Cherry Studio Development

Choose the workflow

• For ongoing implementation, debugging, or profiling in the current checkout, follow the development loop below with the persistent runtime policy.
• For a bounded PR test, read PR Testing and follow that workflow with the ephemeral runtime policy. It covers PR checkout, interactive tests, reporting, cleanup, and restoration of the original branch.
• For code review without interactive app testing, use gh-pr-review.

Required runtime workflow

Before reading or controlling Electron UI, read Electron Instance Management and select the policy for the chosen workflow. Preserve a borrowed instance's existing policy and ownership.

That reference is the only authority for instance discovery, instance.json, CDP target selection, launching, replacement, shutdown, and troubleshooting. Do not reproduce those procedures here or substitute generic Electron app control.

Development loop

1. State the requested behavior and the evidence that will prove it.
2. Read the relevant code and nearby README files.
3. Verify and reuse the tracked instance through the runtime reference.
4. Reproduce or inspect the current behavior before editing when practical.
5. Capture the smallest useful evidence: UI state, DOM, console/network output, main-process logs, persisted state, or performance metrics.
6. Trace the responsible code path and make only the requested change.
7. Keep Electron running. Use HMR for renderer changes and verify in the same window.
8. Repeat the same scenario and compare before/after evidence.

Inspect the real window at the relevant size and theme for UI work. Check both renderer and main-process evidence for renderer failures.

Restart only for a non-reloadable layer, crash, unreliable runtime state, or startup profiling. Use the reference's exact-instance replacement procedure, refresh instance.json, and keep the replacement running.

Run the narrowest relevant validation and follow current user and repository instructions for lint, formatting, and tests.

Performance and DevTools

For lag, jank, high CPU, memory growth, leaks, slow startup, or explicit DevTools use, read Performance Debugging.

Store temporary logs, screenshots, and profiles under .context/cherry-electron-dev/. Compare a quiet baseline with the same bounded scenario before and after a fix. Detach profiling sessions afterward; do not close the CDP browser, page, or Electron process.

Development handoff

Leave reused user-owned and healthy agent-launched instances running after the instruction. Stop one only when the user asks, a required restart is part of the task, or the instance is unhealthy and blocks progress.

Report the verified PID, whether it remains running, CDP port, tracking file, evidence paths, reproduction, and verification.