porabuild/poracode/desktop-app-testing

Desktop App Testing

Follow the computer-use skill for enable/disable, background-only, and how to read a result. This skill is the test plan: predict, drive, prove.

Plan the run

List apps and windows and pick the exact target. If the app is not running, search installed apps with list_apps query and pass the returned id to launch_app. Write down the steps you intend to perform and what each one should produce on screen; do not improvise against whatever window happens to be in front.

Call get_window_state on the selected window with include_text:true before the first step. Some apps recreate windows during navigation, so refresh a stale window instead of reusing its old id.

Run the flow

Call computer_use.enable immediately before the first control step and keep it enabled for the uninterrupted run.

For each step: inspect, act, inspect again, and compare. Prefer observe:"text"; reuse observation.state for the second look. Do not batch coordinates or steps whose target depends on an intermediate result.

Use mode:"foreground" and activate_window only when the user asked for a takeover, and warn the user immediately beforehand — a refusal is not that permission. A background_unavailable refusal means follow the hint to invoke_element or set_element_value, and if none fits, say so rather than taking over the desktop.

Judge the result

A step passed when the window shows what you predicted — the dialog closed, the row appeared, the field holds the value. Input dispatched with no visible change is a failure, not a pass, and so is a screenshot you did not actually look at.

Stop at anything the user owns: locked desktops, OS permission prompts, password fields, payment or account confirmations. Ask instead of typing through them.

Report

Name the app and window, list the steps with their verified outcome, and show the screenshot for anything visual. Call out the steps you could not complete and why, then computer_use.disable so the machine goes back to the user.