Rennet in a browser

The desktop window and browser client run the same Rennet interface. The daemon serves the browser bundle and handles the commands issued by either shell.

Open Rennet in a browser

The daemon serves HTTP and WebSocket traffic on the same port.

With the desktop app running, read the host and port from ~/.rennet/daemon.json or run:

rennet status

Then open http://127.0.0.1:<port>/ on the daemon’s machine.

To serve a browser build from the standalone CLI, run:

rennet serve --ui-dist /path/to/dist/browser

rennet status prints the bound host and port. The packaged desktop app finds its browser bundle automatically. A standalone daemon without --ui-dist continues to provide its command interface but does not serve the browser app.

Switch between daemons

Daemons are environments. Add Environment in the sidebar, or the same button on Settings → Environments, pairs one: enter the machine’s address and a current pairing code. Settings → Environments lists every paired machine and removes one you no longer want.

Rennet starts on the environment that serves the interface: the desktop daemon in the desktop shell, or the daemon that served the page in a browser. It attaches a different one when you pick that environment as the source in Add Project — including Browse Its Projects straight after pairing.

The browser stores the exchanged device token in that browser. See Remote access for binding and pairing instructions.

Attaching another environment reloads the interface from that daemon’s state. Reviews and threads are not merged between daemons. Connecting the desktop app to a remote daemon does not stop its local daemon.

If a connection drops, a banner reports the interruption and retries. A brief reconnected message appears when an established connection returns. Protocol mismatches and rejected device tokens are reported separately and provide a Retry action.

Browser-specific actions

A browser cannot open the operating system’s directory picker. When Rennet needs a repository path, enter an absolute path on the daemon’s machine. Later commands refer to the registered repository instead of asking for the path again.

Open in editor also runs on the daemon’s machine. Against a remote daemon, it opens the file in an editor there. If no supported editor is available, Rennet reports that result in the browser.

Review capture, boards, conversations, staged asks, and outbound operations otherwise use the same daemon commands as the desktop shell.