Preview uploads & sharing

sootsim upload publishes the bundle running in your sim to a shareable /preview/<id> link. Anyone with the URL can open a live interactive copy of the app in their browser — alongside an inline <video> of whatever session you recorded.

Use cases:

• PRs — attach a playable demo to every pull request
• Designers / PMs / clients — hand someone a link; no TestFlight, no dev build, no Xcode
• Sales demos, bug repros, onboarding walkthroughs — embed the same link anywhere an iframe fits
• Support — ask a user to record their flow; get back a link that replays the exact state

One-off: upload the current session

sootsim login                           # first time only
sootsim upload --open

--open launches the resulting /preview/<id> URL in your browser after upload.

The three one-shot flows

1. Record + share in one command

sootsim record --mode combined --duration 8 --open

Captures video and the event stream simultaneously, uploads to a /preview/<id> link, copies the URL to your clipboard, and animates the Dynamic Island while uploading.

2. Record a flow file + share

sootsim flow flows/login.yaml --preview

--preview implies --record, captures the event stream, and chains into upload automatically. Prints the /preview/<id> URL when done. Add --preview-open to open it.

3. Upload an existing recording

sootsim upload --video /tmp/demo.webm --events /tmp/demo-events.jsonl.gz --open

Attach an existing webm / mp4 / gif recording and a gzipped event stream. Useful when you already have assets from a CI run or scripted harness.

Auth

Uploads require a signed-in desktop session:

sootsim login            # sign in to the upload host
sootsim whoami           # print who you're signed in as
sootsim logout           # clear the local session

By default, uploads target localhost:3000 if available, otherwise sootbean.com. Override with --origin or SOOTSIM_UPLOAD_ORIGIN.

What the preview page does

• Live interactive app — the real bundle boots clientside on the visitor’s GPU via WebAssembly CanvasKit. No server-rendered frames, no streaming latency.
• Inline video — the webm plays overlaid on the app surface; scrub the timeline to watch the recorded flow, then tap anywhere to take control.
• Forward scrub — drag the scrubber forward to jump to any point in the recorded session; the live app catches up.
• Resume live — at any point, tap the app to exit playback and drive it live from the current state.
• URL params — device, theme, network condition, language, and region all controlled by query string.

GitHub integration

sootsim upload is the engine behind sticky PR comments:

• A CI job runs the flow, captures video + events, and calls sootsim upload --video ... --events ...
• The upload endpoint posts back a sticky comment on the PR with a two-state <video> (generating → ready) and a /preview/<id> link.
• Reviewers play the video inline in the PR, click through to the live app, and drive it themselves.

This is the integration surface sootsim flow --preview is built for.

Flags you’ll want to know

Related

• sootsim upload — full flag reference
• sootsim flow — flow runner + --preview
• sootsim record — recording modes
• Agents › CLI Use — agent-driven previews