File size: 2,719 Bytes
6a7089a | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 | # Identifying Instances
When you run PinchTab alongside your normal browser, the easiest way to distinguish its Chrome processes is to combine three signals:
- a dedicated Chrome binary name
- recognizable command-line flags
- the PinchTab dashboard and instance metadata
## 1. Use A Distinct Chrome Binary Name
If you copy Chrome or Chromium to a custom filename, that filename appears in process listings.
```bash
# macOS example
cp "/Applications/Google Chrome.app/Contents/MacOS/Google Chrome" /usr/local/bin/pinchtab-chrome
chmod +x /usr/local/bin/pinchtab-chrome
# Set in config.json
pinchtab config set browser.chromeBinary /usr/local/bin/pinchtab-chrome
pinchtab
```
Now a process listing such as `ps -axo pid,command | rg pinchtab-chrome` gives you a quick way to spot the browser PinchTab launches.
## 2. Add Recognizable Chrome Flags
Extra Chrome flags are configured through `browser.extraFlags` in `config.json`:
```json
{
"browser": {
"extraFlags": "--user-agent=PinchTab-Automation/1.0 --disable-dev-shm-usage"
}
}
```
Those flags appear in the Chrome command line, which makes process inspection easier:
```bash
ps -axo pid,command | rg 'PinchTab-Automation|user-data-dir'
```
Use this when you want to differentiate roles such as “scraper”, “monitor”, or “debug”.
## 3. Use Profile Paths As An Identifier
Each managed profile lives under the configured profile base directory. By default that is the OS-specific PinchTab config directory under `profiles/`.
PinchTab-launched Chrome processes include a `--user-data-dir=...` argument that points at that profile location. That is often the fastest way to confirm that a browser process belongs to PinchTab rather than your personal Chrome profile.
## 4. Use The Dashboard For The Most Reliable View
Open the dashboard at:
- `http://localhost:9867/`
- or `http://localhost:9867/dashboard`
The dashboard and instance APIs show:
- instance IDs
- profile IDs and profile names
- assigned ports
- headless vs headed mode
- current status
If you need an API-based view instead of the UI:
```bash
curl http://localhost:9867/instances
```
## Practical Combination
For most setups, this combination is enough:
1. point PinchTab to a renamed Chrome binary via `browser.chromeBinary` in config
2. add a recognizable `browser.extraFlags` marker in config
3. verify the profile path or instance ID in the dashboard
## Docker
The same approach works in containers:
- set `browser.chromeBinary` in config if you need to override the bundled browser path
- put identifying flags in `browser.extraFlags`
- inspect the instance list from the API or dashboard rather than relying only on process names inside the container
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