clawdbot/docs/platforms/mac/webchat.md

summary, read_when

summary	read_when
How the mac app embeds the gateway WebChat and how to debug it	Debugging mac WebChat view or loopback port

WebChat (macOS app)

The macOS menu bar app embeds the WebChat UI as a native SwiftUI view. It connects to the Gateway and defaults to the main session for the selected agent (with a session switcher for other sessions).

• Local mode: connects directly to the local Gateway WebSocket.
• Remote mode: forwards the Gateway control port over SSH and uses that tunnel as the data plane.

Launch & debugging

• Manual: Lobster menu → “Open Chat”.
• Auto‑open for testing:

  dist/Clawdbot.app/Contents/MacOS/Clawdbot --webchat
  

• Logs: ./scripts/clawlog.sh (subsystem com.clawdbot, category WebChatSwiftUI).

How it’s wired

• Data plane: Gateway WS methods chat.history, chat.send, chat.abort, chat.inject and events chat, agent, presence, tick, health.
• Session: defaults to the primary session (main, or global when scope is global). The UI can switch between sessions.
• Onboarding uses a dedicated session to keep first‑run setup separate.

Security surface

• Remote mode forwards only the Gateway WebSocket control port over SSH.

Known limitations

• The UI is optimized for chat sessions (not a full browser sandbox).