qt-to-auroraview-migration

Qt → AuroraView migration skill

This skill turns an existing Qt-based Python project (typically one that uses QWebEngineView, a custom QMainWindow, or a DCC tool dialog with embedded HTML) into an AuroraView project with:

• A native Rust-powered WebView (~5 MB vs ~120 MB Qt WebEngine)
• Unified create_webview() entry point (standalone / Qt parent / HWND)
• Bidirectional Python ↔ JavaScript bridge (webview.emit / @webview.on)
• Full MCP control out of the box via dcc-mcp-core's gateway — every AuroraView window registers itself into the gateway and exposes a CDP bridge, so agents can click, fill, screenshot, and call Python APIs over standard MCP without the user writing any Python glue

When to use this skill

Use it when you see any of these signals in the source project:

1. from PySide6.QtWebEngineWidgets import QWebEngineView (or PySide2 / PyQt5 / PyQt6)
2. QWebChannel + registerObject for JS↔Python IPC
3. A DCC-embedded Qt dialog that loads an HTML/React/Vue frontend
4. A QMainWindow whose central widget is basically a browser
5. The user says "convert/migrate/port this Qt tool to AuroraView" or "I want to control this Qt app with MCP"

Decision tree

Is there a QWidget parent (Maya/Houdini/Nuke/3ds Max)?
├── Yes → use QtWebView path (create_webview(parent=qwidget, ...))
└── No
    ├── Is there a native HWND (Unreal, C++ host)?
    │   └── Yes → use HWND path (create_webview(parent=hwnd, ...))
    └── No → standalone (create_webview(url=..., ...))

All three paths return the same WebView API; only the parent argument differs.

Migration playbook

Perform these steps in order. Each has a concrete before/after snippet so you can grep-and-replace safely.

Step 1 — Dependencies

Replace Qt WebEngine with AuroraView. Keep qtpy / a Qt binding only if the tool still needs Qt widgets around the webview (toolbars, dock panels, DCC integration).

# pyproject.toml — remove
# "PySide6-WebEngine"
# "PyQtWebEngine"
# "auroraview-mcp"              # the standalone Python MCP pkg was retired; see #364

# pyproject.toml — add
"auroraview>=0.4.19"            # core
"auroraview[qt]>=0.4.19"        # if embedding inside a Qt host
# MCP control now comes from dcc-mcp-core's gateway + auroraview-cli; no extra
# Python dep is needed on the project itself. Install the tooling separately:
#   pip install dcc-mcp-core    # gateway + skill runtime (PyPI)
#   auroraview-cli skills install --target cursor    # wire agent tools