BR — BrowserRouter

br is a cross-platform link/protocol router for Windows, macOS, and Linux. Set it as your default browser and it will route each http/https link to the right browser and profile based on rules you define — with optional URL filters (tracking-parameter stripping, HTTP→HTTPS upgrade) and a fast picker UI when no rule matches.

Installation

Windows

Download br-windows-x86_64.msi from the latest release and run it. This installs br, br-handler, br-daemon, and br-settings to your user profile and adds a Start Menu shortcut for BrowserRouter Settings. Windows uses br-handler.exe for clicked links so no terminal window is shown.

macOS

Download br-macos-x86_64.dmg from the latest release, open it, and run install.sh (it copies the binaries to /usr/local/bin).

Linux (Debian/Ubuntu)

Download browserrouter-amd64.deb from the latest release and install it:

sudo dpkg -i browserrouter-amd64.deb

From source

cargo build --workspace --release

Binaries are produced at target/release/{br,br-handler,br-daemon,br-settings}.

Getting started

1. Run br-settings to open the settings UI. On first run it walks you through onboarding:
   • Discover browsers — finds installed browsers and profiles.
   • Set br as your default browser — registers br as the system http/https handler (may require a manual confirmation step depending on your OS).
   • Finish setup — saves your configuration.
2. Open links as usual. br intercepts them, applies your rules and filters, and either launches the matching browser directly or shows a picker if no rule matches (or the rule is set to "ask").

Configuration

Configuration lives at <config-dir>/br/config.toml:

• Windows: %APPDATA%\br\config.toml
• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/br/config.toml
• Linux: ~/.config/br/config.toml

It contains:

• [general] — theme, language (en/pt-BR), picker position/timeout, picker background, window opacity, icon size, padding, saved window size, acrylic blur, start-on-login.
• [[browsers]] — discovered/configured browsers and profiles; set icon to a PNG/JPG/ICO path, or leave it empty/auto to use the app icon.
• [[filters]] — URL filters (strip tracking params, upgrade HTTP to HTTPS), with per-domain exceptions.
• [[rules]] — ordered rules matching on URL pattern and/or source application, routing to a browser, asking the user, or blocking the URL.

Use br-settings to edit configuration through the UI, or edit config.toml directly.

CLI usage

br open <url>              # route a URL (used internally as the default handler)
br doctor                   # diagnose configuration and environment
br config show               # print the resolved configuration
br config validate          # validate the configuration file
br rules list                 # list configured rules
br rules test <url>          # show which rule would handle a URL
br browsers list             # list detected browsers/profiles
br settings                   # open the settings UI
br install windows            # setup Windows handlers, autostart, and tray daemon
br daemon-status              # check whether br-daemon is running
br register                   # register br as the default http/https handler
br unregister                 # remove br as the default handler

Pass --json to most commands for machine-readable output, and --config <path> to use a config file other than the default location.

On Windows, run br register after rebuilding so the OS protocol association points at br-handler.exe; keep using br.exe for terminal commands.

Windows daemon

br-daemon.exe keeps config warm, listens on 127.0.0.1:47823, and lets br open/br-handler route links without cold-starting all discovery work.

br install windows   # recommended first setup
br-daemon.exe        # start background router; tray icon appears
br daemon-status     # verify it is listening
br settings          # enable "Start on login" for automatic startup

Right-click the tray icon to open Settings, register BrowserRouter as the default browser candidate, or quit the daemon.

Updating

br doctor reports the running version. New releases are published on the releases page — download and reinstall the package for your platform to update. Automatic update checks are not yet implemented.

Localization

The settings and picker UIs are available in English (en) and Brazilian Portuguese (pt-BR); set language under [general] in config.toml.

Building and testing

cargo build --workspace
cargo test --workspace
cargo fmt --check
cargo clippy --workspace -- -D warnings

See PRD.md for the full product specification and roadmap.