:7331",
  "rootPath": "/absolute/path/to/app",
  "routeManifest": { "...": "from /manifest.json" },
  "paths": ["/", "/pricing", "/checkout?step=payment"]
}'

The action returns designId, connectionId, screens, urlPath, and openUrl. Keep those IDs in the chat context for follow-ups.

For a numbered flow the user describes in chat, keep the labels and order:

pnpm action open-visual-edit '{
  "designId": "<existing-design-id>",
  "connectionId": "<existing-connection-id>",
  "devServerUrl": "http://localhost:1234",
  "routes": [
    { "url": "localhost:1234/onboarding/1", "title": "Screen 1" },
    { "url": "localhost:1234/onboarding/2", "title": "Screen 2" },
    { "url": "localhost:1234/onboarding/3", "title": "Screen 3" }
  ]
}'

For responsive follow-ups, call open-visual-edit again with the same designId and connectionId, plus explicit viewport dimensions:

pnpm action open-visual-edit '{
  "designId": "<existing-design-id>",
  "connectionId": "<existing-connection-id>",
  "devServerUrl": "http://localhost:5173",
  "paths": ["/"],
  "defaultWidth": 390,
  "defaultHeight": 844,
  "startX": 1600,
  "startY": 0
}'

If no routes or paths are supplied, open-visual-edit uses every route from the localhost manifest.

Fallback, only when open-visual-edit is unavailable:

1. Register or refresh the bridge with connect-localhost, passing the /manifest.json result as routeManifest and capabilities.
2. Create or reuse a Design project with create-design.
3. Place URL-backed screens with add-localhost-screens.
4. Navigate to overview mode with navigate.

Open The Design Surface

• Use the link, deepLink, or MCP App embed returned by Design actions so the user sees the canvas. In Codex Desktop or VS Code, prefer opening that Design URL in the available preview/webview panel; otherwise surface the "Open design" link.
• Return or open the openUrl / action link, not a hand-built /design/:id?_session=... URL.
• If the user is working in VS Code, the Agent Native extension can open the same URL via vscode://builder.agent-native/open?url=<encoded-design-url>. Its Agent Native: Open Design Canvas command also starts the local bridge and opens hosted Design in the VS Code side panel.
• After add-localhost-screens, confirm the Design editor is in overview mode with the requested URL-backed frames visible. Do not stop at "screens added" when the user asked to inspect or edit visually.

Editing URLs

Keep localhost screens as URL files plus screenMetadata[fileId]. Do not replace them with copied srcdoc HTML unless the user explicitly asks for a frozen snapshot. To change a state, rerun add-localhost-screens with the new path/query or duplicate the screen and update the copy's URL metadata.

Verification

• list-localhost-connections returns the expected connection and routes.
• The Design editor opens in overview mode.
• Every requested screen renders the intended localhost URL.
• Alt-dragging a screen copies the URL-backed frame, not an inline HTML clone.