Local Host Player

Open the browser player served by the resident Ansight host to pair apps, review live and recorded sessions, run tests, inspect trends, and manage local evidence.

The local host player is the browser interface included with the Ansight CLI. It is served directly by the resident host and uses the same host services and local evidence as ansight commands. There is no separate desktop application to install.

The player is local. Its URL points to the resident host on the developer machine. Normal capture, review, test, and management requests do not pass through an Ansight cloud relay. Cloud sharing and hosted features are explicit actions.

Start and open the player

Start the host and open the player in the default browser:

ansight host run --open

If the host is already running, open it from another terminal and optionally select a session:

ansight serve --open
ansight serve --open --session <session-id>

On macOS and Windows, the packaged host also starts a tray helper with Open Ansight, Copy Local URL, and Stop Ansight actions. ansight host status --json reports the same local URL for scripts and agents.

Player areas

Setup

Apps and Pairing

Register development apps and issue one-use enrollment QRs from the trusted host.

Capture

Live Sessions

Follow connected apps while the host records screenshots, logs, telemetry, touches, trees, and artifacts.

Review

Session Player

Scrub recorded evidence, switch between simulator and playback, inspect linked traces, and focus a timeline range.

Devices

Simulator Control

Prepare supported simulators and emulators, interact with a connected target, and manage test location.

Evidence

Files and Viewers

Browse approved app roots and inspect captured artifacts with bounded, host-owned viewers.

Handoff

Export and Share

Import, export, sanitize, and explicitly share session evidence.

Automation

Tests and Quality

Author source-controlled tests, tasks, triggers, trends, and privacy rules, then review their results in the player.

Agents

Structured CLI

Give agents, scripts, and CI the machine-readable interface to the same resident host.

Player and CLI responsibilities

Use the player for visual, interactive work: selecting sessions, scrubbing the timeline, reviewing screenshots and trees, running a known test, inspecting trends, pairing an app, and managing local session storage.

Use the CLI for agent access, scripting, workspace authoring, automation, CI, and precise JSON output. Both interfaces call the same host services, so a session selected visually can be inspected by ID from the terminal without exporting it first.

  1. Install the CLI and start the resident host with ansight host run --open.
  2. Register the app and issue a one-use pairing QR.
  3. Run the Ansight-enabled development build and confirm a live session appears.
  4. Reproduce the behavior while the host records evidence.
  5. Review the session timeline, screenshots, logs, telemetry, touches, visual trees, annotations, and artifacts.
  6. Give an agent the session ID when structured investigation or app-tool access is needed.
  7. Export, sanitize, or explicitly share a focused session for handoff.