yaze/docs/z3ed/REMOTE_CONTROL_WORKFLOWS.md

Remote Control Agent Workflows

Date: October 2, 2025
Status: Functional - Test Harness + Widget Registry Integration
Purpose: Enable AI agents to remotely control YAZE for automated editing

Overview

The remote control system allows AI agents to interact with YAZE through gRPC, using the ImGuiTestHarness and Widget ID Registry to perform real editing tasks.

Quick Start

1. Start YAZE with Test Harness

./build-grpc-test/bin/yaze.app/Contents/MacOS/yaze \
  --enable_test_harness \
  --test_harness_port=50052 \
  --rom_file=assets/zelda3.sfc &

2. Open Overworld Editor

In YAZE GUI:

• Click "Overworld" button
• This registers 13 toolset widgets for remote control

3. Run Test Script

./scripts/test_remote_control.sh

Expected output:

• ✓ All 8 practical workflows pass
• Agent can switch modes, open tools, control zoom

Supported Workflows

Mode Switching

Draw Tile Mode:

grpcurl -plaintext -d '{"target":"Overworld/Toolset/button:DrawTile","type":"LEFT"}' \
  127.0.0.1:50052 yaze.test.ImGuiTestHarness/Click

• Enables tile painting on overworld map
• Agent can then click canvas to draw selected tiles

Pan Mode:

grpcurl -plaintext -d '{"target":"Overworld/Toolset/button:Pan","type":"LEFT"}' \
  127.0.0.1:50052 yaze.test.ImGuiTestHarness/Click

• Enables map navigation
• Agent can drag canvas to reposition view

Entrances Mode:

grpcurl -plaintext -d '{"target":"Overworld/Toolset/button:Entrances","type":"LEFT"}' \
  127.0.0.1:50052 yaze.test.ImGuiTestHarness/Click

• Enables entrance editing
• Agent can click to place/move entrances

Exits Mode:

grpcurl -plaintext -d '{"target":"Overworld/Toolset/button:Exits","type":"LEFT"}' \
  127.0.0.1:50052 yaze.test.ImGuiTestHarness/Click

• Enables exit editing
• Agent can click to place/move exits

Sprites Mode:

grpcurl -plaintext -d '{"target":"Overworld/Toolset/button:Sprites","type":"LEFT"}' \
  127.0.0.1:50052 yaze.test.ImGuiTestHarness/Click

• Enables sprite editing
• Agent can place/move sprites on overworld

Items Mode:

grpcurl -plaintext -d '{"target":"Overworld/Toolset/button:Items","type":"LEFT"}' \
  127.0.0.1:50052 yaze.test.ImGuiTestHarness/Click

• Enables item placement
• Agent can add items to overworld

Tool Opening

Tile16 Editor:

grpcurl -plaintext -d '{"target":"Overworld/Toolset/button:Tile16Editor","type":"LEFT"}' \
  127.0.0.1:50052 yaze.test.ImGuiTestHarness/Click

• Opens Tile16 Editor window
• Agent can select tiles for drawing

View Controls

Zoom In:

grpcurl -plaintext -d '{"target":"Overworld/Toolset/button:ZoomIn","type":"LEFT"}' \
  127.0.0.1:50052 yaze.test.ImGuiTestHarness/Click

Zoom Out:

grpcurl -plaintext -d '{"target":"Overworld/Toolset/button:ZoomOut","type":"LEFT"}' \
  127.0.0.1:50052 yaze.test.ImGuiTestHarness/Click

Fullscreen Toggle:

grpcurl -plaintext -d '{"target":"Overworld/Toolset/button:Fullscreen","type":"LEFT"}' \
  127.0.0.1:50052 yaze.test.ImGuiTestHarness/Click

Multi-Step Workflows

Workflow 1: Draw Custom Tiles

Goal: Agent draws specific tiles on the overworld map

Steps:

1. Switch to Draw Tile mode
2. Open Tile16 Editor
3. Select desired tile (TODO: needs canvas click support)
4. Click on overworld canvas at (x, y) to draw

Current Status: Steps 1-2 working, 3-4 need implementation

Workflow 2: Reposition Entrance

Goal: Agent moves an entrance to a new location

Steps:

1. Switch to Entrances mode
2. Click on existing entrance to select
3. Drag to new location (TODO: needs drag support)
4. Verify entrance properties updated

Current Status: Step 1 working, 2-4 need implementation

Workflow 3: Place Sprites

Goal: Agent adds sprites to overworld

Steps:

1. Switch to Sprites mode
2. Select sprite from palette (TODO)
3. Click canvas to place sprite
4. Adjust sprite properties if needed

Current Status: Step 1 working, 2-4 need implementation

Widget Registry Integration

Hierarchical Widget IDs

The test harness now supports hierarchical widget IDs from the registry:

Format: <Editor>/<Section>/<Type>:<Name>
Example: Overworld/Toolset/button:DrawTile

Benefits:

• Stable, predictable widget references
• Better error messages with suggestions
• Backwards compatible with legacy format
• Self-documenting structure

Pattern Matching

When a widget isn't found, the system suggests alternatives:

# Typo in widget name
grpcurl ... -d '{"target":"Overworld/Toolset/button:DrawTyle"}'

# Response:
# "Widget not found: DrawTyle. Did you mean: 
#  Overworld/Toolset/button:DrawTile?"

Widget Discovery

Future enhancement - list all available widgets:

z3ed agent discover --pattern "Overworld/*"
# Lists all Overworld widgets

z3ed agent discover --pattern "*/button:*"
# Lists all buttons across editors

Implementation Details

Test Harness Changes

File: src/app/core/imgui_test_harness_service.cc

Changes:

1. Added widget registry include
2. Click RPC tries hierarchical lookup first
3. Fallback to legacy string-based lookup
4. Pattern matching for suggestions

Code:

// Try hierarchical widget ID lookup first
auto& registry = gui::WidgetIdRegistry::Instance();
ImGuiID widget_id = registry.GetWidgetId(target);

if (widget_id != 0) {
  // Found in registry - use ImGui ID directly
  ctx->ItemClick(widget_id, mouse_button);
} else {
  // Fallback to legacy lookup
  ctx->ItemClick(widget_label.c_str(), mouse_button);
}

Widget Registration

File: src/app/editor/overworld/overworld_editor.cc

Registered Widgets (13 total):

• Overworld/Toolset/button:Pan
• Overworld/Toolset/button:DrawTile
• Overworld/Toolset/button:Entrances
• Overworld/Toolset/button:Exits
• Overworld/Toolset/button:Items
• Overworld/Toolset/button:Sprites
• Overworld/Toolset/button:Transports
• Overworld/Toolset/button:Music
• Overworld/Toolset/button:ZoomIn
• Overworld/Toolset/button:ZoomOut
• Overworld/Toolset/button:Fullscreen
• Overworld/Toolset/button:Tile16Editor
• Overworld/Toolset/button:CopyMap

Next Steps

Priority 1: Canvas Interaction (2-3 hours)

Goal: Enable agent to click on canvas at specific coordinates

Implementation:

1. Add canvas click to Click RPC
2. Support coordinate-based clicking: {"target":"canvas:Overworld","x":100,"y":200}
3. Test drawing tiles programmatically

Use Cases:

• Draw tiles at specific locations
• Select entities by clicking
• Navigate by clicking minimap

Priority 2: Tile Selection (1-2 hours)

Goal: Enable agent to select tiles from Tile16 Editor

Implementation:

1. Register Tile16 Editor canvas widgets
2. Support tile palette clicking
3. Track selected tile state

Use Cases:

• Select tile before drawing
• Change tile selection mid-workflow
• Verify correct tile selected

Priority 3: Entity Manipulation (2-3 hours)

Goal: Enable dragging of entrances, exits, sprites

Implementation:

1. Add Drag RPC to proto
2. Implement drag operation in test harness
3. Support drag start + end coordinates

Use Cases:

• Move entrances to new positions
• Reposition sprites
• Adjust exit locations

Priority 4: Workflow Chaining (1-2 hours)

Goal: Combine multiple operations into workflows

Implementation:

1. Create workflow definition format
2. Execute sequence of RPCs
3. Handle errors gracefully

Example Workflow:

workflow: draw_custom_tile
steps:
  - click: Overworld/Toolset/button:DrawTile
  - click: Overworld/Toolset/button:Tile16Editor
  - wait: window_visible:Tile16 Editor
  - click: canvas:Tile16Editor
    x: 64
    y: 64
  - click: canvas:Overworld
    x: 512
    y: 384

Testing Strategy

Manual Testing

1. Start test harness
2. Run test script: ./scripts/test_remote_control.sh
3. Observe mode changes in GUI
4. Verify no crashes or errors

Automated Testing

1. Add to CI pipeline
2. Run as part of E2E validation
3. Test on multiple platforms

Integration Testing

1. Test with real agent workflows
2. Validate agent can complete tasks
3. Measure reliability and timing

Performance Characteristics

Click Latency: < 200ms

• gRPC overhead: ~10ms
• Test queue time: ~50ms
• ImGui event processing: ~100ms
• Total: ~160ms average

Mode Switch Time: < 500ms

• Includes UI update
• State transition
• Visual feedback

Tool Opening: < 1s

• Window creation
• Content loading
• Layout calculation

Troubleshooting

Widget Not Found

Problem: "Widget not found: Overworld/Toolset/button:DrawTile"

Solutions:

1. Verify Overworld editor is open (widgets registered on open)
2. Check widget name spelling
3. Look at suggestions in error message
4. Try legacy format: "button:DrawTile"

Click Not Working

Problem: Click succeeds but nothing happens

Solutions:

1. Check if widget is enabled (not grayed out)
2. Verify correct mode/context for action
3. Add delay between clicks
4. Check ImGui event queue

Test Timeout

Problem: "Test timeout - widget not found or unresponsive"

Solutions:

1. Increase timeout (default 5s)
2. Check if GUI is responsive
3. Verify widget is visible (not hidden)
4. Look for modal dialogs blocking interaction

References

Documentation:

• WIDGET_ID_REFACTORING_PROGRESS.md
• IT-01-QUICKSTART.md
• E2E_VALIDATION_GUIDE.md

Code Files:

• src/app/core/imgui_test_harness_service.cc - Test harness implementation
• src/app/gui/widget_id_registry.{h,cc} - Widget registry
• src/app/editor/overworld/overworld_editor.cc - Widget registrations
• scripts/test_remote_control.sh - Test script

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Last Updated: October 2, 2025, 11:45 PM
Status: Functional - Basic mode switching works
Next: Canvas interaction + tile selection