Install Whiskrs.
Make yourself at home.

Using Whiskrs

Developer bookmarks, notes and tab sessions. Version 1.1.0 by theSpider.

Getting started

On first installation, a five-step welcome tour offers optional access, lets you name your local workspace, choose a theme and optionally add a developer starter library. Skip it at any time or replay it from Settings → FAQ. After setup, a hands-on workspace tutorial highlights an open tab and a practice collection. Drag a tab or use the save button, choose whether to keep it open, save this window and reopen the saved session. Progress stays local and resumes after a reload. Skip at any time or choose Replay workspace tutorial in Settings → FAQ. Celebrations respect reduced motion.

After Welcome, Choose your workspace access lists history, recently closed tabs, snapshot scheduling, tab groups and other optional features. Choose what you want, then click Allow selected access for Chrome's confirmation. You can continue without access if you decline. Granting access alone does not enable history archiving, automatic snapshots, floating save or publishing. Website access, account sign-in, folder selection and passkey verification ask separately during their setup. Existing grants are marked Allowed; revoke them in Chrome's extension settings.

Your Space and Quick Files

Edit your local profile and social cards in Your Space. Add configurable web tools, pin existing bookmarks, and keep a quick capture draft per workspace. New pinned links are saved to Inbox; editing one updates its original bookmark. Reorder items through their options menus.

Quick Files can create and edit UTF-8 text documents (128 KB each, 1 MB of text total) or import PDFs, PNGs, JPEGs, WebP and GIFs (10 MB each, 100 MB of local attachments total). Images preview in Whiskrs. PDFs use a bundled reader with page thumbnails, selectable-text search and remembered reading position. Scanned documents do not have OCR. Binary files are local copies in IndexedDB, not live references to your disk. Full JSON export includes their contents; collection-only exports do not. Keep downloaded originals or a full backup before removing the extension. File editing supports Ctrl or Command S and guards unsaved changes.

Your Space workspaces

Use the Hub tabs for Dashboard, Project desks, Snippets and Backups. Quick Files supports folders, tags, favorites, image thumbnails and dropping up to 20 files at once. Customize dashboard changes section order, visibility and width per workspace; drag the handles or use the movement buttons.

Project desks attach existing files, bookmarks and developer tools to a project. Notes save locally. Start focus session opens the project in a separate window and optionally groups its tabs. Save session snapshots that window's web tabs and current project notes. Resume opens a new window; Stop tracking leaves tabs open. Saved sessions do not include private browsing tabs.

Snippets provide syntax highlighting, tags, favorites and template variables such as {{project}}. Copy expanded snippet copies the substituted text and never runs commands. Workspace search also finds files, projects, tools, notes and snippets.

Backup center shows library and attachment usage, last full export and reminders when you visit the Hub. Full JSON includes attachments and Hub content. Encrypted backup uses AES-256-GCM and a PBKDF2-SHA256 password-derived key. Keep the password safely: it is never stored and cannot be reset. Restore merges imported data into the existing library.

Quick save and Read later

Open the toolbar popup for Read later, Next or a collection. Right-click a page or link for the same quick-save destinations. Repeated quick saves to the same destination avoid duplicates. The popup respects the automatic-close-tabs preference and keeps pinned tabs open.

Enable floating save on this site in the popup to add a small Whiskrs button to that origin. Chrome asks for optional scripting and site access only when enabled. The saver stores the current tab title and URL; it does not scrape page content. It can save to Read later, Next or a collection, and closes on Escape or an outside click. Turn it off in the popup or floating panel. Revoking site access prevents later injection. Special browser pages and the Chrome Web Store cannot be scripted.

Personal tools in Your Space

Use Your Space → Personal tools for Reading room, History, Session recovery, Private vault, Link health and Folder sync. Read later and History also have sidebar shortcuts. Reading room tracks unread/reading/finished/archived items, manual progress, notes and due reminders shown inside the extension. Save selected text from the right-click menu or enabled floating panel to Highlights. Scroll tracking runs only after selecting Track reading progress.

History needs optional Chrome access. Local archiving is a separate switch, off by default. Set exclusions, pause, query removal and retention in Archive options. Deleting an archive entry does not delete Chrome history; deleting a browser entry also removes its archived match. Archive export is plaintext and separate from library backups. Session recovery offers manual snapshots, optional scheduled snapshots and optional recently closed Chrome sessions. Restoring a snapshot opens a new window and leaves current windows open.

Create Private vault, save its recovery key outside Whiskrs, then confirm the last six characters before activation. Add credentials manually. Set up device passkey checks real PRF support; compatible devices may offer Touch ID, Windows Hello or device PIN verification. If unavailable, use the recovery key. The computer login password is never read. The vault locks when you switch away and after inactivity. Its encrypted backup is separate from the library; restoring on another installation requires the recovery key and passkey enrollment again. Keep the recovery key and backup safe. This build provides manual credential copy, without website autofill.

Folder sync needs no server. Choose a folder, enter a separate encryption password, then explicitly Write or Read and review. Import adds library data and can duplicate collections on repeated imports. It does not merge deletions automatically. Transfer the encrypted file yourself or through a trusted folder-sync tool. History, browser snapshots and Private vault are excluded. Use Backups for encrypted downloads if folder access is unavailable.

Link health checks only selected HTTPS sites, after optional origin access. A site may reject HEAD requests; restricted or unreachable does not mean broken. No checks run automatically.

Organize your work

Use the top-left workspace menu to create or switch local workspaces. Spaces hold collections. New Collection starts an inline name, colour and tag editor. Drag a collection heading to an insertion line to reorder it. Drop it onto another collection to confirm a merge; its original stays recoverable in Trash. Links reflow while you drag them within or between collections. The options menus also provide movement controls. Card, Compact, List and Grid layouts are available in View; Filter supports colour and tags. Expand all and Collapse all sit beside View. Select collection checkboxes to move, merge, export or delete multiple collections. The sidebar can collapse to an icon rail.

Keyboard dragging: focus an item’s drag handle, press Space to pick it up, use arrow keys to move, then Space to drop or Escape to cancel. On touchscreens, hold briefly before moving an item. Dropping outside a destination cancels the move.

Themes and motion

Open Settings → Preferences → Appearance → Colour theme to search 43 palettes. Each palette includes light and dark previews; Dark Mode and Auto Theme with Browser control the mode independently. Choose Whiskrs (default) to reset the palette. Colour filters remain a separate setting. Small dialog, selection and save transitions respect your system’s reduced-motion preference.

Save and restore tabs

The toolbar popup saves the current website. Right-click a page/link to save to the current workspace's Inbox. Drag an open tab into a collection, or choose Save session by browser window. Pinned tabs stay open. Closing selected tabs happens after saving. Collection actions open links in the current, new or incognito window. Swap current session saves previous eligible tabs into a backup collection before replacing them.

Next and To/Links

Add a tab or collection to Next using its bookmark action. Reorder by dragging or Move up, mark complete, and clear finished items without deleting source bookmarks. To/Links stores local aliases: type to/, press Tab, then type an alias in Chrome's address bar. Optional URL redirects also support http://to/alias and use the current workspace.

Search and notes

Search titles, domains, notes and #tags with / or Ctrl/Cmd K. Press N for a new collection. Add an independent note through a collection's options menu; link descriptions and tags are in the link editor. Search categories include spaces, collections, saved/open tabs, tags and aliases. History requests optional permission when selected; it searches the last 90 days without publishing history. Settings → Shortcuts lists Actions, Navigation and View shortcuts. Chrome's toolbar shortcut defaults to Alt+Shift+S and can be reassigned in extension shortcut settings.

Preferences

Settings controls dark/light/automatic theme, colour filters, optional side-panel mode, same-tab opening, close-after-save, browser tab groups, shortcuts and duplicate handling. Smart group organizes unpinned open tabs by website domain on your device; it does not call an AI service. Profile is an optional local name and image, with no account. Animate mascot controls the local sprite animation; your system reduced-motion setting always takes priority.

Backups and sharing

Settings → Local backup imports Whiskrs/Toby JSON, browser bookmark HTML and plain URL lists. JSON backups preserve library metadata, workspaces, Next, aliases and notes. Collection and space exports also offer HTML/TXT. A Public Space is a local draft until explicitly published to your configured server. You can export a shareable file without hosting. Published snapshots are readable by anyone with their URL; revoke them before switching back to Private. No domain or hosted service is preconfigured.

Your Space

Save your social profiles, launch a project's repository, development server and documentation together, and keep reusable searches such as site:github.com tag:backend -archived. First-install onboarding can add your GitHub/portfolio links and first project. These optional fields can be skipped and edited later. Notes support Markdown, fenced code and a preview; existing notes autosave while editing.

Repository pulse

Open Your Space and choose Set up pulse beside a project. Enter a public GitHub repository and an optional GitHub username; a repository link and social profile can prefill them. Save and load requests optional access only to api.github.com. No GitHub OAuth app or token is required for public repositories.

Pulse shows up to five recent open pull requests, up to five open issues assigned to that username, and checks plus legacy commit statuses for the default branch’s latest commit. Draft PRs are labelled. CI is pinned to a commit SHA; missing, incomplete and failed reads never imply passing checks. View all opens GitHub for the full lists. Pagination and rate limits are displayed clearly.

Refresh is manual and cached for five minutes in memory, with at most 20 repository/profile snapshots. No background polling is enabled. After a browser/service-worker restart, refresh to load again. Previous data is labelled when a later read fails. Remove pulse stops showing the integration without deleting the project. Repository/profile settings are part of portable project data; transient activity is excluded. Private repositories and GitHub Enterprise hosts are not supported in this release.

GitHub connection

Saving your GitHub profile URL works immediately. Real GitHub sign-in requires a publisher-registered OAuth app and configured exchange service. This build has neither preconfigured, so Connect GitHub is unavailable. Setup instructions are in github-auth/README.md in the source distribution. Once configured, the optional connection reads your identity and public repositories. Tokens remain in session storage and are excluded from exports.

AI tool usage

Your Space → AI tool usage supports manual percentages and reset times for Codex, Claude Code, Antigravity and other tools. An optional local companion can read Codex App Server limits, Claude Code status-line snapshots and compatible Antigravity CLI output. Chrome alone cannot execute your installed CLIs. Setup instructions are in usage-bridge/README.md in the source distribution; run it locally and pair using its generated key. No companion is started automatically.

Each reading shows its source and timestamp. Readings older than 15 minutes are marked stale. Passing a reset time requires a refresh; Whiskrs never assumes usage has returned to zero. Missing fields remain unavailable. Subscription limits and API billing are separate. Antigravity's adapter still requires a live compatibility check with a supported CLI.

Local recovery

Recovery keeps daily and pre-edit snapshots, bounded to 20 within a 2 MB budget. Preview before restoring; the current library is snapshotted first. Revoke any published spaces before a restore. Export a JSON file regularly to protect against losing the browser profile itself. Credentials and transient AI usage readings are excluded from portable library files.

Extension updates

Chrome checks for store updates automatically. Whiskrs shows a pending-update notice in the workspace, popup and side panel when Chrome reports a newer version ready. Updates or Settings → Updates includes a manual Check for updates button. Checks are rate limited; unavailable, failed and throttled checks are not described as success. Save open edits before Apply and reload. Saved bookmarks and settings remain in this profile. Unpacked builds update by replacing their files and using Reload in chrome://extensions.

Featured projects and sponsors

The bottom of the open-tabs panel offers Our projects and Sponsors views. This release links to Whiskrs's guides and a sponsorship email draft. The card can be hidden for the current page session. It does not load an ad network or record impressions/clicks, and there is no paid campaign configured. The tab list scrolls above it.

Support

Settings → FAQ has more answers. Feedback opens an email draft, which you choose whether to send. Contact om.spider.dev@gmail.com.

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