146 lines
5.3 KiB
Markdown
146 lines
5.3 KiB
Markdown
# URL Launcher
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A Chrome extension for opening a list of URLs as tabs — ideal for workflows that involve opening the same set of pages repeatedly (dashboards, research sessions, daily reading lists, etc.).
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Paste a raw list of URLs, or dump any arbitrary text and let the extension extract the links automatically. Tabs can be opened immediately or loaded lazily — only when you actually focus them — with optional staggered timers so your browser isn't hammered all at once.
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### Why this exists
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Chrome Web Store extensions are a well-documented supply chain attack vector. Extensions can be silently updated after installation, sold to new owners, or compromised to inject malicious code into your browser — with full access to cookies, form data, and page content. Several popular tab-management extensions have been hijacked this way.
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This extension was built as a self-hostable, auditable alternative to a Chrome Store extension I relied on. The entire codebase is four short files you can read in a few minutes. Because you load it as an unpacked extension, it never updates without you explicitly pulling changes — and you can review every diff before you do.
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---
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## Features
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- **Bulk open URLs** — paste one URL per line and open them all as background tabs in one click
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- **Extract URLs from text** — paste any text (emails, docs, HTML, markdown, Slack messages) and extract every link automatically, deduplicated and cleaned of trailing punctuation
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- **Wait for focus** — tabs open as lightweight placeholder pages and only navigate to their target URL when you switch to them, keeping memory and network usage low
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- **Delayed load** — each tab gets a staggered auto-load countdown (1s, 2s, 3s…) so URLs load progressively even without you focusing them, preventing browser overload
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- Live URL counter with instant validation
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- "Load now" escape hatch on every placeholder page
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---
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## Screenshots
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---
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## Installation
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This extension is not on the Chrome Web Store. Install it in developer mode:
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1. Download or clone this repository
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2. Open Chrome and navigate to `chrome://extensions`
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3. Enable **Developer mode** (toggle in the top-right corner)
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4. Click **Load unpacked**
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5. Select the repository folder (the one containing `manifest.json`)
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6. The **URL Launcher** icon will appear in your Chrome toolbar
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To update after pulling new changes, go back to `chrome://extensions` and click the **↺ refresh** icon on the extension card.
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---
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## Usage
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### Basic — open a list of URLs
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1. Click the extension icon in the toolbar
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2. Paste one URL per line into the text box
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3. Click **Open URLs**
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All URLs open as background tabs. Invalid lines are silently skipped.
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### Extract URLs from arbitrary text
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1. Paste any text into the box — an email thread, a webpage, a markdown document, anything
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2. Click **Extract URLs**
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3. The text box is replaced with one clean URL per line, duplicates removed
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4. Click **Open URLs**
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### Wait for focus to load
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When the **Wait for focus to load** checkbox is enabled (default), each tab opens as a minimal placeholder page instead of loading the real URL immediately. The target URL only loads when you click on that tab.
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This is useful when opening many tabs at once — the browser stays responsive and pages don't all race to load in parallel.
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### Delayed load
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When **Delayed load** is also enabled (default, requires Wait for focus), each placeholder page gets an automatic countdown timer:
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| Tab | Auto-loads after |
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|-----|-----------------|
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| 1st | 1 second |
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| 2nd | 2 seconds |
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| 3rd | 3 seconds |
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| … | … |
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The placeholder shows a live countdown with a shrinking progress bar. Clicking **Load now →** on any placeholder page bypasses the timer immediately.
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This staggers network requests so your browser isn't hit by all pages at once, while still loading everything in the background without you having to manually focus each tab.
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---
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## Options reference
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| Option | Default | Description |
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|---|---|---|
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| Wait for focus to load | ✅ On | Opens a placeholder page; navigates only on tab focus |
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| Delayed load | ✅ On | Adds a staggered per-tab countdown (requires Wait for focus) |
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The mode badge in the popup header shows the current active mode: **lazy**, **lazy + delay**, or **eager**.
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---
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## File structure
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```
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url-launcher/
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├── manifest.json # Extension manifest (Manifest V3)
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├── popup.html # Toolbar popup UI
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├── popup.js # Popup logic — URL parsing, extraction, tab creation
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├── loader.html # Lightweight placeholder page shown in lazy mode
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└── loader.js # Placeholder logic — focus detection and countdown timer
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```
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---
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## Permissions
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| Permission | Why it's needed |
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|---|---|
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| `tabs` | To open new tabs via `chrome.tabs.create` |
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No data is collected, sent anywhere, or stored. Everything runs locally.
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---
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## Browser compatibility
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Requires a Chromium-based browser with Manifest V3 support:
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- Google Chrome 88+
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- Microsoft Edge 88+
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- Brave, Opera, Vivaldi (recent versions)
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Firefox is not supported (uses a different extension API).
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---
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## Contributing
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Bug reports and pull requests are welcome. When reporting an issue, please include:
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- Chrome version (`chrome://version`)
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- A description of the URLs or text you were working with
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- What you expected vs. what happened
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---
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## License
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MIT — do whatever you want with it. |