Min Tab

A minimalist browser extension (Chrome + Firefox) that replaces your new tab page with a clean interface focused on search functionality. 🎉 Now available on Mozilla Add-ons!

Table of Contents

• Screenshots
• Features
• Installation
• Usage
• Technical Details
• File Structure
• Settings
• Privacy
• License
• Contributing

Screenshots

Features

• Clean Design: Minimalist terminal-like interface using Courier New font.
• Multi-Search Engine Support: Startpage, Google, DuckDuckGo, Brave, Bing, Perplexity, Mistral, Gemini, and ChatGPT.
• Configurable Engines: Show/hide engines and remember your choices.
• Smart Suggestions: Combined Top Sites + History suggestions with favicons (up to 6 results).
• URL Detection: Automatically navigate to URLs when entered directly (e.g., github.com redirects to https://github.com).
• Keyboard Navigation & Shortcuts: Arrows to navigate, / to focus input, Alt+S to toggle settings, Esc to close it.
• Auto-Focus Logic: Optional focus on load and automatic focus on the search input when switching engines.
• Theme Support: Dark mode (default), Light mode, and Browser Theme integration (Firefox only).
• Loading Indicators: Visual feedback when navigating to suggestions.
• Horizontal Engine Scrolling: Use the mouse wheel to scroll through the search engine list.
• Accessibility: Screen reader friendly with proper ARIA labels.

Installation

Firefox

From Mozilla Add-ons (Recommended)

1. Visit Min Tab on Mozilla Add-ons
2. Click "Add to Firefox"
3. Confirm the installation prompt
4. Open a new tab to see the new tab page

Manual Installation (.xpi)

1. Download the latest .xpi file from the Releases page.
2. Open Firefox and navigate to about:addons.
3. Click the gear icon (⚙️) and select "Install Add-on From File...".
4. Select the downloaded .xpi file.

From Source (Developer Mode)

1. Clone or download this repository.
2. Open Firefox and navigate to about:debugging#/runtime/this-firefox.
3. Click "Load Temporary Add-on…".
4. Select the repository's manifest.json.

Note: The temporary add-on install resets when you restart Firefox. For a persistent install, use the Mozilla Add-ons link or the .xpi from Releases.

Chrome / Chromium

From Releases (Recommended for Manual Install)

1. Download the latest .zip file from the Releases page.
2. Extract the .zip file to a folder.
3. Open Chrome and navigate to chrome://extensions/.
4. Enable "Developer mode" (top right toggle).
5. Click "Load unpacked" and select the extracted folder.

From Source

1. Clone or download this repository.
2. Open Chrome and navigate to chrome://extensions/.
3. Enable "Developer mode".
4. Click "Load unpacked" and select the extension folder.

Usage

Search

• Type your query in the search box.
• Press Enter or click the search icon to search.
• Enter a URL directly to navigate to it (e.g., github.com).
• Use arrow keys to navigate through history and top sites suggestions.

Search Engines

• Click on any search engine button to switch engines.
• The active engine is highlighted, and the search input is automatically focused.
• Use the mouse wheel to scroll horizontally through the engine list if it exceeds the container width.
• Available engines: Startpage (default), Google, DuckDuckGo, Brave, Bing, Perplexity, Mistral, Gemini, and ChatGPT.

Note: Brave, Bing, Mistral, Gemini, and ChatGPT are included but some may be hidden by default. Enable them from Settings → "Show/hide engines".

Gemini integration uses Google AI Mode and requires that you are signed in with a Google (Gmail) account in your browser.

Keyboard Shortcuts

• / - Focus the search input from anywhere.
• Alt+S - Toggle the Settings panel.
• Esc - Close the Settings panel.
• ↓ - Navigate down through suggestions.
• ↑ - Navigate up through suggestions or return to search box.
• Enter - Perform search or select suggestion.

Technical Details

• Manifest Version: 3
• Version: 2.5
• Permissions: history, topSites
• Logic:
  • URL Detection: Uses regex to identify domain patterns and prepends https://.
  • Suggestions: Merges browser Top Sites and History matches, limited to 6 results.
  • Theme Handling: Dynamic CSS variable overrides for Light/Dark/Browser themes.
• Browser Support: Chrome / Chromium and Firefox (Advanced theme support on Firefox).

File Structure

├── manifest.json              # Extension configuration
├── new_tab.html              # Main HTML structure
├── style.css                 # Styling and CSS variables
├── assets/
│   ├── data/
│   │   ├── defaults.json     # Default search engines and settings
│   │   └── icons.json        # SVG icons for UI elements
│   ├── images/
│   │   └── icon128.png      # Extension icon
│   ├── screenshots/          # Screenshots for README
│   └── scripts/
│       ├── script.js         # Main initialization script
│       ├── events.js         # Event handlers and listeners
│       ├── keyboardNavigation.js  # Keyboard navigation logic
│       ├── search.js         # Search functionality
│       ├── settings.js       # Settings management
│       ├── suggestions.js    # History and top sites suggestions
│       ├── ui.js             # UI rendering functions
│       └── utils.js          # Utility functions
└── README.md                 # This file

Settings

The Settings panel (press Alt+S or hover bottom-right to reveal gear icon) lets you:

• Focus search bar on new tab: Enable/disable auto-focus on load.
• Hide search placeholder: Show a clean input without placeholder text.
• Hide settings button: Hide the gear icon (can still access via Alt+S).
• Hide search engines list: Hide the search engine selector buttons.
• Hide search button: Disable the search button (Enter key still works).
• Hide search engine logo: Toggle the visibility of the search engine logo next to the input.
• Switch to light mode: Toggle between dark and light themes.
• Use browser theme: Sync the extension theme with your browser (Firefox only).
• Show/hide engines: Choose which engines appear in the navbar.

Privacy

• No data is collected or transmitted to external servers.
• History suggestions are processed locally using the browser's history API.
• Top sites are retrieved locally using the browser's topSites API.
• Search queries are sent directly to your chosen search engine.
• Favicons are loaded from Google's favicon service (s2/favicons).

License

This project is open source. Free to modify and distribute.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit issues or pull requests.

Star History