Debugging Fluid SSBs with Drosera

Drosera is Apple’s very slick JavaScript debugger for WebKit based applications, and can be used with Fluid SSBs for debugging Userscripts. It just takes a little setup…

For Each Fluid SSB (or any WebKit-based app) that you’d like to be able attach the Drosera JS debugger to, you need to perform a single command-line incantation like this:

1. Download and install the latest WebKit nightly which includes a version of the Safari browser that runs against the latest WebKit build and also Drosera, the standalone JS debugger app.

2. Determine the bundle identifier for the Fluid SSB you’d like to debug… it will be com.fluidapp.FluidInstance.XXX where “XXX” is the name you gave your SSB. If there is whitespace in your SSB name besure to escape it with a back slash. for instance: com.fluidapp.FluidInstance.Google\ Reader

3. Launch your SSB.

4. Launch Drosera. You’ll see a “Fluid Instance” application in the “Attach” window’s application list. That’s your SSB. Select it in the list and click “Attach”.

5. Do something in your SSB that will execute your Userscript (navigate to a page, whatever). You’ll see Drosera is attached and now you can debug to your heart’s desire. Go on with your bad self.