# Development tools

## Host support

Automation currently supports **Windows 10/11 only**. It requires `uv`, QEMU
with WHPX support, and `ffmpeg.exe` on `PATH`. The Python implementation uses
portable APIs where possible, but other hosts are not supported yet.

## QEMU and FreeDOS automation

Start the Python daemon and QEMU:

```powershell
uv run ferro-vm start
uv run ferro-vm status
```

`TCPAGENT.EXE` connects only to `127.0.0.1:5558`. Local commands use the
Windows named pipe `\\.\pipe\ferrolang-vm`; there is no controller or observer
TCP port. Monitor the append-only structured log in another terminal:

```powershell
lnav .qemu/ferro-vm.log
```

Commands:

```powershell
uv run ferro-vm ping
uv run ferro-vm exec 'dir C:\FEC'
uv run ferro-vm put fec/src/check.c 'C:\FEC\SRC\CHECK.C'
uv run ferro-vm get 'C:\FEC\TEST.OK' .qemu/TEST.OK
uv run ferro-vm screenshot
uv run ferro-vm ocr
uv run ferro-vm stop
```

The daemon logs command metadata, DOS output, exit status, transfers, and
agent lifecycle events as UTF-8 lines. It deliberately never logs raw binary
payloads or protocol hex.

## Standalone OCR

`tools/qemu_ocr.py` remains available for OCRing an existing image:

```powershell
uv run python tools/qemu_ocr.py --image .qemu/qemu-screen.png
```