Save Browser Session

A robust Python CLI tool for macOS to save your open browser tabs into a formatted Markdown file. It serves as a modern replacement for complex AppleScript/JXA scripts.

Features

• Multi-Browser Support: Works with Safari, Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Arc, Orion, Brave, Vivaldi, and more.
• Smart Cleaning: Automatically removes tracking parameters, fixes messy titles, and cleans up URLs.
• Broken Tab Fixer: Detects "Loading..." or "Untitled" tabs and offers to reload/fix them before saving.
• Rich CLI: Beautiful terminal interface with status spinners and tables.
• Headless Mode: Automatic GUI dialog fallback (via native macOS dialogs) when running from Shortcuts or Keyboard Maestro.

Installation

Install the package directly from PyPI using uv:

uv tool install save-browser-session

Or run it directly without installing:

uv tool run save-browser-session

Development Installation

If you are developing or running from the source repository:

uv tool install .

Or, clone and run it directly from the source directory:

git clone https://github.com/rapjul/save-browser-session-macos
cd save-browser-session-macos
uv run save-browser-session

Usage

Basic Usage

Save all tabs from the frontmost browser:

save-browser-session --all 

This will copy the result to your clipboard and save a Markdown file to the current working directory (configurable in source).

Options

Examples

Save only current window:

save-browser-session --current

Run silently in background (Autosave):

save-browser-session --autosave

Browser-Specific Commands

To target any of the other supported macOS browsers explicitly, use the --browser (or -b) flag:

• Safari:

  save-browser-session --browser "Safari"
  

• Google Chrome:

  save-browser-session --browser "Google Chrome"
  

  [!NOTE] You can also use --browser Chrome as a shortcut for "Google Chrome".

• Microsoft Edge:

  save-browser-session --browser "Microsoft Edge"
  

  [!NOTE] You can also use --browser Edge as a shortcut for "Microsoft Edge".

• Brave Browser:

  save-browser-session --browser "Brave Browser"
  

• Arc:

  save-browser-session --browser "Arc"
  

• Orion:

  save-browser-session --browser "Orion"
  

• Vivaldi:

  save-browser-session --browser "Vivaldi"
  

• Chromium:

  save-browser-session --browser "Chromium"
  

• Opera:

  save-browser-session --browser "Opera"
  

Firefox - No Support

[!WARNING] Firefox is not supported. Unlike Safari and Chromium-based browsers, Firefox lacks native support for macOS AppleScript or JavaScript for Automation (JXA) dictionaries. As a result, external tools cannot programmatically query Firefox for active window and tab information (titles/URLs). You can track this long-standing limitation on Mozilla's Bugzilla: Bug 125419 - Add AppleScript support to Firefox.

Open Saved Files

You can automatically open the saved Markdown file in your favorite editor:

# Open in a specific app (e.g., TextEdit)
save-browser-session --open-with TextEdit

# Open in VS Code
save-browser-session --open-with "Visual Studio Code"

# Open in Antigravity
save-browser-session --open-with "Antigravity"

# Use a custom application name
save-browser-session --custom-open-with "Sublime Text"

# Use a custom application name
save-browser-session --custom-open-with "Zed"

Publishing to PyPI

This package is built and published using uv:

1. Build the package:

   uv build
   

   This generates source distribution (.tar.gz) and wheel (.whl) archives in the dist/ directory.

2. Publish to PyPI: Make sure you have your PyPI API token set in the UV_PUBLISH_TOKEN environment variable, then run:

   uv publish