# Electron Reboot Issue ## Problem The Electron app runs on the **host machine** (Windows/Mac), not inside the devcontainer. From inside the container, we cannot directly restart the host Electron process. ## Why `app.relaunch()` Didn't Work - File watcher in Electron main process saw the marker file - Called `app.relaunch()` + `app.quit()` - App quit successfully, but `app.relaunch()` failed because: - Platform-specific issues (works better on macOS) - Depends on how Electron was originally launched - May need parent process/shell to respawn ## Solutions ### Option 1: Manual Restart (Current) Just reopen the Electron app from your host machine. ### Option 2: Host-Side Wrapper Script Create a wrapper that automatically restarts Electron when it exits: **For macOS/Linux host:** ```bash #!/bin/bash # restart-electron.sh cd /path/to/aesthetic-computer/ac-electron while true; do npm start EXIT_CODE=$? if [ $EXIT_CODE -eq 42 ]; then echo "Restarting Electron..." sleep 1 else echo "Electron exited with code $EXIT_CODE" break fi done ``` **For Windows host (PowerShell):** ```powershell # restart-electron.ps1 cd C:\path\to\aesthetic-computer\ac-electron while ($true) { npm start if ($LASTEXITCODE -eq 42) { Write-Host "Restarting Electron..." Start-Sleep -Seconds 1 } else { Write-Host "Electron exited with code $LASTEXITCODE" break } } ``` ### Option 3: Use Exit Code Signal Modify the marker file approach to exit with code 42, then have a parent wrapper restart. **Updated main.js:** ```javascript if (fs.existsSync(REBOOT_MARKER)) { console.log('[main] Reboot requested'); fs.unlinkSync(REBOOT_MARKER); app.exit(42); // Exit with special code for wrapper to catch } ``` ### Option 4: VS Code Task Integration Since Electron is likely launched from VS Code, we could integrate with VS Code's task system to auto-restart. ## Recommended Approach Use Option 2 (wrapper script) on the host machine for reliable auto-restart. From container, the trigger still works: ```bash node ac-electron/trigger-reboot.js ``` The wrapper on the host will detect the exit and restart automatically.