BrowserConnect v0.2.2

BrowserConnect v0.2.2

What's New

🖥️ ARM64 Support

• Added support for ARM64 PowerToys installations.
• Release packages now include both:
  • x64
  • ARM64 builds

⚡ PowerToys 0.96.1 Compatibility

• Updated plugin dependencies to match PowerToys 0.96.1.
• Improved compatibility with newer PowerToys Run versions.

📦 Improved Release Packaging

• Added separate release archives for x64 and ARM64.
• Added SHA256 checksums for release verification.

🔎 Search Provider Improvements

• Improved YouTube provider API key handling.
• Added API key reload support without restarting the plugin.
• Improved caching and error handling for provider requests.

🛠️ Fixes & Improvements

• Improved plugin configuration handling.
• Improved build scripts for multi-architecture builds.
• Updated documentation and installation instructions.
• Various stability and cleanup improvements.

Installation

Download the correct archive for your system:

• BrowserConnect-0.2.2-x64.zip
• BrowserConnect-0.2.2-ARM64.zip

Extract the BrowserConnect folder into: %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\PowerToys\PowerToys Run\Plugins\

Restart PowerToys Run.

BrowserConnect v0.2.1

🚀 BrowserConnect v0.2.1

A focused release improving project structure, build infrastructure, and test organization. This release consolidates the codebase for better maintainability and cleaner development workflows.

🛠️ Internal Improvements

• Reorganized the entire source tree into Community.PowerToys.Run.Plugin.BrowserConnect/ to align with package naming conventions.
• Refactored the folder structure with dedicated organization for Services, Handlers, Providers, Models, Settings, Interfaces, Utils, and Assets.
• Consolidated the test suite under Community.PowerToys.Run.Plugin.BrowserConnect.Tests/ with improved test organization.
• Removed redundant test configurations and migrated utility tests into a cleaner structure.

📦 Build & Deployment

• Reorganized build and installation scripts into the scripts/ directory.
• Updated build scripts with correct project directory references and .NET SDK availability validation.
• Updated asset paths and installation workflows for plugin.json, searchEngines.txt, and image resources.
• Improved script robustness with consistent working directory navigation and error handling.

📝 Project Structure

• Established a cleaner project hierarchy aligned with plugin packaging requirements and standard .NET conventions.
• Simplified build and deployment workflows with consistent path resolution.

Full Changelog: v0.2.0...v0.2.1

BrowserConnect v0.2.0

🚀 BrowserConnect v0.2.0

This release delivers a major refactor of BrowserConnect's internals while introducing a more capable history system, improved live search support, and a cleaner execution pipeline. The changes lay the foundation for future providers and features while preserving the existing user experience.

✨ Features

• Store normalized search queries instead of raw user input where applicable.
• Replay multi-engine searches directly from history.
• Preserve live provider results (title, URL, and thumbnail) for reliable history replay.
• Support reopening history entries in the opposite incognito state from the context menu.

🌟 Enhancements

• Improved fuzzy history search and recent-first deduplication.
• Better handling of direct URL history entries.
• Refactored live search into a provider-based architecture.
• Improved thumbnail caching and provider fallback behavior.
• Enhanced support for YouTube, AniList, and SeriesGraph live results.
• Improved history serialization and replay reliability.

🛠️ Internal Improvements

• Refactored the plugin into dedicated services, handlers, and shared utilities.
• Centralized browser execution and history recording.
• Simplified query parsing and execution for URL, single-engine, multi-engine, and live searches.
• Reduced duplicated logic across history, query processing, and context menu actions.
• Added unit tests covering several utility functions and some services.

📚 Documentation

• Refreshed the README with updated commands, feature descriptions, GIF previews, and contributor notes.
• Added developer documentation for BrowserConnect's history entry formats.

Full Changelog: v0.1.0...v0.2.0

BrowserConnect v0.1.0

🚀BrowserConnect v0.1.0

First public release of BrowserConnect.

BrowserConnect is a PowerToys Run plugin built to make browser search faster and more customizable directly from the launcher.

This release contains the compiled plugin binaries for installation. Full setup instructions, commands, and feature documentation are available in the README.

Requirements

• Windows
• PowerToys installed
• .NET 9

Installation

1. Download the release assets and extract the archive.

2. Copy the entire BrowserConnect folder into:

   %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\PowerToys\PowerToys Run\Plugins
   

3. Restart PowerToys.

4. Launch BrowserConnect using the default @ action keyword (can be changed in PowerToys Run settings).

Notes

• Existing configuration and history are preserved across updates.
• Source code may be released separately.

Feedback, issues, and suggestions are welcome.