# TabCatcher

> *A browser extension for people who open 47 tabs and call it "research".*

TabCatcher is a tiny browser extension that rounds up all your feral open tabs and herds them into a neat Markdown file — titles, URLs, descriptions, and all. Works on Chrome, Chromium, Firefox, and Edge.

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## What it does

You click a button. Your tabs become a `.md` file. That's it. That's the whole thing.

More specifically:

- Counts your open tabs and windows so you can feel something
- **Lets you choose** which windows or tab groups to catch — ignore the noise, export the signal
- Fetches `<meta>` descriptions from each page (optional — it does slow things down a smidge)
- Groups tabs by window if you're the type who organizes chaos into labeled chaos
- Stamps the export with a timestamp so future-you knows exactly when past-you had 74 tabs open at 2am

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## Installation

This extension isn't on the stores (yet). Load it manually:

1. Clone or download this repo

Then follow the steps for your browser:

### Chrome / Chromium

2. Go to `chrome://extensions/`
3. Enable **Developer mode** (toggle, top-right)
4. Click **Load unpacked** and select this folder
5. Pin the extension to your toolbar

### Microsoft Edge

2. Go to `edge://extensions/`
3. Enable **Developer mode** (toggle, left sidebar)
4. Click **Load unpacked** and select this folder
5. Pin the extension to your toolbar

### Firefox

2. Go to `about:debugging#/runtime/this-firefox`
3. Click **Load Temporary Add-on...**
4. Navigate into this folder and select `manifest.json`
5. The extension loads until Firefox restarts — for a permanent install, [sign and submit it to AMO](https://addons.mozilla.org/developers/)

> **Note:** Tab group selection is a Chrome/Edge feature. On Firefox you'll see windows only — that's expected.

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## Usage

1. Click the TabCatcher icon in your toolbar
2. Check or uncheck which **windows** (and tab groups, on Chrome/Edge) to include
3. Pick your export options
4. Hit **Export Tabs**
5. Save the `.md` file somewhere you'll definitely find it later

### Export options

| Option | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Include page descriptions | On | Grabs `meta description` / `og:description` from each tab |
| Group by window | Off | Splits the export into sections per browser window |
| Include timestamp | On | Adds the date/time to the top of the file |

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## Output format

The exported file looks something like this:

```markdown
# Browser Tabs Export

**Exported:** Tuesday, April 1, 2026 at 2:14 AM

**Total Tabs:** 52

---

- **How to center a div - Stack Overflow**
  - URL: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/...
  - Description: The definitive resource for div-centering discourse

- **cute cat videos - YouTube**
  - URL: https://youtube.com/...
```

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## Permissions

TabCatcher asks for only what it needs:

- `tabs` — to read tab titles and URLs
- `scripting` — to extract page descriptions from each tab
- `downloads` — to save the `.md` file to your disk
- `activeTab` — standard popup permission

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## Contributing

Found a bug? Have a feature idea? Open an issue or a PR. All tabs welcome.

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*Built because browser bookmarks are a lie we tell ourselves.*