115 lines
3.2 KiB
Markdown
115 lines
3.2 KiB
Markdown
# TabCatcher
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> *A browser extension for people who open 47 tabs and call it "research".*
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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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---
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## What it does
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You click a button. Your tabs become a `.md` file. That's it. That's the whole thing.
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More specifically:
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- Counts your open tabs and windows so you can feel something
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- **Lets you choose** which windows or tab groups to catch — ignore the noise, export the signal
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- Fetches `<meta>` descriptions from each page (optional — it does slow things down a smidge)
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- Groups tabs by window if you're the type who organizes chaos into labeled chaos
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- Stamps the export with a timestamp so future-you knows exactly when past-you had 74 tabs open at 2am
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---
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## Installation
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This extension isn't on the stores (yet). Load it manually:
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1. Clone or download this repo
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Then follow the steps for your browser:
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### Chrome / Chromium
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2. Go to `chrome://extensions/`
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3. Enable **Developer mode** (toggle, top-right)
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4. Click **Load unpacked** and select this folder
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5. Pin the extension to your toolbar
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### Microsoft Edge
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2. Go to `edge://extensions/`
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3. Enable **Developer mode** (toggle, left sidebar)
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4. Click **Load unpacked** and select this folder
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5. Pin the extension to your toolbar
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### Firefox
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2. Go to `about:debugging#/runtime/this-firefox`
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3. Click **Load Temporary Add-on...**
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4. Navigate into this folder and select `manifest.json`
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5. The extension loads until Firefox restarts — for a permanent install, [sign and submit it to AMO](https://addons.mozilla.org/developers/)
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> **Note:** Tab group selection is a Chrome/Edge feature. On Firefox you'll see windows only — that's expected.
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---
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## Usage
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1. Click the TabCatcher icon in your toolbar
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2. Check or uncheck which **windows** (and tab groups, on Chrome/Edge) to include
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3. Pick your export options
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4. Hit **Export Tabs**
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5. Save the `.md` file somewhere you'll definitely find it later
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### Export options
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| Option | Default | What it does |
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| Include page descriptions | On | Grabs `meta description` / `og:description` from each tab |
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| Group by window | Off | Splits the export into sections per browser window |
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| Include timestamp | On | Adds the date/time to the top of the file |
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---
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## Output format
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The exported file looks something like this:
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```markdown
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# Browser Tabs Export
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**Exported:** Tuesday, April 1, 2026 at 2:14 AM
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**Total Tabs:** 52
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---
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- **How to center a div - Stack Overflow**
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- URL: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/...
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- Description: The definitive resource for div-centering discourse
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- **cute cat videos - YouTube**
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- URL: https://youtube.com/...
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```
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---
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## Permissions
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TabCatcher asks for only what it needs:
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- `tabs` — to read tab titles and URLs
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- `scripting` — to extract page descriptions from each tab
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- `downloads` — to save the `.md` file to your disk
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- `activeTab` — standard popup permission
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---
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## Contributing
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Found a bug? Have a feature idea? Open an issue or a PR. All tabs welcome.
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---
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*Built because browser bookmarks are a lie we tell ourselves.*
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