Mac app testing.
Room to focus.

Harbor brings Slipway and Porthole into one workspace for Mac app testing. Slipway gives agents their own desktop; Porthole lets you watch the work.

One shared workspace. Two independent tools. Slipway gives agents their own Mac for testing; Porthole lets you watch the work. Your desktop stays yours.

Slipway + Porthole · focused Mac app testinggithub.com/smeltery/harbor

Assemble the workspace, set up your test Mac, and follow the session.

Assemble your workspace

Clone Harbor and set up the pair. Each tool keeps its own source, history and releases.

Terminal

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3git clone https://github.com/smeltery/harbor.git
cd harbor
bash scripts/fleet.sh setup

Setup clones the source repositories. Follow getting started for requirements, then install Slipway and Porthole.

Your first test session

Build your Mac app on your development machine, then send it to the test Mac:

Terminal

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4slipway note 'Testing search'
slipway open build/MyApp.app
slipway ui MyApp
slipway shot MyApp

Open Porthole to follow the live screen, agent sessions, command output and screenshots. Porthole observes the target; Slipway controls it.

The working pair

Tool	Responsibility	Documentation
Harbor	Assemble and update the workspace	Workspace usage
Slipway	Launch, inspect and drive Mac app builds	Command reference
Porthole	Watch the screen and follow agent activity	Session monitor

Choose your test Mac

Use a headless macOS VM on an Apple silicon Mac, or connect to an existing remote Mac over SSH. Slipway and Porthole share the same target settings and SSH key.

See configuration for VM settings, remote Macs, activity paths and privacy. Local Tart VMs require Apple silicon; Porthole requires macOS 15 or newer.

Keep your desktop yours

Clicks, keystrokes and screenshots stay on the test Mac. Porthole reads the shared activity log and connects each command to the agent and chat that ran it.

Use workspace updates to keep clean checkouts current, or troubleshooting to recover from common failures. For command details and installation, use the Slipway and Porthole sections in the sidebar. Search includes their guides and code examples.

Contributors can follow development for Flox, tests and hooks, and releases and deployment for CI and website publishing.

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