MosisService/docs/DESKTOP-DESIGNER.md

Desktop Designer

The desktop designer (designer/) provides rapid UI development with:

• Hot-reload: Automatically reloads when RML/RCSS/Lua files change
• UI Hierarchy Dumping: Exports element tree to JSON for inspection
• Screenshot Capture: PNG export via F12 key
• Logging: Detailed output for debugging navigation and events
• Action Recording: Record mouse/keyboard interactions to JSON
• Action Playback: Replay recorded interactions with timing

Key Files

File	Purpose
designer/src/main.cpp	Main entry point, GLFW window, event loop
designer/src/desktop_kernel.cpp	RmlUi context management, rendering
designer/src/testing/ui_inspector.cpp	UI hierarchy JSON export
designer/src/testing/visual_capture.cpp	PNG screenshot capture and comparison
designer/src/testing/action_recorder.cpp	Record user interactions to JSON
designer/src/testing/action_player.cpp	Playback recorded actions
designer/src/backend/RmlUi_Backend_GLFW_GL3.cpp	GLFW backend with input hooks

Command Line Options

--simulator         Enable simulator mode (shows home screen with third-party apps)
--test-apps <path>  Path to test-apps directory (default: auto-detect)
--assets <path>     Set assets directory (default: derived from document)
--log <path>        Write logs to file
--hierarchy <path>  Dump UI hierarchy JSON each frame
--dump              Single-shot dump mode (screenshot + hierarchy)
--record <path>     Enable recording mode (F5 to start/stop)
--playback <path>   Play back recorded actions from JSON
--resolution WxH    Set window resolution (default: 540x960)

Running the Designer

Simulator Mode (Recommended for Testing Apps)

To run the designer with third-party test apps visible:

cd MosisService
./designer/build/Release/mosis-designer.exe --simulator --test-apps test-apps

This will:

• Load the home screen from src/main/assets/apps/home/home.rml
• Scan test-apps/ for apps with valid manifest.json
• Display discovered apps in the home screen grid
• Enable the mosis.apps Lua API for app launching

Direct Document Mode

To load a specific RML document directly:

./designer/build/Release/mosis-designer.exe path/to/document.rml

Keyboard Controls

Key	Function
F5	Start/stop recording (when --record is enabled)
F6	Pause/resume playback (when --playback is enabled)
F12	Take screenshot