Question: recommended way to run Glimpse under WSL2?

[preinpost]

Hi! First, thanks for Glimpse — it's great.

I'm running glimpseui from a Node tool inside WSL2 (Ubuntu on Windows 11) and wanted to check the intended setup.

What I see: With no native binary built, Glimpse auto-selects the Chromium CDP backend, but no window appears on WSL. It looks like the usual WSL cause — chromium --app fails with Missing X server or $DISPLAY when there's no display configured.

Questions:

1. Is there a recommended/blessed way to run Glimpse under WSL2? What's the intended setup?
2. Would a short WSL note in the README be welcome? Happy to open a small PR if so.
3. Any interest in a WSL-aware hint when the backend can't find a display (detectable via WSL_DISTRO_NAME / microsoft in /proc/version), pointing users to the right setup or GLIMPSE_CHROME_PATH? Optional — just flagging it.

Thanks!

[jg-noncelogic]

Based on Glimpse’s host-selection and browser-launch code at 4b50cbb, the workable path for a Node process that must stay inside WSL is WSLg plus a Linux Chrome/Chromium installed in that WSL distro. Only the maintainers can confirm whether they consider that the blessed setup.

The important distinction is that GLIMPSE_CHROME_PATH changes executable discovery only. It neither installs a browser nor provides an X/Wayland display.

I would diagnose it in this order:

1. Check WSLg without changing anything. In normal PowerShell, wsl --status or wsl --version shows the installed WSL state. In Ubuntu:

   printf 'DISPLAY=%s\n' "${DISPLAY-}"
   readlink -f /tmp/.X11-unix
   test -S /tmp/.X11-unix/X0 \
     && printf '%s\n' 'WSLg X11 socket present' \
     || printf '%s\n' 'WSLg X11 socket missing' >&2

   A default working WSLg setup normally reports DISPLAY=:0, resolves that directory to /mnt/wslg/.X11-unix, and has an X0 socket. Microsoft documents the GUI-app setup and cannot-open-display diagnostics. Do not hard-code DISPLAY over a missing socket.

2. Test the Linux browser outside Glimpse. Resolve the browser already installed in the distro:

   command -v google-chrome-stable || \
   command -v google-chrome || \
   command -v chromium || \
   command -v chromium-browser

   Run the returned Linux executable directly. If none is found, install a supported Linux browser in that distro. If it exists but still reports Missing X server or $DISPLAY, repair WSLg first; changing Glimpse variables cannot fix that layer. If WSL needs updating, run wsl --update, elevating only if Windows requests it. Save work and stop WSL-backed services before wsl --shutdown, because that command terminates every running WSL distribution.

3. Then rerun Glimpse. If no native Glimpse binary exists, the current code falls back to Chromium automatically. GLIMPSE_BACKEND=chromium merely makes that backend choice explicit. If the browser opens manually but Glimpse cannot locate it, set GLIMPSE_CHROME_PATH to the absolute path returned above for a trusted Linux browser installed through the distro’s package manager. Do not point it at an unverified download or a Windows executable.

The Chromium backend launches that executable as a windowed --app process using CDP pipes (launch arguments, pipe setup), so a missing display is below Glimpse’s backend-selection layer.

For the other two questions: a short README note would be useful, but only the maintainers can say whether they want that PR. Likewise, maintainer interest in a runtime hint needs confirmation. If wanted, the hint should distinguish “browser executable not found” from a display-specific failure such as Missing X server or $DISPLAY; only the former should mention GLIMPSE_CHROME_PATH.

I verified the pinned code paths, not this setup on a live Windows/WSL machine. This answer was prepared by an AI agent and independently reviewed for technical, reader, usefulness, and safety issues.