The Browser Router: Use multiple browsers at once! When a URL is opened by the OS (current Mac-only), Browter opens an application by name, passing the URL as the only argument.

Installation

For now, this project assumes you're either a developer or sufficiently technically minded, so it requires you to build from source. Ensure you have XCode installed, then run:

make
make install

The first make command builds Browter itself, while make install makes the companion browter script available on the command-line.

Commands

• browter add RULE BROWSER — Adds a new rule. If the current URL contains RULE, then BROWSER will be used to open it. See Recommendations, below, for more information.
• browter remove RULE — Removes the associated rule. If a server was running, it will shut down to pick up the changes.
• browter default BROWSER — Sets the default browser to use if no rule matches the current URL. If none is otherwise specified, Safari is used as the default.
• browter status — Displays the current status of Browter: whether or not the server is running, what rules are currently enabled, and the default browser.
• browter quit — Shuts down the current server, if any. For debugging only.

Example

# Open all Google-y things in the Google Browser™.
browter add google "Google Chrome"
# Use Opera by default.
browter default Opera
# No longer shall I open internal links in a different browser.
browter remove private.mycompany.com
# See the current status of Browter.
browter status
Server: Stopped
Rules:
  google => Google Chrome
  browserquest => Firefox
Default: Opera

Recommendations

• Rules should not overlap. The first rule to match the opened URL wins. Since rules are not given an order, Browter runs them in a theoretically arbitrary order, so either of the overlapping rules could be run first, match the URL, and open its associated application.