[Bug]: New remote streaming web previews remove DevTools & Annotation functionality #16934

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1. DarthNerdus

   added

   bugSomething is broken or behaving incorrectly.Something is broken or behaving incorrectly.

   needs-triageIssue needs maintainer review and initial categorization.Issue needs maintainer review and initial categorization.

   on Oct 7, 2026
2. DarthNerdus

   changed the title [-][Bug]: [Bug]: New remote streaming web previews remove DevTools & Annotation functionality[/-] [+][Bug]: New remote streaming web previews remove DevTools & Annotation functionality[/+] on Oct 7, 2026
3. DarthNerdus commented on Oct 8, 2026

   

   DarthNerdus

   on Oct 8, 2026

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   Playing with my clanker on some ideas/alterations that balance this functionality with legacy / local performance. The language still isn't clear, unless you understand what these options meant before, but something to noodle on.

   
4. MatthewLopez1990 commented on Oct 8, 2026

   

   MatthewLopez1990

   on Oct 8, 2026

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   +1. Preview annotations are the feature I use most in T3 Code, and since the server browser landed in #15328 the Annotate button is gone for me (0.0.46-nightly.20261008.2833, macOS).

   My workflow: open my locally hosted site in the preview, click Annotate preview, select elements, write the change I want for each one, and let several annotations collect in the composer. Then I send them all to the agent in one message. Batching design tweaks against the live page is what makes T3 Code work for front-end work. Without it I'm back to screenshots and describing elements in words.

   From reading the source at that nightly tag, the button isn't broken. It's no longer rendered for streamed tabs:

   // apps/web/src/components/preview/PreviewView.tsx
   const isServerTab = snapshot?.runtime === "server" && !nativeServerTab;
   // ...
   onPickElement={previewBridge && tabId && !isServerTab ? handlePickElement : undefined}

   nativeServerTab is only true in the desktop app, for tabs of the server that app launched (rendersServerTabNatively in apps/web/src/browser/previewRuntime.ts). In every other case the Annotate button (and Capture screenshot, line 905) just disappears, with no message saying why, and there's no setting to get the local preview back.

   What would fix it for me:

   • Annotations in streamed tabs, or a way to open a preview tab in the local desktop browser so annotations work again (the opt-out requested in [Bug]: Server-side browser makes previews blurry, with no way to opt out #16578).
   • Until then, a disabled button with a tooltip explaining why annotations are unavailable, instead of the button vanishing.

   Posted with help from Claude Opus 5.5 in T3 Code.
5. juliusmarminge commented on Oct 8, 2026

   

   juliusmarminge

   on Oct 8, 2026

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   Note

   Grok responding on behalf of Julius.

   Closing as fixed by merged #17316 — desktop now opens remote-environment tabs locally for user-opened pages, which restores native DevTools/annotation on those tabs. Agent-opened streamed tabs are unchanged.
6. juliusmarminge

   closed this as completedon Oct 8, 2026
7. andybergon commented on Oct 9, 2026

   

   andybergon

   on Oct 9, 2026

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   Also observed on Windows desktop 0.0.46-nightly.20261008.2849 while viewing a remote environment: both the annotation and screenshot buttons are absent. This build predates #17316, so this is not a failed retest of that change.

   The remaining workflow is selecting elements in the same streamed tab the remote agent uses. #17316 restores native controls by moving a tab locally, but its description says the remote agent then cannot access that tab. The closing comment confirms agent-opened streamed tabs are unchanged.

   Is annotation and screenshot capture for streamed tabs tracked separately? If not, could that remaining part of this report stay tracked?