make it easyer to connect to a remove browser allow it with --browser ip alias too

tests/test_cli.py

@@ -135,7 +135,9 @@ def test_install_windows_registers_native_host(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
     assert any("@echo off" in text for text in wrapper_writes)
 
 def test_clients_exits_cleanly_when_registry_is_missing():
-    with patch("browser_cli.cli.REGISTRY_PATH", Path("/nonexistent/browser-cli-registry.json")):
+    with patch("browser_cli.cli.REGISTRY_PATH", Path("/nonexistent/browser-cli-registry.json")), patch(
+        "browser_cli.cli.active_browser_targets", return_value=[]
+    ):
         result = CliRunner().invoke(main, ["clients"])
 
     assert result.exit_code == 1
@@ -153,7 +155,7 @@ def test_clients_reads_registry_with_trailing_garbage(tmp_path):
 
     with patch("browser_cli.cli.REGISTRY_PATH", registry_path), patch(
         "browser_cli.cli.send_command", side_effect=fake_send_command
-    ):
+    ), patch("browser_cli.cli.active_browser_targets", return_value=[]):
         result = CliRunner().invoke(main, ["clients"])
 
     assert result.exit_code == 0
@@ -208,7 +210,7 @@ def test_clients_shows_named_profile_and_uses_socket_uuid_for_default(tmp_path):
 
     with patch("browser_cli.cli.REGISTRY_PATH", registry_path), patch(
         "browser_cli.cli.send_command", side_effect=fake_send_command
-    ):
+    ), patch("browser_cli.cli.active_browser_targets", return_value=[]):
         result = CliRunner().invoke(main, ["clients"])
 
     assert result.exit_code == 0
@@ -238,6 +240,25 @@ def test_tabs_list_multi_browser_shows_browser_column():
     assert "work" in result.output
 
 
+def test_tabs_list_with_remote_uses_only_remote_targets():
+    with patch(
+        "browser_cli.commands.tabs.active_browser_targets",
+        side_effect=AssertionError("local targets should not be used for explicit remote"),
+    ), patch(
+        "browser_cli.commands.tabs.remote_browser_targets",
+        return_value=[BrowserTarget("work", "remote-host:work", "", remote="remote-host:8765", token="secret")],
+    ), patch(
+        "browser_cli.commands.tabs.send_command",
+        return_value=[{"id": 1, "windowId": 1, "active": True, "title": "Remote", "url": "https://example.com"}],
+    ) as send_command, patch("browser_cli.cli.save_remote_token"):
+        result = CliRunner().invoke(main, ["--remote", "remote-host:8765", "--token", "secret", "tabs", "list"])
+
+    assert result.exit_code == 0
+    assert "remote-host:work" in result.output
+    assert "Remote" in result.output
+    send_command.assert_called_once_with("tabs.list", {}, profile="work", remote="remote-host:8765", token="secret")
+
+
 def test_tabs_list_with_explicit_browser_does_not_show_browser_column():
     with patch(
         "browser_cli.commands.tabs.active_browser_targets",

tests/test_client.py

@@ -5,10 +5,13 @@ import pytest
 
 from browser_cli.client import (
     BrowserNotConnected,
+    BrowserTarget,
     _resolve_socket,
     active_browser_targets,
     display_browser_name,
     save_remote_token,
+    send_command,
+    remote_target_for_alias,
     token_for_remote,
 )
 from browser_cli.platform import endpoint_for_alias
@@ -104,6 +107,83 @@ def test_save_remote_token_persists_per_endpoint(monkeypatch, tmp_path):
     }
 
 
+def test_send_command_auto_routes_single_remote_target(monkeypatch):
+    monkeypatch.delenv("BROWSER_CLI_PROFILE", raising=False)
+    monkeypatch.delenv("BROWSER_CLI_REMOTE", raising=False)
+    monkeypatch.delenv("BROWSER_CLI_TOKEN", raising=False)
+    sent = {}
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(
+        "browser_cli.client.remote_browser_targets",
+        lambda endpoint, token=None: [BrowserTarget("work", "host:work", "", remote=endpoint, token=token)],
+    )
+
+    def fake_send_remote(endpoint, framed):
+        payload_len = int.from_bytes(framed[:4], "little")
+        msg = json.loads(framed[4:4 + payload_len])
+        sent.update(msg)
+        return json.dumps({"success": True, "data": "ok"}).encode("utf-8")
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr("browser_cli.client._send_remote", fake_send_remote)
+
+    assert send_command("tabs.list", remote="host:8765", token="secret") == "ok"
+    assert sent["_route"] == "work"
+    assert sent["token"] == "secret"
+
+
+def test_send_command_resolves_browser_alias_to_remote_target(monkeypatch):
+    monkeypatch.delenv("BROWSER_CLI_REMOTE", raising=False)
+    monkeypatch.delenv("BROWSER_CLI_TOKEN", raising=False)
+    monkeypatch.setenv("BROWSER_CLI_PROFILE", "host:work")
+    sent = {}
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(
+        "browser_cli.client._remote_browser_targets",
+        lambda: [BrowserTarget("work", "host:work", "", remote="host:8765", token="secret")],
+    )
+
+    def fake_send_remote(endpoint, framed):
+        payload_len = int.from_bytes(framed[:4], "little")
+        msg = json.loads(framed[4:4 + payload_len])
+        sent["endpoint"] = endpoint
+        sent.update(msg)
+        return json.dumps({"success": True, "data": []}).encode("utf-8")
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr("browser_cli.client._send_remote", fake_send_remote)
+
+    assert send_command("tabs.list") == []
+    assert sent["endpoint"] == "host:8765"
+    assert sent["_route"] == "work"
+    assert sent["token"] == "secret"
+
+
+def test_remote_target_for_alias_accepts_full_endpoint_profile(monkeypatch):
+    monkeypatch.setattr(
+        "browser_cli.client._remote_browser_targets",
+        lambda: [BrowserTarget("work", "host:work", "", remote="host:8765", token="secret")],
+    )
+
+    target = remote_target_for_alias("host:8765:work")
+
+    assert target is not None
+    assert target.profile == "work"
+    assert target.remote == "host:8765"
+
+
+def test_send_command_requires_browser_for_multiple_remote_targets(monkeypatch):
+    monkeypatch.delenv("BROWSER_CLI_PROFILE", raising=False)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(
+        "browser_cli.client.remote_browser_targets",
+        lambda endpoint, token=None: [
+            BrowserTarget("main", "host:main", "", remote=endpoint, token=token),
+            BrowserTarget("furry", "host:furry", "", remote=endpoint, token=token),
+        ],
+    )
+
+    with pytest.raises(BrowserNotConnected, match="Multiple remote browser instances are active: main, furry"):
+        send_command("tabs.list", remote="host:8765", token="secret")
+
+
 def test_active_browser_targets_includes_remote_targets(monkeypatch, tmp_path):
     remotes_path = tmp_path / "remotes.json"
     endpoint = "browser-host.example:8765"