Choose an app type: web, desktop, static or cli

type decides which fields matter and what Stop does by default.

	web	desktop	static	cli
Needs	command	command	url	command
Usually also	port, url	processName	command and port, if it serves itself	cwd
Launch	Runs command in a terminal tab	Runs command in a terminal tab	No command: opens url in the browser. With one: runs it in a terminal tab	Runs command in a terminal tab
Default killMode	port	processName	none	none

1. The type select. Its hint line describes what that type does.
2. The port field. For a web app, Running follows whether this port answers.

How Running is decided

Moonpool checks every couple of seconds. An app is Running if any of these holds, whatever its type:

• processName is set and a process with that name exists. Moonpool’s own <exe> mcp helper processes are not counted.
• port is set and answers on localhost.
• Moonpool launched it, it has neither port nor processName, and the terminal’s process is still alive.

So a cli app is Running while its command runs, and a web app with no port behaves the same way. A static entry with only a url has nothing to track and never shows Running.

web

A local server. Set port so Running reflects whether the server is answering, and url plus openBrowser to open it when it comes up.

desktop

A native app. Set processName to the executable name so Running survives the window detaching from the command that started it. The default Stop kills every process with that name.

static

A page. With only a url, Launch and Restart open it in your browser and Stop does nothing. http://, https://, mailto: and file:// URLs are opened, so a local page works:

apps.json

{ "id": "csv", "name": "CSV dashboard", "group": "Docs", "type": "static",
  "url": "file:///{MP_HOME}/dashboards/examples/csv/index.html" }

Pages that need a server (PHP, or anything fetching local files) need a command that starts one and a port to track it. See the examples.

cli

A tool. command runs in a terminal tab in cwd, and the app stops being Running when the command exits. For a shell that stays open, make the command a shell, for example this command:

command

pwsh -NoLogo -NoProfile -NoExit -Command python run.py --flag

Avoid nested double quotes in command: they are mangled by the cmd /c wrapper.

What clicking does

Clicking an app’s name only opens its terminal tab. Use the Launch, Stop and Restart controls to run it. See App states.