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Superuser guide

Power workflows for people who live in the terminal.

BrowserShell rewards users who think in pipelines, aliases, and keyboard shortcuts. This guide covers workflows that replace multi-click UI journeys with a single prompt.

Philosophy

  1. Lists are actions — numbered output rows are clickable. Run a list command, click a row.
  2. Everything pipes — stdout from one command feeds the next.
  3. Bang expansions — !gh react becomes a GitHub search URL. !1 replays history entry 1.
  4. Watch mode — poll any command on an interval.

Tab and window mastery

Triage 30 tabs in seconds

tabs | grep -i youtube          # find distractions
tab discard 4                   # unload tab from memory
tab pin 2                       # pin the keeper
windows                         # see all windows
window focus 2                  # jump windows
recent                          # restore what you just closed
recent restore 1                # click row 1 works too

Domain sweep

domain github.com               # list all GitHub tabs
tab close 3                     # close by index from last tabs output
detach                          # pop tab to new window

Audio control

mute                            # mute active tab
tabs | grep audible             # find noisy tabs

go github.com/trending          # navigate active tab
open /bookmarks/Dev/ReadLater   # open VFS path
back                            # history navigation
qf                              # query current URL fragments
here                            # print current URL
reload --hard                   # bypass cache

Bang expansions

!gh distributed systems         # → GitHub search URL
!so typescript generics         # → Stack Overflow search
!1                              # re-run history entry #1

Page inspection (the web as data)

links                           # all links on page — click to follow
link 3                          # follow link #3
inputs                          # form fields
input focus 2                   # focus field #2
fill 1 "hello@example.com"      # fill by index
read                            # page text content
meta                            # meta tags
tech                            # detect frameworks
reqs                            # network requests (dev)
shot                            # screenshot to clipboard

Research pipeline

history search "webgpu"
go !1
links | grep -i docs
link 1
ai summarize --length short

Privacy and site control

siteinfo                        # footprint: cookies, storage, permissions
siteinfo --compare google.com  # compare two sites
cookies                         # list cookies for current site
permissions                     # effective content settings
forget --dry-run                # preview what would be deleted
forget --preset work            # use a named preset from options

Always dry-run first. forget is destructive.

Downloads and files

downloads                       # recent downloads — click row to reveal in Finder
downloads show 1                # reveal in file manager
downloads open 1                # launch file

Monitoring and automation

watch 5 tabs                    # refresh tab list every 5s
watch 10 "tabs | grep -i deploy"  # monitor deploy tabs
notify "Build done"             # desktop notification
log tail /audit/session.log     # follow audit log

Stop watch: watch stop or Ctrl+C during a watch tick.

Aliases that stick

Add to your rc file or run directly:

alias ll='tabs'
alias gh='tab new https://github.com'
alias hn='go news.ycombinator.com'
alias triage='tabs | grep -v pinned'
alias audit='siteinfo && cookies && permissions'

List aliases: alias

VFS power moves

ls /transcript                  # session transcripts
cat /notes/ideas.md             # user notes
ls /audit                       # command audit log
export /bookmarks/Work > ~/backup.json   # export paths

Extension management

extensions                      # list installed extensions
extensions disable 2            # by index from list

Window layout & workspaces

layout side-by-side             # tile two windows 50/50
layout main-left 60%            # wide left pane
split vertical https://docs.example.com
workspace save research         # snapshot windows + tabs
workspace load research
ps                              # tabs as processes
kill 3                          # close by ps index
pkill youtube --dry-run

Full guide: Workspaces & layout.

Page hotkeys & custom binds

Vimium-style keys work on pages when the overlay is closed (f, j, /, o, …). Customize via rc:

bind list
bind add ; seek
import-vimium-keys
config reload

Full guide: Page hotkeys, Keybindings & bangs.

AI integration (today)

Uses Chrome’s built-in AI when available:

ai summarize                    # summarize current page
ai summarize --length short     # terse summary
cat /current/content.txt | ai summarize
ai explain "TypeError at line 42"

This is the foundation for the AI-native shell vision — commands as the interface agents use to act on the browser.