feat: Adds helium browser support

.github/workflows/ci.yml

@@ -54,6 +54,19 @@ jobs:
       - name: go vet
         run: go vet ./...
 
+      # Per-PR CI runs on Linux only; the Windows and macOS suites run at release
+      # time. Compile every OS's build here so a broken build tag — a _test.go
+      # that falls into the wrong OS's build, an OS-only file that stops
+      # compiling — fails the PR instead of a release tag. vet builds the
+      # _test.go files too, so it catches test-only tag mistakes `go build` misses.
+      - name: Cross-compile all targets
+        run: |
+          for os in linux darwin windows; do
+            echo "== $os =="
+            CGO_ENABLED=0 GOOS=$os go build ./...
+            CGO_ENABLED=0 GOOS=$os go vet ./...
+          done
+
       - name: Frontend tests
         run: bash .github/scripts/web-test-summary.sh
 

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -26,6 +26,9 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
   (`LICH_PORT`/`LICH_TOKEN`) when run inside a lich terminal, or a
   `runtime.json` (pid/port/token) lich writes to its config dir when run from any
   other terminal while lich is open.
+- Helium Browser is now accepted as a Linux Chromium-family shell. The launcher
+  probes `helium-browser` alongside Chromium, Google Chrome and Brave, and the
+  install/runtime dependency checks document it as a supported browser.
 
 ## [0.7.0] - 2026-07-16
 

INSTALL.md

@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ Pick your system:
 - [Verifying checksums](#verifying-checksums)
 
 **Runtime dependencies** — lich opens its window in a Chromium-family browser;
-none is bundled. On Linux any of `chromium`, `google-chrome` or `brave`
+none is bundled. On Linux any of `chromium`, `google-chrome`, `helium-browser` or `brave`
 satisfies it, and `zenity` provides the folder picker. On Windows, Chrome,
 Edge or Brave are found via their conventional install paths (Edge ships with
 Windows) and the folder picker is native.

docs/chromium-shell.md

@@ -37,9 +37,10 @@ its CDP surface):
   `chromium --app=http://127.0.0.1:<port> --user-data-dir=<state-dir> --class=lich`.
 - Window closed → WebSocket drops → Go shuts down. No CDP needed for v1.
 - Still a single Go binary. **Zero Node, zero Electron, no new bundle weight.**
-  New runtime requirement: chromium/chrome installed (fine for a personal
-  harness on Arch; the launcher should probe `chromium`, `google-chrome`,
-  `chromium-browser` and fail with a clear message).
+  New runtime requirement: a Chromium-family browser installed (fine for a
+  personal harness on Arch; the launcher should probe `chromium`,
+  `google-chrome`, `helium-browser`, `chromium-browser` and fail with a clear
+  message).
 
 Why lich is ~80% there already:
 

install.sh

@@ -49,11 +49,11 @@ as_root() {
 
 check_runtime_deps() {
   browser=""
-  for candidate in chromium chromium-browser google-chrome-stable google-chrome brave; do
+  for candidate in chromium chromium-browser google-chrome-stable google-chrome helium-browser brave; do
     if have "$candidate"; then browser="$candidate"; break; fi
   done
   missing=""
-  [ -n "$browser" ] || missing="a Chromium-family browser (chromium, google-chrome, brave, ...)"
+  [ -n "$browser" ] || missing="a Chromium-family browser (chromium, google-chrome, helium-browser, brave, ...)"
   if ! have zenity; then
     [ -z "$missing" ] || missing="${missing} and "
     missing="${missing}zenity"

internal/chromium/candidates_unix.go

@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ func browserCandidates() []string {
 		"chromium-browser",
 		"google-chrome-stable",
 		"google-chrome",
+		"helium-browser",
 		"brave",
 	}
 }

internal/chromium/candidates_unix_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+//go:build !windows && !darwin
+
+package chromium
+
+import (
+	"slices"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+// TestUnixBrowserCandidates pins the exact Linux/BSD candidate list in
+// preference order: bare PATH names (Linux/BSD installs live on PATH), Chromium
+// first, Helium probed before Brave. It mirrors the exact-list style of
+// TestWindowsBrowserCandidates / TestDarwinBrowserCandidates — a membership
+// check would miss an order regression or a stray entry.
+//
+// The build tag matches candidates_unix.go (`!windows && !darwin`) on purpose:
+// under a bare `!windows` this test also compiles into the darwin build, where
+// browserCandidates() returns the .app list and none of these bare names, so
+// the assertion would fail the macOS release suite.
+func TestUnixBrowserCandidates(t *testing.T) {
+	want := []string{
+		"chromium",
+		"chromium-browser",
+		"google-chrome-stable",
+		"google-chrome",
+		"helium-browser",
+		"brave",
+	}
+	if got := browserCandidates(); !slices.Equal(got, want) {
+		t.Fatalf("browserCandidates() = %v, want %v", got, want)
+	}
+}

internal/chromium/chromium.go

@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ func FindBrowser(lookPath func(name string) (string, error)) (string, error) {
 		}
 	}
 	return "", errors.New("no chromium-family browser found (tried " +
-		fmt.Sprint(candidates) + "); install chromium, chrome or edge")
+		fmt.Sprint(candidates) + "); install chromium, chrome, edge, brave, or helium")
 }
 
 // windowsBrowserCandidates builds the Windows candidate list: chrome, then