feat(cli): add browser launch options to preview and play (#884)

* feat(cli): add browser launch options to preview and play

* fix(cli): add spawn error listener to prevent ENOENT crash

---------

Co-authored-by: AnoKno <122017492+AnoKno@users.noreply.github.com>

packages/cli/src/commands/play.ts

@@ -7,11 +7,13 @@ export const examples: Example[] = [
   ["Play a specific project directory", "hyperframes play ./my-video"],
   ["Use a custom port", "hyperframes play --port 8080"],
   ["Start without opening the browser", "hyperframes play --no-open"],
+  ["Open with a specific browser", "hyperframes play --browser-path /usr/bin/chromium"],
 ];
 import { resolve, dirname } from "node:path";
 import * as clack from "@clack/prompts";
 import { c } from "../ui/colors.js";
 import { resolveProject } from "../utils/project.js";
+import { openBrowser } from "../utils/openBrowser.js";
 
 export default defineCommand({
   meta: { name: "play", description: "Play a composition in a lightweight browser player" },
@@ -23,11 +25,26 @@ export default defineCommand({
       default: true,
       description: "Open browser automatically",
     },
+    "browser-path": {
+      type: "string",
+      description: "Path to the browser executable to open",
+    },
+    "user-data-dir": {
+      type: "string",
+      description: "Chromium-compatible user data directory (requires --browser-path)",
+    },
   },
   async run({ args }) {
     const project = resolveProject(args.dir);
     const startPort = parseInt(args.port ?? "3003", 10);
 
+    // Validation: --user-data-dir requires --browser-path
+    if (args["user-data-dir"] && !args["browser-path"]) {
+      clack.log.error("--user-data-dir requires --browser-path");
+      process.exitCode = 1;
+      return;
+    }
+
     // Resolve runtime path — same logic as studioServer.ts
     const runtimePath = resolveRuntimePath();
     if (!runtimePath) {
@@ -152,7 +169,10 @@ export default defineCommand({
     console.log(`  ${c.dim("Press Ctrl+C to stop")}`);
     console.log();
     if (args.open) {
-      import("open").then((mod) => mod.default(url)).catch(() => {});
+      void openBrowser(url, {
+        browserPath: args["browser-path"] as string | undefined,
+        userDataDir: args["user-data-dir"] as string | undefined,
+      });
     }
 
     return new Promise<void>(() => {});

packages/cli/src/commands/preview.ts

@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ export const examples: Example[] = [
   ["Use a custom port", "hyperframes preview --port 8080"],
   ["Force a new server even if one is already running", "hyperframes preview --force-new"],
   ["Start without opening the browser", "hyperframes preview --no-open"],
+  ["Open with a specific browser", "hyperframes preview --browser-path /usr/bin/chromium"],
   ["List all active preview servers", "hyperframes preview --list"],
   ["Kill all active preview servers", "hyperframes preview --kill-all"],
 ];
@@ -18,6 +19,7 @@ import { createRequire } from "node:module";
 import * as clack from "@clack/prompts";
 import { c } from "../ui/colors.js";
 import { isDevMode } from "../utils/env.js";
+import { openBrowser } from "../utils/openBrowser.js";
 import { lintProject } from "../utils/lintProject.js";
 import { formatLintFindings } from "../utils/lintFormat.js";
 import {
@@ -52,6 +54,14 @@ export default defineCommand({
       default: true,
       description: "Open browser automatically",
     },
+    "browser-path": {
+      type: "string",
+      description: "Path to the browser executable to open",
+    },
+    "user-data-dir": {
+      type: "string",
+      description: "Chromium-compatible user data directory (requires --browser-path)",
+    },
   },
   async run({ args }) {
     const startPort = parseInt(args.port ?? "3002", 10);
@@ -106,19 +116,34 @@ export default defineCommand({
       }
     }
 
+    // Validation: --user-data-dir requires --browser-path
+    if (args["user-data-dir"] && !args["browser-path"]) {
+      clack.log.error("--user-data-dir requires --browser-path");
+      process.exitCode = 1;
+      return;
+    }
+
     const noOpen = !args.open;
+    const browserPath = args["browser-path"] as string | undefined;
+    const userDataDir = args["user-data-dir"] as string | undefined;
 
     if (isDevMode()) {
-      return runDevMode(dir, { projectName, noOpen });
+      return runDevMode(dir, { projectName, noOpen, browserPath, userDataDir });
     }
 
     // If @hyperframes/studio is installed locally, use Vite for full HMR
     if (hasLocalStudio(dir)) {
-      return runLocalStudioMode(dir, { projectName, noOpen });
+      return runLocalStudioMode(dir, { projectName, noOpen, browserPath, userDataDir });
     }
 
     const forceNew = !!args["force-new"];
-    return runEmbeddedMode(dir, startPort, { projectName, forceNew, noOpen });
+    return runEmbeddedMode(dir, startPort, {
+      projectName,
+      forceNew,
+      noOpen,
+      browserPath,
+      userDataDir,
+    });
   },
 });
 
@@ -127,7 +152,7 @@ export default defineCommand({
  */
 async function runDevMode(
   dir: string,
-  options?: { projectName?: string; noOpen?: boolean },
+  options?: { projectName?: string; noOpen?: boolean; browserPath?: string; userDataDir?: string },
 ): Promise<void> {
   // Find monorepo root by navigating from packages/cli/src/commands/
   const thisFile = fileURLToPath(import.meta.url);
@@ -194,7 +219,10 @@ async function runDevMode(
 
       if (!options?.noOpen) {
         const urlToOpen = `${frontendUrl}#project/${pName}`;
-        import("open").then((mod) => mod.default(urlToOpen)).catch(() => {});
+        openBrowser(urlToOpen, {
+          browserPath: options?.browserPath,
+          userDataDir: options?.userDataDir,
+        });
       }
 
       child.stdout?.removeListener("data", handleOutput);
@@ -247,7 +275,7 @@ function hasLocalStudio(dir: string): boolean {
  */
 async function runLocalStudioMode(
   dir: string,
-  options?: { projectName?: string; noOpen?: boolean },
+  options?: { projectName?: string; noOpen?: boolean; browserPath?: string; userDataDir?: string },
 ): Promise<void> {
   const req = createRequire(join(dir, "package.json"));
   const studioPkgPath = dirname(req.resolve("@hyperframes/studio/package.json"));
@@ -296,7 +324,10 @@ async function runLocalStudioMode(
       console.log(`  ${c.dim("Press Ctrl+C to stop")}`);
       console.log();
       if (!options?.noOpen) {
-        import("open").then((mod) => mod.default(`${url}#project/${pName}`)).catch(() => {});
+        openBrowser(`${url}#project/${pName}`, {
+          browserPath: options?.browserPath,
+          userDataDir: options?.userDataDir,
+        });
       }
     }
   }
@@ -333,7 +364,13 @@ async function runLocalStudioMode(
 async function runEmbeddedMode(
   dir: string,
   startPort: number,
-  options?: { projectName?: string; forceNew?: boolean; noOpen?: boolean },
+  options?: {
+    projectName?: string;
+    forceNew?: boolean;
+    noOpen?: boolean;
+    browserPath?: string;
+    userDataDir?: string;
+  },
 ): Promise<void> {
   const { createStudioServer, resolveStudioBundle } = await import("../server/studioServer.js");
 
@@ -384,7 +421,10 @@ async function runEmbeddedMode(
     );
     console.log();
     if (!options?.noOpen) {
-      import("open").then((mod) => mod.default(`${url}#project/${pName}`)).catch(() => {});
+      openBrowser(`${url}#project/${pName}`, {
+        browserPath: options?.browserPath,
+        userDataDir: options?.userDataDir,
+      });
     }
     return;
   }
@@ -405,7 +445,10 @@ async function runEmbeddedMode(
   console.log(`  ${c.dim("Press Ctrl+C to stop")}`);
   console.log();
   if (!options?.noOpen) {
-    import("open").then((mod) => mod.default(`${url}#project/${pName}`)).catch(() => {});
+    openBrowser(`${url}#project/${pName}`, {
+      browserPath: options?.browserPath,
+      userDataDir: options?.userDataDir,
+    });
   }
 
   // Block until Ctrl+C. Node would normally exit on SIGINT, but the listening

packages/cli/src/utils/openBrowser.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+import { describe, it, expect } from "vitest";
+import { buildBrowserArgs } from "./openBrowser.js";
+
+describe("buildBrowserArgs", () => {
+  it("returns only the URL when no options are given", () => {
+    expect(buildBrowserArgs("http://localhost:3002", {})).toEqual(["http://localhost:3002"]);
+  });
+
+  it("returns only the URL when only browserPath is set (args do not include it)", () => {
+    // browserPath is used by the caller to decide spawn vs open, not in args
+    expect(buildBrowserArgs("http://localhost:3002", { browserPath: "/usr/bin/chromium" })).toEqual(
+      ["http://localhost:3002"],
+    );
+  });
+
+  it("prepends --user-data-dir before the URL", () => {
+    expect(
+      buildBrowserArgs("http://localhost:3002", {
+        userDataDir: "D:\\tmp\\profile",
+      }),
+    ).toEqual(["--user-data-dir=D:\\tmp\\profile", "http://localhost:3002"]);
+  });
+
+  it("prepends --user-data-dir with both options", () => {
+    expect(
+      buildBrowserArgs("http://localhost:3002", {
+        browserPath: "/usr/bin/chromium",
+        userDataDir: "/tmp/hf-profile",
+      }),
+    ).toEqual(["--user-data-dir=/tmp/hf-profile", "http://localhost:3002"]);
+  });
+
+  it("handles paths with spaces", () => {
+    expect(
+      buildBrowserArgs("http://localhost:3002", {
+        userDataDir: "C:\\Documents and Settings\\profile",
+      }),
+    ).toEqual(["--user-data-dir=C:\\Documents and Settings\\profile", "http://localhost:3002"]);
+  });
+});

packages/cli/src/utils/openBrowser.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+import { spawn } from "node:child_process";
+
+export interface OpenBrowserOptions {
+  browserPath?: string;
+  userDataDir?: string;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Build the argument list for spawning a browser process.
+ *
+ * Pure function — easy to unit-test without mocking `spawn` or `import("open")`.
+ */
+export function buildBrowserArgs(url: string, options: OpenBrowserOptions): string[] {
+  const args: string[] = [];
+  if (options.userDataDir) {
+    args.push(`--user-data-dir=${options.userDataDir}`);
+  }
+  args.push(url);
+  return args;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Open a URL in the browser with the given options.
+ *
+ * - browserPath: spawn the given binary directly (enables Chromium flags)
+ * - userDataDir: passed as --user-data-dir (requires browserPath)
+ * - otherwise: fall back to the `open` package (default browser)
+ */
+export function openBrowser(url: string, options: OpenBrowserOptions = {}): void {
+  if (options.browserPath) {
+    const args = buildBrowserArgs(url, options);
+    const child = spawn(options.browserPath, args, {
+      detached: true,
+      stdio: "ignore",
+    });
+    child.on("error", () => {});
+    child.unref();
+    return;
+  }
+
+  import("open").then((mod) => mod.default(url)).catch(() => {});
+}