The linux() function in find-chrome.ts doesn't check $CHROME_PATH, but an error message incorrectly suggests setting $CHROME_PATH in certain situations.

[nerikeshi-k]

Thank you for this great project!

Problem I encountered

Environment:

• Linux (Ubuntu 20.04 LTS, WSL 2)
• Chromium is installed in ~/.cache/puppeteer/chrome/linux-122.0.6261.69/chrome-linux64/chrome
• Chromium is NOT installed in ~/.local/share/applications/
• Chromium is NOT installed in /usr/share/applications/
• Neither google-chrome-stable, google-chrome, chromium-browser, nor chromium are set in $PATH

The Storycap CLI command I ran:

$ storycap --serverCmd=\"npx serve dist-storybook -p 6006\" http://localhost:6006"

The error message I received:

> storycap --serverCmd="npx serve dist-storybook -p 6006" http://localhost:6006 "--outDir=.vrt/expected"

info Wait for connecting storybook server http://localhost:6006.
error The environment variable CHROME_PATH must be set to executable of a build of Chromium version 54.0 or later.
Error: The environment variable CHROME_PATH must be set to executable of a build of Chromium version 54.0 or later.
    at linux (/home/neriko/misc/vrt-artifacts/node_modules/.pnpm/storycrawler@4.2.0/node_modules/storycrawler/lib/find-chrome.js:126:15)
    at findChrome (/home/neriko/misc/vrt-artifacts/node_modules/.pnpm/storycrawler@4.2.0/node_modules/storycrawler/lib/find-chrome.js:163:30)
    at StoriesBrowser.boot (/home/neriko/misc/vrt-artifacts/node_modules/.pnpm/storycrawler@4.2.0/node_modules/storycrawler/lib/browser/base-browser.js:47:71)
    at main (/home/neriko/misc/vrt-artifacts/node_modules/.pnpm/storycap@4.2.0/node_modules/storycap/lib/node/main.js:45:101)
    at process.processTicksAndRejections (node:internal/process/task_queues:95:5)
    at async time (/home/neriko/misc/vrt-artifacts/node_modules/.pnpm/storycrawler@4.2.0/node_modules/storycrawler/lib/timer.js:14:20)

I attempted to set the environment variable CHROME_PATH as suggested by the error message but it didn't solve the issue.

I suspect the function to find the Chromium binary on Linux, named linux(), might be partly incorrect. It seems to use $CHROME_PATH only for calculating priority, but does not search within $CHROME_PATH.
linux() is here:

storycap/packages/storycrawler/src/find-chrome.ts

Lines 103 to 148 in 7c22231

	/**
	* Look for linux executables in 3 ways
	* 1. Look into CHROME_PATH env variable
	* 2. Look into the directories where .desktop are saved on gnome based distro's
	* 3. Look for google-chrome-stable & google-chrome executables by using the which command
	*/
	function linux(_canary = false) {
	let installations: string[] = [];
	// Look into the directories where .desktop are saved on gnome based distro's
	const desktopInstallationFolders = [
	path.join(require('os').homedir(), '.local/share/applications/'),
	'/usr/share/applications/',
	];
	desktopInstallationFolders.forEach(folder => {
	installations = installations.concat(findChromeExecutables(folder));
	});
	// Look for google-chrome(-stable) & chromium(-browser) executables by using the which command
	const executables = ['google-chrome-stable', 'google-chrome', 'chromium-browser', 'chromium'];
	executables.forEach(executable => {
	try {
	const chromePath = execFileSync('which', [executable], { stdio: 'pipe' }).toString().split(newLineRegex)[0];
	if (canAccess(chromePath)) installations.push(chromePath);
	} catch (e) {
	// Not installed.
	}
	});
	if (!installations.length)
	throw new Error(
	'The environment variable CHROME_PATH must be set to executable of a build of Chromium version 54.0 or later.',
	);
	const priorities = [
	{ regex: /chrome-wrapper$/, weight: 51 },
	{ regex: /google-chrome-stable$/, weight: 50 },
	{ regex: /google-chrome$/, weight: 49 },
	{ regex: /chromium-browser$/, weight: 48 },
	{ regex: /chromium$/, weight: 47 },
	];
	if (process.env.CHROME_PATH) priorities.unshift({ regex: new RegExp(`${process.env.CHROME_PATH}`), weight: 101 });
	return sort(uniq(installations.filter(Boolean)), priorities)[0];
	}

Suggestions

I see two possible solutions:

1. Remove the code related to $CHROME_PATH as its current use might be causing unintended behaviors. Here is an example:

/**
 * Look for linux executables in 2 ways
 * 1. Look into the directories where .desktop are saved on gnome based distro's
 * 2. Look for google-chrome-stable & google-chrome executables by using the which command
 */
function linux(_canary = false): string | undefined {
  let installations: string[] = [];

  // Look into the directories where .desktop are saved on gnome based distro's
  const desktopInstallationFolders = [
    path.join(require('os').homedir(), '.local/share/applications/'),
    '/usr/share/applications/',
  ];
  desktopInstallationFolders.forEach(folder => {
    installations = installations.concat(findChromeExecutables(folder));
  });

  // Look for google-chrome(-stable) & chromium(-browser) executables by using the which command
  const executables = ['google-chrome-stable', 'google-chrome', 'chromium-browser', 'chromium'];
  executables.forEach(executable => {
    try {
      const chromePath = execFileSync('which', [executable], { stdio: 'pipe' }).toString().split(newLineRegex)[0];
      if (canAccess(chromePath)) installations.push(chromePath);
    } catch (e) {
      // Not installed.
    }
  });

  const priorities = [
    { regex: /chrome-wrapper$/, weight: 51 },
    { regex: /google-chrome-stable$/, weight: 50 },
    { regex: /google-chrome$/, weight: 49 },
    { regex: /chromium-browser$/, weight: 48 },
    { regex: /chromium$/, weight: 47 },
  ];

  return sort(uniq(installations.filter(Boolean)), priorities)[0] ?? undefined;
}

2. Make the function search within $CHROME_PATH. Here's an example:

/**
* Look for linux executables in 3 ways
* 1. Look into CHROME_PATH env variable
* 2. Look into the directories where .desktop are saved on gnome based distro's
* 3. Look for google-chrome-stable & google-chrome executables by using the which command
*/
function linux(_canary = false) {
  let installations: string[] = [];

  // Add CHROME_PATH if defined
  if (process.env.CHROME_PATH)
    installations.push(process.env.CHROME_PATH);

  // Look into the directories where .desktop are saved on gnome based distro's
  const desktopInstallationFolders = [
    path.join(require('os').homedir(), '.local/share/applications/'),
    '/usr/share/applications/',
  ];
  desktopInstallationFolders.forEach(folder => {
    installations = installations.concat(findChromeExecutables(folder));
  });

  // Look for google-chrome(-stable) & chromium(-browser) executables by using the which command
  const executables = ['google-chrome-stable', 'google-chrome', 'chromium-browser', 'chromium'];
  executables.forEach(executable => {
    try {
      const chromePath = execFileSync('which', [executable], { stdio: 'pipe' }).toString().split(newLineRegex)[0];
      if (canAccess(chromePath)) installations.push(chromePath);
    } catch (e) {
      // Not installed.
    }
  });

  if (!installations.length)
    throw new Error(
      'The environment variable CHROME_PATH must be set to executable of a build of Chromium version 54.0 or later.',
    );

  const priorities = [
    { regex: /chrome-wrapper$/, weight: 51 },
    { regex: /google-chrome-stable$/, weight: 50 },
    { regex: /google-chrome$/, weight: 49 },
    { regex: /chromium-browser$/, weight: 48 },
    { regex: /chromium$/, weight: 47 },
  ];

  if (process.env.CHROME_PATH) priorities.unshift({ regex: new RegExp(`${process.env.CHROME_PATH}`), weight: 101 });

  return sort(uniq(installations.filter(Boolean)), priorities)[0];
}

If either way 1 or 2 looks ok, I'm going to create a pull request. Thank you!