rnxsim 0.1.408 → 0.1.409

package/cli/drivers/playwright.ts

@@ -4,20 +4,22 @@
 // install tree (repo-local install is typical; the latter covers a global
 // CLI invoked from a directory with no node_modules).
 //
-// the browser runs in a *detached* node subprocess (see PLAYWRIGHT_SIM_HOST)
-// rather than in this CLI process. that is load-bearing: `rnx open`
-// returns the moment the sim connects, and playwright tears its browser
-// down when the launching process exits. an in-process launch would mean
-// the sim vanished the instant `open` finished. the detached host keeps the
-// test browser alive until the sim's page closes (e.g. via `rnx close`).
+// the browser runs in a *detached* child process — this CLI re-invoked as
+// its own `__internal playwright-host` (see cli/internal-child.ts) — rather
+// than in this CLI process. that is load-bearing: `rnx open` returns the
+// moment the sim connects, and playwright tears its browser down when the
+// launching process exits. an in-process launch would mean the sim vanished
+// the instant `open` finished. the detached host keeps the test browser alive
+// until the sim's page closes (e.g. via `rnx close`).
 
 import { spawn } from 'child_process'
 import { closeSync, mkdtempSync, openSync, readFileSync } from 'fs'
 import { tmpdir } from 'os'
 import { join } from 'path'
-import { DISPOSABLE_BROWSER_CACHE_DIR_NAMES } from '../../src/browser-cache'
 import { ensureProfile, playwrightProfileUserDataDir } from '../../src/profiles'
+import { RNX_INTERNAL_CHILDREN, RNX_INTERNAL_COMMAND } from '../internal-child'
 import { getProcessComm } from '../parent-pid'
+import { rnxSelfInvocation } from '../self-invocation'
 import { ensurePlaywrightBrowser, resolvePlaywright } from './playwright-provisioning'
 import type {
   Driver,
@@ -26,500 +28,6 @@ import type {
   DriverLaunchResult,
 } from './types'
 
-// CJS script run via `node -e`. resolves playwright from the absolute path
-// the driver hands it, launches Chrome for Testing, opens the target url, then keeps
-// itself (and therefore the browser) alive until the browser disconnects.
-// kept as an inline string so no extra build artifact has to ship with the
-// bundled CLI. all inputs arrive via env vars (argv layout under `-e` is
-// fiddly; env is unambiguous).
-export const PLAYWRIGHT_SIM_HOST = `
-const modulePath = process.env.SOOTSIM_PW_MODULE;
-const url = process.env.SOOTSIM_PW_URL;
-// the WS bridge port the sim page must register with, injected below as
-// window.__sootsimBridgePort so the page skips its shell-port heuristic (which
-// assumes the default offset and breaks when the dev bridge drifted).
-const bridgePort = process.env.SOOTSIM_PW_BRIDGE_PORT || '';
-const headless = process.env.SOOTSIM_PW_HEADLESS === '1';
-const callerUserDataDir = process.env.SOOTSIM_PW_USERDATADIR || '';
-// pid of the session that launched us (its topmost non-init ancestor). when
-// that process exits we tear Chrome down — see startOwnerWatch below. it is a
-// required lifetime bound: an invalid value aborts before Chrome launches.
-// SOOTSIM_PW_OWNER_POLL_MS is a test-only override of the 5s poll interval;
-// production never sets it.
-const ownerPid = Number(process.env.SOOTSIM_PW_OWNER_PID || 0);
-const ownerPollMs = Number(process.env.SOOTSIM_PW_OWNER_POLL_MS || 5000);
-// optional CDP port — exposes Chrome's remote-debugging endpoint so a
-// bridge-driven sim can also be cpu-profiled (rnx perf cpu --cdp-port).
-// playwright keeps its own pipe connection; the port is an additional endpoint.
-const cdpPort = process.env.SOOTSIM_PW_CDP_PORT || '';
-// extra chromium launch args, space-separated. a linux GPU runner injects
-// '--use-angle=vulkan --enable-features=Vulkan' here so chrome binds the
-// real GPU instead of silently falling back to swiftshader software
-// rendering (which pegs cores and produces ~1fps canvas capture).
-const extraChromeArgs = (process.env.SOOTSIM_PW_CHROME_ARGS || '')
-  .split(' ')
-  .filter(Boolean);
-// Local CanvasKit work must never fall back to Playwright's software
-// renderer. CI may use the bundled browser for non-interactive coverage, but
-// local test drives fail closed unless the hardware-backed test browser is
-// proven after launch.
-const hardwareGpuRequired = process.env.CI !== '1' && process.env.CI !== 'true';
-const softwareRendererPattern = /swiftshader|software(?: rasterizer)?|llvmpipe|lavapipe|softpipe/i;
-// page viewport as '<w>x<h>'. the caller sizes it from the device profile;
-// the fallback is phone-shaped because the page hosts a phone sim — the
-// playwright default (1280x720 desktop) letterboxes the device frame.
-const viewportSpec = /^(\\d+)x(\\d+)$/.exec(process.env.SOOTSIM_PW_VIEWPORT || '');
-const viewport = viewportSpec
-  ? { width: Number(viewportSpec[1]), height: Number(viewportSpec[2]) }
-  : { width: 600, height: 900 };
-// device pixels per css pixel. playwright's default is 1, which makes the
-// engine allocate its canvas backing store at HALF the resolution a normal
-// retina-mac chrome would (dpr 2) — the sim looks visibly soft. default to 2
-// so a driver-launched sim matches what the user sees in their own browser.
-const deviceScaleFactor = Number(process.env.SOOTSIM_PW_DSF || 2);
-const closeTimeoutMs = Number(process.env.SOOTSIM_PW_CLOSE_TIMEOUT_MS || 2500);
-const connectAckFile = process.env.SOOTSIM_PW_CONNECTED_ACK_FILE || '';
-const disposableBrowserCacheDirs = new Set(${JSON.stringify(
-  DISPOSABLE_BROWSER_CACHE_DIR_NAMES,
-)});
-const { existsSync, mkdtempSync, readdirSync, rmSync, unlinkSync } = require('fs');
-const { execSync } = require('child_process');
-const { tmpdir } = require('os');
-const { join } = require('path');
-// chrome tree reaper — playwright's browser.close() and even SIGKILLing the
-// root chrome process do NOT reliably take down the helper tree (gpu, renderer,
-// network/storage utilities). they reparent to launchd/init and survive, each
-// one busy enough to peg CPU at 100%+. close() only reaches the root.
-//
-// the prior approach was \`pgrep -f ms-playwright/[c]hromium\`. it never matched
-// system Chrome, so the reaper was a no-op in the common case and every
-// aborted/closed \`rnx open\` leaked a renderer + gpu helper burning 100%+
-// CPU until manually killed (multiple incidents 2026-06).
-//
-// fix: identify our chrome tree by its UNIQUE user-data-dir. every helper a
-// chrome root spawns inherits \`--user-data-dir=<dir>\` in its cmdline, so
-// \`pgrep -f <profileDir>\` finds exactly the tree we launched and nothing else
-// — Chrome for Testing and bundled playwright chromium alike. as a side benefit we
-// no longer need the launch / launchPersistentContext fork: we ALWAYS use a
-// profile dir (mkdtemp'd if the caller didn't pass one, then removed at exit).
-const reapEnabled = process.platform !== 'win32';
-let profileDir = callerUserDataDir;
-let ephemeralProfile = false;
-if (!profileDir) {
-  profileDir = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), 'rnx-playwright-host-'));
-  ephemeralProfile = true;
-}
-// browser HTTP caches are acceleration data, not profile identity. give each
-// host a bounded temporary cache so persistent named profiles retain cookies
-// and storage without multiplying a private cache for every profile.
-const diskCacheDir = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), 'rnx-playwright-cache-'));
-const chromePidsByProfile = () => {
-  if (!reapEnabled) return [];
-  try {
-    return execSync('pgrep -f ' + profileDir + ' || true', { stdio: ['ignore', 'pipe', 'ignore'] })
-      .toString().split('\\n').filter(Boolean).map((p) => Number(p))
-      .filter((p) => p && p !== process.pid);
-  } catch { return []; }
-};
-const chromeCommandsByProfile = () => {
-  if (!reapEnabled) return [];
-  const pids = chromePidsByProfile();
-  if (pids.length === 0) return [];
-  try {
-    return execSync('ps -p ' + pids.join(',') + ' -o command=', {
-      stdio: ['ignore', 'pipe', 'ignore'],
-    }).toString().split('\\n').filter(Boolean);
-  } catch { return []; }
-};
-const assertNoUnsafeSwiftShaderFlag = () => {
-  if (!hardwareGpuRequired) return;
-  const unsafe = chromeCommandsByProfile().find((command) =>
-    command.includes('--enable-unsafe-swiftshader') ||
-    /--use-angle=(?:swiftshader|swiftshader-webgl)(?:\\s|$)/i.test(command)
-  );
-  if (unsafe) {
-    throw new Error(
-      '[playwright-driver] refused software-rendering Chrome: launched process contains a SwiftShader flag'
-    );
-  }
-};
-const killTree = (pid) => {
-  let kids = [];
-  try {
-    kids = execSync('pgrep -P ' + pid + ' || true', { stdio: ['ignore', 'pipe', 'ignore'] })
-      .toString().split('\\n').filter(Boolean);
-  } catch {}
-  for (const k of kids) killTree(Number(k));
-  try { process.kill(pid, 'SIGKILL'); } catch {}
-};
-const reapChrome = () => { for (const pid of chromePidsByProfile()) killTree(pid); };
-const removeDisposableCaches = (root) => {
-  let children = [];
-  try { children = readdirSync(root, { withFileTypes: true }); } catch { return; }
-  for (const child of children) {
-    if (!child.isDirectory() || child.isSymbolicLink()) continue;
-    const childPath = join(root, child.name);
-    if (disposableBrowserCacheDirs.has(child.name)) {
-      try { rmSync(childPath, { recursive: true, force: true }); } catch {}
-      continue;
-    }
-    removeDisposableCaches(childPath);
-  }
-};
-const cleanupProfile = () => {
-  try { rmSync(diskCacheDir, { recursive: true, force: true }); } catch {}
-  if (ephemeralProfile) {
-    try { rmSync(profileDir, { recursive: true, force: true }); } catch {}
-    return;
-  }
-  removeDisposableCaches(profileDir);
-};
-(async () => {
-  const pw = require(modulePath);
-  let context;
-  let keepAlive = null;
-  let connectTimer = null;
-  let connectAckPoll = null;
-  let ownerWatch = null;
-  let connected = false;
-  let shuttingDown = false;
-  const clearConnectTimer = () => {
-    if (connectTimer) {
-      clearTimeout(connectTimer);
-      connectTimer = null;
-    }
-    if (connectAckPoll) {
-      clearInterval(connectAckPoll);
-      connectAckPoll = null;
-    }
-  };
-  const markConnected = () => {
-    connected = true;
-    clearConnectTimer();
-  };
-  const ackFileExists = () => {
-    if (!connectAckFile) return false;
-    try { return existsSync(connectAckFile); } catch { return false; }
-  };
-  const bounded = async (label, work, timeoutMs) => {
-    let timer = null;
-    try {
-      const timeout = new Promise((resolve) => {
-        timer = setTimeout(() => resolve({ timedOut: true }), timeoutMs);
-      });
-      if (typeof timer.unref === 'function') timer.unref();
-      const result = await Promise.race([
-        Promise.resolve().then(work).then(
-          () => ({ timedOut: false }),
-          (error) => ({ timedOut: false, error }),
-        ),
-        timeout,
-      ]);
-      if (result && result.timedOut) {
-        process.stderr.write('[shutdown-timeout] ' + label + ' exceeded ' + timeoutMs + 'ms\\n');
-        return false;
-      }
-      if (result && result.error) {
-        process.stderr.write('[shutdown-error] ' + label + ': ' + String((result.error && result.error.message) || result.error) + '\\n');
-        return false;
-      }
-      return true;
-    } finally {
-      if (timer) clearTimeout(timer);
-    }
-  };
-  const browserProcess = () => {
-    if (context && typeof context.browser === 'function') {
-      try {
-        const b = context.browser();
-        if (b && typeof b.process === 'function') return b.process();
-      } catch {}
-    }
-    return null;
-  };
-  const processIsAlive = (proc) => {
-    if (!proc || !proc.pid) return false;
-    try {
-      process.kill(proc.pid, 0);
-      return true;
-    } catch (err) {
-      return err && err.code === 'EPERM';
-    }
-  };
-  const terminateBrowserProcess = async () => {
-    const proc = browserProcess();
-    if (!proc || !proc.pid || !processIsAlive(proc)) return;
-    try { proc.kill('SIGTERM'); } catch {}
-    await bounded('browser process exit after SIGTERM', async () => {
-      while (processIsAlive(proc)) {
-        await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 50));
-      }
-    }, 600);
-    if (!processIsAlive(proc)) return;
-    try { proc.kill('SIGKILL'); } catch {}
-  };
-  const shutdown = async (code = 0) => {
-    if (shuttingDown) return;
-    shuttingDown = true;
-    clearConnectTimer();
-    if (keepAlive) clearInterval(keepAlive);
-    if (ownerWatch) clearInterval(ownerWatch);
-    const timeoutMs = Number.isFinite(closeTimeoutMs) && closeTimeoutMs > 0 ? closeTimeoutMs : 2500;
-    if (context) await bounded('context.close', () => context.close(), timeoutMs);
-    await terminateBrowserProcess();
-    // close() + root-SIGKILL above handle the graceful case; the helper tree
-    // (gpu/renderer/utilities) reparents and survives every one of those, so
-    // we always sweep by our unique profile dir as the load-bearing teardown.
-    reapChrome();
-    cleanupProfile();
-    if (connectAckFile) {
-      try { unlinkSync(connectAckFile); } catch {}
-    }
-    process.exit(code);
-  };
-  process.once('SIGTERM', () => { void shutdown(0); });
-  process.once('SIGINT', () => { void shutdown(0); });
-  // the launch-failure path at the bottom of this script exits without going
-  // through shutdown(); the exit hook (sync sweep) still reaps the tree.
-  process.on('exit', () => { reapChrome(); cleanupProfile(); });
-  // owner-liveness watchdog — the load-bearing fix for leaked Chrome hosts.
-  // we are spawned detached + unref'd so \`rnx open\` returns immediately,
-  // which means nothing in the OS process tree ties Chrome's lifetime to the
-  // session that asked for it. once the sim connects, the connect-timeout
-  // safety net is cleared, so absent an explicit \`rnx close\` (or the
-  // daemon's idle reaper closing the sim socket) the host would hold Chrome
-  // open forever after its owner exits. poll the owning session's pid and tear
-  // down when it's gone. ESRCH (kill throws) = owner exited; EPERM = alive but
-  // not signalable by us, which still counts as alive.
-  const startOwnerWatch = () => {
-    if (!Number.isInteger(ownerPid) || ownerPid <= 1) {
-      throw new Error('[playwright-driver] missing valid owning process; refusing unsupervised browser host');
-    }
-    const intervalMs = Number.isFinite(ownerPollMs) && ownerPollMs > 0 ? ownerPollMs : 5000;
-    ownerWatch = setInterval(() => {
-      try {
-        process.kill(ownerPid, 0);
-      } catch (err) {
-        if (err && err.code === 'EPERM') return;
-        process.stderr.write('[owner-gone] owning process ' + ownerPid + ' exited; closing playwright host\\n');
-        void shutdown(0);
-      }
-    }, intervalMs);
-    if (typeof ownerWatch.unref === 'function') ownerWatch.unref();
-  };
-  startOwnerWatch();
-  // Local rendering uses Playwright's full Chrome for Testing app. On macOS its
-  // com.google.chrome.for.testing identity cannot intercept open/quit events for
-  // the user's com.google.Chrome browser. CI may use chromium_headless_shell;
-  // local rendering fails closed because that shell has no GPU and silently
-  // chooses SwiftShader. NOTE: this is NOT enough to make \`rnx perf cpu\`
-  // work — that profiles the tenant *worker*, and the JS Self-Profiler API
-  // cannot be constructed in a dedicated worker (see
-  // worker-handlers/cpu-profile.ts). cpu-profile needs a CDP-based profiler
-  // instead.
-  if (
-    hardwareGpuRequired &&
-    extraChromeArgs.some((arg) =>
-      arg === '--enable-unsafe-swiftshader' ||
-      /^--use-angle=(?:swiftshader|swiftshader-webgl)$/i.test(arg)
-    )
-  ) {
-    throw new Error('[playwright-driver] refused SwiftShader launch arguments');
-  }
-  // one browser path per environment: the full, separately identified test app
-  // locally; chromium_headless_shell on CI. never launch a branded user browser.
-  const channelsToTry = hardwareGpuRequired ? ['chromium'] : [null];
-  const launchWith = async (channel) => {
-    const opts = channel
-      ? { headless, channel, viewport, deviceScaleFactor }
-      : { headless, viewport, deviceScaleFactor };
-    // playwright injects --force-color-profile=srgb by default, which reads
-    // visibly washed-out next to a normal chrome window on a wide-gamut mac
-    // display. strip it so driver-launched sims color-match the user's own
-    // browser (real incident 2026-07-09: "low res and whitewashed" sim).
-    opts.ignoreDefaultArgs = ['--force-color-profile=srgb'];
-    // headless chromium backgrounds/occludes the renderer and throttles rAF +
-    // timers to ~1fps, which silently starves combined/video frame capture
-    // (was 47 frames over 63s -> frozen-looking mp4). keep the render loop at
-    // full rate so the recorder captures real motion. document.hidden stays
-    // false in headless, so assertTabVisibleForCapture never caught this — it
-    // has to be fixed at the launch flags.
-    opts.args = [
-      // the compositor renders through skia graphite on webgpu, so a launch
-      // without navigator.gpu boots to a fatal instead of a sim.
-      '--enable-unsafe-webgpu',
-      '--disk-cache-dir=' + diskCacheDir,
-      '--disk-cache-size=67108864',
-      '--disable-background-timer-throttling',
-      '--disable-backgrounding-occluded-windows',
-      '--disable-renderer-backgrounding',
-    ];
-    if (channel) {
-      // the full test browser can bind the real platform GPU — force the native
-      // ANGLE backend and strip playwright's --enable-unsafe-swiftshader
-      // default arg. without both, headless chrome silently falls back to
-      // swiftshader software rendering for the CanvasKit/WebGL canvas and
-      // pegs every core. SOOTSIM_PW_CHROME_ARGS is appended later, so an
-      // env-injected --use-angle=... still overrides (last flag wins).
-      const angle = process.platform === 'darwin' ? 'metal'
-        : process.platform === 'linux' ? 'vulkan' : 'default';
-      opts.args.unshift(
-        '--use-angle=' + angle,
-        '--enable-gpu',
-        '--enable-gpu-rasterization',
-        '--enable-zero-copy',
-        '--ignore-gpu-blocklist',
-      );
-      opts.ignoreDefaultArgs.push('--enable-unsafe-swiftshader');
-    } else {
-      // playwright's bundled software chromium exposes no navigator.gpu until
-      // Vulkan is named explicitly, and webgpu is the only backend there is.
-      opts.args.push('--enable-features=Vulkan');
-    }
-    if (cdpPort) opts.args.push('--remote-debugging-port=' + cdpPort);
-    if (extraChromeArgs.length) opts.args.push(...extraChromeArgs);
-    // headed: size the OS window to the (phone-shaped) viewport too, plus
-    // room for chrome's own toolbar, so the window isn't desktop-shaped
-    // around a letterboxed page.
-    if (!headless) opts.args.push('--window-size=' + viewport.width + ',' + (viewport.height + 88));
-    // ALWAYS persistent: every chrome process inherits --user-data-dir=<dir>
-    // in its cmdline, which is how reapChrome() finds the whole tree (root +
-    // helpers) on shutdown. without a unique dir there is no way to attribute
-    // an orphaned helper back to us, which is the leak we just fixed.
-    return await pw.chromium.launchPersistentContext(profileDir, opts);
-  };
-  let launchErr = null;
-  let launchedChannel = null;
-  for (const channel of channelsToTry) {
-    try {
-      context = await launchWith(channel);
-      launchedChannel = channel || 'chromium';
-      launchErr = null;
-      break;
-    } catch (err) {
-      launchErr = err;
-      const msg = err && err.message ? String(err.message) : '';
-      const isMissingChannel =
-        /not found at/i.test(msg) ||
-        /not installed/i.test(msg) ||
-        /Chromium distribution/i.test(msg);
-      if (!isMissingChannel) throw err; // unexpected failure: bubble up
-      if (channel) {
-        const next = hardwareGpuRequired
-          ? '; bundled Chromium is disabled for local GPU work\\n'
-          : ', falling back to bundled chromium\\n';
-        process.stderr.write('[playwright-driver] channel "' + channel + '" not available' + next);
-      }
-    }
-  }
-  if (launchErr) throw launchErr;
-  if (launchedChannel) {
-    process.stderr.write('[playwright-driver] launched ' + launchedChannel + '\\n');
-  }
-  // grant camera up front so the sim's Camera app reaches the host webcam
-  // through getUserMedia, mirroring a real iOS simulator where the camera just
-  // works. without this the unhandled chrome permission prompt auto-denies and
-  // CameraApp renders its "Camera Access Required" placeholder.
-  await context.grantPermissions(['camera']);
-  const hostMeta = {
-    sootsimHostDriver: 'playwright',
-    sootsimHostPid: process.pid,
-    sootsimHostOwnerPid: ownerPid,
-    sootsimHostStartedAt: Date.now(),
-  };
-  // inject the resolved bridge port (numeric literal) BEFORE the page runs, so
-  // the shell/engine talk to the daemon this driver owns. addInitScript runs
-  // ahead of every page script, and the vite dev plugin only fills the value in
-  // when it is still unset, so this one wins. plain assignment, NOT
-  // defineProperty: other injectors also assign to it, and a non-writable
-  // property would throw at that assignment and crash boot.
-  const bridgePortInject = bridgePort
-    ? 'window.__sootsimBridgePort = ' + Number(bridgePort) + ';'
-    : '';
-  await context.addInitScript({
-    content: 'Object.defineProperty(window, "__sootsimHostMeta", { value: ' + JSON.stringify(hostMeta) + ', configurable: true });' + bridgePortInject,
-  });
-  await context.exposeBinding('__sootsimHostClose', async () => {
-    await shutdown(0);
-  });
-  const connectTimeoutMs = Number(process.env.SOOTSIM_PW_CONNECT_TIMEOUT_MS || 120000);
-  if (connectAckFile) {
-    connectAckPoll = setInterval(() => {
-      if (ackFileExists()) markConnected();
-    }, 500);
-    if (typeof connectAckPoll.unref === 'function') connectAckPoll.unref();
-  }
-  connectTimer = setTimeout(() => {
-    if (ackFileExists()) {
-      markConnected();
-      return;
-    }
-    if (connected) return;
-    process.stderr.write('[connect-timeout] sim did not register with the bridge within ' + connectTimeoutMs + 'ms; closing playwright host\\n');
-    void shutdown(2);
-  }, Number.isFinite(connectTimeoutMs) && connectTimeoutMs > 0 ? connectTimeoutMs : 120000);
-  if (typeof connectTimer.unref === 'function') connectTimer.unref();
-  const page = await context.newPage();
-  if (hardwareGpuRequired) {
-    assertNoUnsafeSwiftShaderFlag();
-    const gpu = await page.evaluate(() => {
-      const canvas = document.createElement('canvas');
-      const gl =
-        canvas.getContext('webgl2', { powerPreference: 'high-performance' }) ||
-        canvas.getContext('webgl', { powerPreference: 'high-performance' });
-      if (!gl) return { renderer: null, vendor: null };
-      const info = gl.getExtension('WEBGL_debug_renderer_info');
-      return {
-        renderer: info ? String(gl.getParameter(info.UNMASKED_RENDERER_WEBGL)) : null,
-        vendor: info ? String(gl.getParameter(info.UNMASKED_VENDOR_WEBGL)) : null,
-      };
-    });
-    if (!gpu.renderer) {
-      throw new Error(
-        '[playwright-driver] could not prove a hardware WebGL renderer; refusing local render-heavy launch'
-      );
-    }
-    if (softwareRendererPattern.test(gpu.renderer)) {
-      throw new Error('[playwright-driver] refused software WebGL renderer: ' + gpu.renderer);
-    }
-    assertNoUnsafeSwiftShaderFlag();
-    process.stderr.write(
-      '[playwright-driver] hardware WebGL renderer: ' + gpu.renderer +
-      (gpu.vendor ? ' (' + gpu.vendor + ')' : '') + '\\n'
-    );
-  }
-  // surface page-side failures (engine boot crash, failed WS registration)
-  // to stderr so a sim that never connects produces a real diagnostic
-  // instead of a silent "timed out waiting for opened sim to connect".
-  page.on('pageerror', (e) => {
-    process.stderr.write('[pageerror] ' + ((e && e.stack) || e) + '\\n');
-  });
-  page.on('console', (m) => {
-    if (m.type() === 'error') {
-      process.stderr.write('[console.error] ' + m.text() + '\\n');
-    }
-  });
-  page.on('crash', () => process.stderr.write('[page] renderer crashed\\n'));
-  try {
-    await page.goto(url, { waitUntil: 'domcontentloaded', timeout: 60000 });
-  } catch (err) {
-    process.stderr.write('[goto] ' + String((err && err.message) || err) + '\\n');
-  }
-  keepAlive = setInterval(() => {}, 1 << 30);
-  // browser disconnect (e.g. user killed chrome from outside) → tear down.
-  // we are persistent-only now, so .browser() is the only handle to it.
-  try {
-    const b = context.browser && context.browser();
-    if (b && typeof b.on === 'function') b.on('disconnected', () => { void shutdown(0); });
-  } catch {}
-  context.on('close', () => { void shutdown(0); });
-  page.on('close', () => { void shutdown(0); });
-})().catch((err) => {
-  process.stderr.write(String((err && err.stack) || err) + '\\n');
-  process.exit(1);
-});
-`
-
 function probe(): DriverAvailability {
   const resolved = resolvePlaywright()
   if (!resolved) {
@@ -608,28 +116,33 @@ async function launch(opts: DriverLaunchOptions): Promise<DriverLaunchResult> {
     // resolve the owning session's pid *before* we detach — after the spawn,
     // the host's own ancestry is just launchd. the host polls this pid and
     // tears Chrome down when the session that launched it exits.
-    const child = spawn(process.execPath, ['-e', PLAYWRIGHT_SIM_HOST], {
-      detached: true,
-      stdio: ['ignore', 'ignore', errFd],
-      env: {
-        ...playwrightEnv,
-        SOOTSIM_PW_MODULE: resolved.modulePath,
-        SOOTSIM_PW_URL: opts.url,
-        SOOTSIM_PW_BRIDGE_PORT: opts.bridgePort ? String(opts.bridgePort) : '',
-        SOOTSIM_PW_HEADLESS: (opts.headless ?? true) ? '1' : '0',
-        SOOTSIM_PW_USERDATADIR: resolveUserDataDir(opts),
-        SOOTSIM_PW_CDP_PORT: opts.cdpPort ? String(opts.cdpPort) : '',
-        // when the caller passed no viewport, leave the inherited
-        // SOOTSIM_PW_VIEWPORT (from playwrightEnv) alone instead of
-        // clobbering it with '' — the driver reads it as its own default.
-        ...(opts.viewport
-          ? { SOOTSIM_PW_VIEWPORT: `${opts.viewport.width}x${opts.viewport.height}` }
-          : {}),
-        SOOTSIM_PW_CONNECTED_ACK_FILE: connectAckFile,
-        SOOTSIM_PW_CONNECT_TIMEOUT_MS: String(opts.connectTimeoutMs ?? 120_000),
-        SOOTSIM_PW_OWNER_PID: String(ownerPid),
+    const self = rnxSelfInvocation()
+    const child = spawn(
+      self.executable,
+      [...self.prefixArgs, RNX_INTERNAL_COMMAND, RNX_INTERNAL_CHILDREN.playwrightHost],
+      {
+        detached: true,
+        stdio: ['ignore', 'ignore', errFd],
+        env: {
+          ...playwrightEnv,
+          SOOTSIM_PW_MODULE: resolved.modulePath,
+          SOOTSIM_PW_URL: opts.url,
+          SOOTSIM_PW_BRIDGE_PORT: opts.bridgePort ? String(opts.bridgePort) : '',
+          SOOTSIM_PW_HEADLESS: (opts.headless ?? true) ? '1' : '0',
+          SOOTSIM_PW_USERDATADIR: resolveUserDataDir(opts),
+          SOOTSIM_PW_CDP_PORT: opts.cdpPort ? String(opts.cdpPort) : '',
+          // when the caller passed no viewport, leave the inherited
+          // SOOTSIM_PW_VIEWPORT (from playwrightEnv) alone instead of
+          // clobbering it with '' — the driver reads it as its own default.
+          ...(opts.viewport
+            ? { SOOTSIM_PW_VIEWPORT: `${opts.viewport.width}x${opts.viewport.height}` }
+            : {}),
+          SOOTSIM_PW_CONNECTED_ACK_FILE: connectAckFile,
+          SOOTSIM_PW_CONNECT_TIMEOUT_MS: String(opts.connectTimeoutMs ?? 120_000),
+          SOOTSIM_PW_OWNER_PID: String(ownerPid),
+        },
       },
-    })
+    )
     child.unref()
 
     // give the host a short window to fail fast (resolve errors, browser

package/cli/hints.ts

@@ -205,12 +205,10 @@ defineHint<[string]>('subtree-root-not-found', {
 })
 
 defineHint<[]>('clean-uninstall', {
-  // shown once on the first `rnx --help` run so users learn the clean
-  // teardown path. package-manager uninstall hooks are best-effort, so the
-  // hint documents the explicit daemon cleanup command.
+  // shown once on the first `rnx --help` run so users learn the teardown path.
   frequency: 'once-ever',
   render: () => [
-    `to remove the background daemon and all ~/.rnx data, run \`rnx daemon uninstall\`.`,
+    `to remove the background daemon, run \`rnx daemon uninstall\`. it keeps your runtimes and device profiles; add \`--purge\` to delete ~/.rnx too.`,
     `the optional desktop app and its macOS preference plist are separate from the daemon.`,
   ],
 })