Support running Big Picture as separate process

Enable Big Picture mode to run concurrently with Desktop mode by:

- Implementing cross-platform process launching (LaunchSiblingExecutable) for Windows, macOS, and Linux
- Adding app profile system to isolate CEF user data between modes
- Making window class/title and mutex names profile-aware
- Changing mode switching to launch sibling executable instead of in-process switching
- Updating settings.js to use native bridge for Big Picture launch
- Adding build.bat helper for Windows builds

CMakeLists.txt

@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ if(OS_WINDOWS)
     set(NEBULA_PLATFORM_SOURCES
         src/platform/win/default_browser_win.cpp
         src/platform/win/paths_win.cpp
+        src/platform/win/process_win.cpp
         src/platform/win/startup_win.cpp
         src/platform/win/browser_host_win.cpp
         src/platform/win/nebula_window_win.cpp
@@ -64,6 +65,7 @@ elseif(OS_MACOSX)
     set(NEBULA_PLATFORM_SOURCES
         src/platform/mac/default_browser_mac.mm
         src/platform/mac/paths_mac.cpp
+        src/platform/mac/process_mac.cpp
         src/platform/mac/startup_mac.mm
         src/platform/mac/browser_host_mac.mm
         src/platform/mac/nebula_window_mac.mm
@@ -79,6 +81,7 @@ elseif(OS_LINUX)
     set(NEBULA_PLATFORM_SOURCES
         src/platform/linux/default_browser_linux.cpp
         src/platform/linux/paths_linux.cpp
+        src/platform/linux/process_linux.cpp
         src/platform/linux/startup_linux.cpp
         src/platform/linux/browser_host_linux.cpp
         src/platform/linux/nebula_window_linux.cpp

build.bat

@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+@echo off
+setlocal
+
+rem Build Nebula Browser (Windows).
+rem Usage:
+rem   build.bat              - configure + Release build
+rem   build.bat Debug        - configure + Debug build
+rem   build.bat Release      - configure + Release build
+rem   build.bat configure    - configure only
+rem   build.bat clean        - remove the build folder
+
+cd /d "%~dp0"
+
+set "CONFIG=Release"
+if /I "%~1"=="Debug" set "CONFIG=Debug"
+if /I "%~1"=="Release" set "CONFIG=Release"
+
+if /I "%~1"=="clean" (
+    echo Removing build\ ...
+    if exist build rmdir /s /q build
+    echo Done.
+    exit /b 0
+)
+
+if not exist "thirdparty\cef\cmake\FindCEF.cmake" (
+    echo ERROR: CEF not found at thirdparty\cef\
+    echo Download a Windows 64-bit CEF standard binary distribution and extract it
+    echo so that thirdparty\cef\cmake\FindCEF.cmake exists.
+    exit /b 1
+)
+
+echo Configuring CMake...
+cmake -B build
+if errorlevel 1 (
+    echo Configure failed.
+    exit /b 1
+)
+
+if /I "%~1"=="configure" (
+    echo Configure complete.
+    exit /b 0
+)
+
+echo Building %CONFIG%...
+cmake --build build --config %CONFIG%
+if errorlevel 1 (
+    echo Build failed.
+    exit /b 1
+)
+
+echo.
+echo Build succeeded: build\%CONFIG%\NebulaBrowser.exe
+exit /b 0

src/app/nebula_controller.cpp

@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 #include "include/wrapper/cef_helpers.h"
 #include "platform/browser_host.h"
 #include "platform/default_browser.h"
+#include "platform/process.h"
 #include "ui/paths.h"
 
 namespace nebula::app {
@@ -243,6 +244,13 @@ void NebulaController::OnWindowCloseRequested() {
         return;
     }
 
+    if (launch_options_.mode == AppMode::BigPicture && !closing_) {
+        if (!SwitchToSiblingMode(AppMode::Desktop)) {
+            BeginShutdown();
+        }
+        return;
+    }
+
     BeginShutdown();
 }
 
@@ -420,7 +428,8 @@ void NebulaController::OnChromeCommand(const std::string& command, const std::st
         CloseMenuPopup();
         tabs_.LoadURL(nebula::ui::GetSettingsUrl());
     } else if (command == "big-picture") {
-        EnterBigPictureMode();
+        CloseMenuPopup();
+        SwitchToSiblingMode(AppMode::BigPicture);
     } else if (command == "gpu-diagnostics") {
         CloseMenuPopup();
         tabs_.LoadURL(nebula::ui::GetGpuDiagnosticsUrl());
@@ -488,7 +497,9 @@ void NebulaController::OnChromeCommand(const std::string& command, const std::st
         BeginShutdown();
     } else if (command == "exit-bigpicture" && window_) {
         if (launch_options_.mode == AppMode::BigPicture) {
+            if (!SwitchToSiblingMode(AppMode::Desktop)) {
                 BeginShutdown();
+            }
             return;
         }
         ExitBigPictureMode();
@@ -728,6 +739,23 @@ void NebulaController::ExitBigPictureMode() {
     ResizeBrowsers();
 }
 
+bool NebulaController::SwitchToSiblingMode(AppMode mode) {
+#if defined(_WIN32)
+    const char* executable =
+        mode == AppMode::BigPicture ? "NebulaBigPicture.exe" : "NebulaBrowser.exe";
+#else
+    const char* executable =
+        mode == AppMode::BigPicture ? "NebulaBigPicture" : "NebulaBrowser";
+#endif
+
+    if (!nebula::platform::LaunchSiblingExecutable(executable)) {
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    BeginShutdown();
+    return true;
+}
+
 nebula::window::BrowserLayout NebulaController::CurrentBrowserLayout() const {
     if (!window_) {
         return {};

src/app/nebula_controller.h

@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ private:
     void CreateContentBrowser();
     void EnterBigPictureMode();
     void ExitBigPictureMode();
+    bool SwitchToSiblingMode(AppMode mode);
     nebula::window::BrowserLayout CurrentBrowserLayout() const;
     void ToggleMenuPopup();
     void CloseMenuPopup();

src/app/run.cpp

@@ -122,6 +122,10 @@ int RunNebula(const nebula::platform::AppStartup& startup, LaunchOptions options
         return subprocess_exit_code;
     }
 
+    // Isolate Big Picture from the desktop browser so both can run together.
+    nebula::ui::SetAppProfile(
+        options.mode == AppMode::BigPicture ? "bigpicture" : "desktop");
+
     CefRefPtr<CefCommandLine> command_line = CefCommandLine::CreateCommandLine();
     nebula::platform::InitCommandLine(command_line, startup);
     std::string initial_url = GetLaunchTarget(command_line);

src/cef/browser_client.cpp

@@ -111,6 +111,7 @@ bool NebulaBrowserClient::OnProcessMessageReceived(CefRefPtr<CefBrowser> browser
         const bool allowed_settings_command =
             IsSettingsFrame(frame) && (command == "navigate" ||
                                        command == "new-tab" ||
+                                       command == "big-picture" ||
                                        command == "check-default-browser" ||
                                        command == "set-default-browser" ||
                                        command == "clear-site-history" ||

src/platform/linux/process_linux.cpp

@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+#include "platform/process.h"
+
+#include "platform/paths_platform.h"
+
+#include <sys/types.h>
+#include <unistd.h>
+
+#include <cstdlib>
+#include <filesystem>
+#include <system_error>
+
+namespace nebula::platform {
+
+bool LaunchSiblingExecutable(const std::string& executable_name) {
+    const auto directory = ExecutableDirectory();
+    if (directory.empty() || executable_name.empty()) {
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    const std::filesystem::path path = directory / executable_name;
+    std::error_code error;
+    if (!std::filesystem::exists(path, error)) {
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    const pid_t pid = fork();
+    if (pid < 0) {
+        return false;
+    }
+    if (pid == 0) {
+        execl(path.c_str(), path.c_str(), static_cast<char*>(nullptr));
+        _exit(127);
+    }
+    return true;
+}
+
+}  // namespace nebula::platform

src/platform/mac/process_mac.cpp

@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+#include "platform/process.h"
+
+#include "platform/paths_platform.h"
+
+#include <sys/types.h>
+#include <unistd.h>
+
+#include <cstdlib>
+#include <filesystem>
+#include <system_error>
+
+namespace nebula::platform {
+namespace {
+
+std::filesystem::path ResolveSiblingPath(const std::string& executable_name) {
+    const auto directory = ExecutableDirectory();
+    if (directory.empty()) {
+        return {};
+    }
+
+    const std::filesystem::path same_dir = directory / executable_name;
+    std::error_code error;
+    if (std::filesystem::exists(same_dir, error)) {
+        return same_dir;
+    }
+
+    // NebulaBrowser.app/Contents/MacOS -> sibling NebulaBigPicture.app/Contents/MacOS
+    const std::filesystem::path sibling_app =
+        directory / ".." / ".." / ".." / (executable_name + ".app") / "Contents" / "MacOS" /
+        executable_name;
+    if (std::filesystem::exists(sibling_app, error)) {
+        return sibling_app.lexically_normal();
+    }
+
+    return {};
+}
+
+}  // namespace
+
+bool LaunchSiblingExecutable(const std::string& executable_name) {
+    const std::filesystem::path path = ResolveSiblingPath(executable_name);
+    if (path.empty()) {
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    const pid_t pid = fork();
+    if (pid < 0) {
+        return false;
+    }
+    if (pid == 0) {
+        execl(path.c_str(), path.c_str(), static_cast<char*>(nullptr));
+        _exit(127);
+    }
+    return true;
+}
+
+}  // namespace nebula::platform

src/platform/process.h

@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+#pragma once
+
+#include <string>
+
+namespace nebula::platform {
+
+// Launches an executable that lives next to the current process.
+bool LaunchSiblingExecutable(const std::string& executable_name);
+
+}  // namespace nebula::platform

src/platform/win/nebula_window_win.cpp

@@ -7,11 +7,22 @@
 #include <algorithm>
 #include <string_view>
 
+#include "ui/paths.h"
+
 namespace nebula::window {
 namespace {
 
-constexpr wchar_t kWindowClassName[] = L"NebulaBrowserWindow";
+const wchar_t* WindowClassName() {
-constexpr wchar_t kWindowTitle[] = L"Nebula Browser";
+    return nebula::ui::GetAppProfile() == "bigpicture"
+               ? L"NebulaBigPictureWindow"
+               : L"NebulaBrowserWindow";
+}
+
+const wchar_t* WindowTitle() {
+    return nebula::ui::GetAppProfile() == "bigpicture"
+               ? L"Nebula Big Picture"
+               : L"Nebula Browser";
+}
 constexpr wchar_t kChildFrameHitTestOldProcProp[] = L"NebulaChildFrameHitTestOldProc";
 constexpr wchar_t kChildFrameHitTestParentProp[] = L"NebulaChildFrameHitTestParent";
 constexpr ULONG_PTR kOpenTargetCopyDataId = 0x4E42554CUL;
@@ -415,7 +426,7 @@ void nebula::window::NebulaWindowImpl::RegisterClass(HINSTANCE instance_handle)
     window_class.lpfnWndProc = StaticWndProc;
     window_class.hInstance = instance_handle;
     window_class.hCursor = LoadCursor(nullptr, IDC_ARROW);
-    window_class.lpszClassName = kWindowClassName;
+    window_class.lpszClassName = WindowClassName();
 
     RegisterClassExW(&window_class);
 }
@@ -522,8 +533,8 @@ bool NebulaWindow::Create(const platform::AppStartup& startup) {
 
     impl_->hwnd = CreateWindowExW(
         0,
-        kWindowClassName,
+        WindowClassName(),
-        kWindowTitle,
+        WindowTitle(),
         WS_POPUP | WS_THICKFRAME | WS_MINIMIZEBOX | WS_MAXIMIZEBOX | WS_CLIPCHILDREN,
         x,
         y,
@@ -654,7 +665,7 @@ void NebulaWindow::SetTitle(const std::string& title) {
         return;
     }
 
-    const std::wstring wide = title.empty() ? kWindowTitle : Utf8ToWide(title);
+    const std::wstring wide = title.empty() ? WindowTitle() : Utf8ToWide(title);
     SetWindowTextW(impl_->hwnd, wide.c_str());
 }
 

src/platform/win/process_win.cpp

@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+#include "platform/process.h"
+
+#include "platform/paths_platform.h"
+
+#include <windows.h>
+
+#include <filesystem>
+#include <string>
+#include <system_error>
+
+namespace nebula::platform {
+namespace {
+
+std::wstring Utf8ToWide(const std::string& utf8) {
+    if (utf8.empty()) {
+        return {};
+    }
+
+    const int size = MultiByteToWideChar(
+        CP_UTF8, 0, utf8.data(), static_cast<int>(utf8.size()), nullptr, 0);
+    if (size <= 0) {
+        return {};
+    }
+
+    std::wstring result(static_cast<size_t>(size), L'\0');
+    MultiByteToWideChar(
+        CP_UTF8, 0, utf8.data(), static_cast<int>(utf8.size()), result.data(), size);
+    return result;
+}
+
+}  // namespace
+
+bool LaunchSiblingExecutable(const std::string& executable_name) {
+    const auto directory = ExecutableDirectory();
+    if (directory.empty() || executable_name.empty()) {
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    const std::wstring exe_name = Utf8ToWide(executable_name);
+    if (exe_name.empty()) {
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    const std::filesystem::path path = directory / exe_name;
+    std::error_code error;
+    if (!std::filesystem::exists(path, error)) {
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    const std::wstring path_wide = path.wstring();
+    const std::wstring dir_wide = directory.wstring();
+
+    STARTUPINFOW startup_info = {};
+    startup_info.cb = sizeof(startup_info);
+    PROCESS_INFORMATION process_info = {};
+
+    // CreateProcess requires a writable command line buffer.
+    std::wstring command_line = L"\"" + path_wide + L"\"";
+    const BOOL created = CreateProcessW(
+        path_wide.c_str(),
+        command_line.data(),
+        nullptr,
+        nullptr,
+        FALSE,
+        0,
+        nullptr,
+        dir_wide.c_str(),
+        &startup_info,
+        &process_info);
+    if (!created) {
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    CloseHandle(process_info.hThread);
+    CloseHandle(process_info.hProcess);
+    return true;
+}
+
+}  // namespace nebula::platform

src/platform/win/startup_win.cpp

@@ -10,10 +10,20 @@
 namespace nebula::platform {
 namespace {
 
-constexpr wchar_t kMainInstanceMutexName[] = L"Local\\NebulaBrowserMainInstance";
-constexpr wchar_t kWindowClassName[] = L"NebulaBrowserWindow";
 constexpr ULONG_PTR kOpenTargetCopyDataId = 0x4E42554CUL;
 
+const wchar_t* MainInstanceMutexName() {
+    return nebula::ui::GetAppProfile() == "bigpicture"
+               ? L"Local\\NebulaBigPictureMainInstance"
+               : L"Local\\NebulaBrowserMainInstance";
+}
+
+const wchar_t* WindowClassName() {
+    return nebula::ui::GetAppProfile() == "bigpicture"
+               ? L"NebulaBigPictureWindow"
+               : L"NebulaBrowserWindow";
+}
+
 class ScopedHandle {
 public:
     explicit ScopedHandle(HANDLE handle) : handle_(handle) {}
@@ -54,7 +64,7 @@ void ForwardLaunchTargetToExistingWindow(const std::string& launch_target) {
         return;
     }
 
-    HWND existing_window = FindWindowW(kWindowClassName, nullptr);
+    HWND existing_window = FindWindowW(WindowClassName(), nullptr);
     if (!existing_window) {
         return;
     }
@@ -81,7 +91,7 @@ void PrepareApp() {
 }
 
 bool TryAcquireSingleInstance(const std::string& launch_target) {
-    static ScopedHandle mutex(CreateMutexW(nullptr, TRUE, kMainInstanceMutexName));
+    static ScopedHandle mutex(CreateMutexW(nullptr, TRUE, MainInstanceMutexName()));
     const bool already_running = mutex.valid() && GetLastError() == ERROR_ALREADY_EXISTS;
     if (already_running) {
         ForwardLaunchTargetToExistingWindow(launch_target);

src/ui/paths.cpp

@@ -109,8 +109,18 @@ const InternalPage* FindInternalPageByFileUrl(const std::string& url) {
     return nullptr;
 }
 
+std::string g_app_profile;
+
 }  // namespace
 
+void SetAppProfile(std::string_view profile) {
+    g_app_profile = std::string(profile);
+}
+
+const std::string& GetAppProfile() {
+    return g_app_profile;
+}
+
 std::filesystem::path GetExecutableDirectory() {
     return nebula::platform::ExecutableDirectory();
 }
@@ -125,6 +135,9 @@ std::filesystem::path GetUserDataDirectory() {
     }
 
     std::filesystem::path user_data = root / "Nebula" / "User Data";
+    if (!g_app_profile.empty() && g_app_profile != "desktop") {
+        user_data = root / "Nebula" / ("User Data " + g_app_profile);
+    }
     std::error_code ec;
     std::filesystem::create_directories(user_data, ec);
     return user_data;

src/ui/paths.h

@@ -2,9 +2,15 @@
 
 #include <filesystem>
 #include <string>
+#include <string_view>
 
 namespace nebula::ui {
 
+// Process-wide profile used to isolate desktop vs Big Picture CEF data.
+// Call before GetUserDataDirectory() / CEF initialize. Empty/"desktop" = default.
+void SetAppProfile(std::string_view profile);
+const std::string& GetAppProfile();
+
 std::filesystem::path GetExecutableDirectory();
 std::filesystem::path GetUserDataDirectory();
 std::filesystem::path GetCacheDirectory();

ui/js/settings.js

@@ -382,11 +382,11 @@ window.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', () => {
     }
     
     if (bigPictureBtn) {
-      bigPictureBtn.addEventListener('click', async () => {
+      bigPictureBtn.addEventListener('click', () => {
         try {
-          if (window.bigPictureAPI && typeof window.bigPictureAPI.launch === 'function') {
+          if (hasNebulaNativeBridge()) {
             showStatus('Launching Big Picture Mode...');
-            await window.bigPictureAPI.launch();
+            window.nebulaNative.postMessage('big-picture');
           } else {
             showStatus('Big Picture Mode not available');
           }