Autobrowser

Automatically selects web browsers based on context rules.

Features

• Fast single binary with minimal dependencies
• Simple rule engine
• Cross-platform (Linux, macOS)

Configuration

Save as ~/.config/autobrowser/config.toml or use -config flag.

Example

# Default when no rules match
default_command = "personal"

# Define commands
[command.work]
cmd = ["firefox", "-p", "work", "{}"]
query_escape = true

[command.personal]
cmd = "firefox {}"

# Define rules
[[rules]]
command = "work"
[[rules.matchers]]
type = "app"
class = "Slack"
[[rules.matchers]]
type = "url"
regex = ".*jira.*"

[[rules]]
command = "work"
[[rules.matchers]]
type = "app"
class = "org.telegram.desktop"

More examples in the examples folder.

Commands

Commands define how to open URLs with specific browsers.

Quotes in Commands

# For string command format
[command.chrome]
cmd = "open -a 'Google Chrome' {}"  # Single quotes inside double quotes

# For array format (recommended for complex commands)
[command.firefox]
cmd = ["open", "-a", "Google Chrome", "{}"]  # No need to escape quotes in array format

Note: When using the string format for cmd, both single quotes (') and double quotes (") will be automatically escaped. For commands with complex quoting requirements, the array format is recommended.

Command Options

• query_escape: When set to true, escapes special characters in the URL before inserting into the command.
• placeholder: Customize the placeholder for the URL (default is {}).

Matchers

Short Matcher Syntax

For better readability, you can use a more concise syntax for matchers:

[[rules]]
command = "work"
# Concise syntax using inline table arrays
matchers = [
  {type = "app", class = "Slack"},
  {type = "url", regex = ".*jira.*"}
]

This is equivalent to the more verbose syntax shown in the first example.

app

Match by source application.

Supported environments: hyprland, gnome, sway, macos

[[rules.matchers]]
type = "app"
class = "Slack"

Linux Properties:

• title: window title (regex)
• class: window class

macOS Properties:

• display_name: app name
• bundle_id: App Bundle ID
• bundle_path: App Bundle path
• executable_path: app executable path

url

Match by clicked URL.

[[rules.matchers]]
type = "url"
host = "github.com"

Properties:

• host: match by host
• scheme: match by scheme
• regex: match full URL by regex

Setup

Linux

Gnome

Install focused-window-dbus extension to expose the focused window.

Installation

Prebuilt packages: Download .rpm, .deb, .apk or .zst from releases.

Manual build:

make build-linux

Create this .desktop file in ~/.local/share/applications/ and set as default browser:

[Desktop Entry]
Categories=Network;WebBrowser
Exec=/path/to/autobrowser -config ~/.config/autobrowser/config.toml -url %u
Icon=browser
MimeType=x-scheme-handler/http;x-scheme-handler/https
Name=Autobrowser
Terminal=false
Type=Application

Nix home-manager

Works for both Linux and macOS. The flake provides an overlay and a home-manager module.

Example configuration:

{
  programs.autobrowser = {
    enable = true;
    defaultCommand = "personal";
    
    commands = {
      work = {
        cmd = ["firefox", "ext+container:name=Work&url={}"];
        queryEscape = true;
      };
      personal = {
        cmd = "firefox {}";
      };
    };
    
    rules = [
      {
        command = "work";
        matchers = [
          { 
            type = "app";
            class = "Slack";
          }
          {
            type = "url";
            regex = ".*jira.*";
          }
        ];
      }
    ];
  };
}

Debugging

macOS

Monitor logs:

log stream --predicate 'subsystem == "dev.pltanton.autobrowser"' --style compact --level debug

Acknowledgements

• b-r-o-w-s-e project and related article: great example of handling URLs with Golang on macOS
• Finicky project: inspiration for Autobrowser, good example of handling more complex URL events