yhc

Posted on Oct 18

How I Built CyhTabs — A Minimal, Privacy-Friendly Tab Manager That Just Works

#opensource #javascript #productivity

Tired of messy tab chaos? Meet CyhTabs — a tiny, fast browser extension that saves your window as named tab groups and restores them instantly.

💡 Why I Built It

Every time I switched tasks, I hated losing my browsing context — dozens of tabs scattered everywhere.

I wanted something that’s:

Instant to use
Privacy-first (no remote servers)
Lightweight and safe

So I built CyhTabs, a simple browser extension that saves and restores tab groups locally — with a single click.

⚙️ What It Does

🏷️ Save & name your tab groups (title + timestamp)
🚀 One-click restore (open all group tabs in a window)
💾 Local-only storage (nothing uploaded)
🧩 Lightweight popup UI

No clutter, just productivity.

🧭 Quick Start

🔸 Firefox (recommended)

Install from Mozilla Add-ons: 👉 https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/cyhtabs/
Pin the icon and try saving your first group!

🔸 Chrome / Edge

Download from GitHub Releases: 👉 https://github.com/Yinhao-c/CyhTabs/releases
Go to chrome://extensions/ → enable Developer mode
Click Load unpacked → select the folder containing manifest.json
Pin the extension and test Save → Name → Restore

🌟 Why It's Useful

Restore your entire research/work session anytime
Keep your workflow private — all data stays local
No signup, no sync, no background bloat

🧠 Under the Hood

Uses chrome.storage.local (and Firefox equivalent)
Built with Manifest V3 service worker model
Event-driven background for reliability and low memory
Minimal permissions for security

If you want to peek under the hood, all code is open and commented in the repo.

🧩 For Developers

// Simple example: restore saved group
chrome.storage.local.get("groups", ({ groups }) => {
  groups.forEach(group => {
    group.urls.forEach(url => chrome.tabs.create({ url }));
  });
});

🧰 Troubleshooting

Popup blank? → Right-click → Inspect → Console for errors
Missing groups? → Check your browser’s storage settings
File an issue with steps & a short GIF if possible

🤝 Contribute

GitHub Repo → https://github.com/Yinhao-c/CyhTabs/

Issues, PRs, and feedback are always welcome!

Contact → yihac1@outlook.com

🌈 Final Thoughts

If you juggle multiple projects or research topics, give CyhTabs a try.

Install it, save your sessions, and take back control of your tabs.

If you find it helpful, please ⭐ the repo or leave a short review on AMO — it helps more users discover it!

👉 Firefox Add-on Page

👉 GitHub Repository

Built with love and too many tabs 💻

DEV Community