firefox-open-tab-another-browser

Add bookmarklets in Firefox to quickly open current tab's URL in another browser.

Requirements:

• Firefox on Linux
• Python
• another web browser: Chrome, Edge, etc.

Setup

Clone this repo and place the files on their respective locations as instructed below.

1. python script: http_url_handler.py

• edit your browsers absolute paths here

$ chmod +x ~/bin/http_url_handler.py
---
browsers = {
    'ffstable': '/usr/bin/firefox',
    'ffbeta': '/usr/bin/firefox-beta',
    'ffdev': '/usr/bin/firefox-developer-edition',
    'gchromium': '/usr/bin/chromium',
    'gchrome': '/usr/bin/google-chrome-stable',
    'msedgebeta': '/usr/bin/microsoft-edge-beta',
    'vivaldi': '/usr/bin/vivaldi-stable',
    'librewolf': '/usr/bin/librewolf',
}

2. desktop entry file for handling HTTP mimetype

• no need to edit this.

$ chmod +x ~/.local/share/applications/http-url-handler.desktop

3. desktop entry file for the Firefox bookmarklet

• change <USER> in Exec line.

~/.local/share/applications/urlbookmarklet-protocol.desktop
---
Exec=/usr/bin/python3 /home/<USER>/bin/http_url_handler.py %u

4. set http and https mimetype handler to http-url-handler.desktop

$ xdg-mime default http-url-handler.desktop x-scheme-handler/http
$ xdg-mime default http-url-handler.desktop x-scheme-handler/https

OR manually edit [Default Applications] in ~/.config/mimeapps.list
---
x-scheme-handler/http=http-url-handler.desktop
x-scheme-handler/https=http-url-handler.desktop

$ update-desktop-database ~/.local/share/applications/

VERIFY:
$ xdg-mime query default x-scheme-handler/http
http-url-handler.desktop
$ xdg-mime query default x-scheme-handler/https
http-url-handler.desktop

TEST:
$ xdg-open https://en.wikipedia.org/_______ffbeta

5. Add bookmarklets to Firefox: import ff_bookmarklets.html

• move folder to Bookmarks Toolbar for easy access

javascript:location.href='urlbookmarklet-protocol://'+location.href+'_______ffstable
javascript:location.href='urlbookmarklet-protocol://'+location.href+'_______ffbeta'
javascript:location.href='urlbookmarklet-protocol://'+location.href+'_______ffdev'
javascript:location.href='urlbookmarklet-protocol://'+location.href+'_______gchromium'
javascript:location.href='urlbookmarklet-protocol://'+location.href+'_______gchrome'
javascript:location.href='urlbookmarklet-protocol://'+location.href+'_______msedgebeta'
javascript:location.href='urlbookmarklet-protocol://'+location.href+'_______vivaldi'
javascript:location.href='urlbookmarklet-protocol://'+location.href+'_______librewolf'

6. Set custom protocol action in Firefox (might need browser restart)

• if bookmarklets don't work in the next step, try setting this to 'Always ask' first.

7. Try the bookmarklets!

To bypass the "Open Link" prompt, you can use Tridactyl.

---

optional: install Tridactyl - Firefox add-on

https://github.com/tridactyl/tridactyl/

• this will let you bind keyboard shortcuts to trigger the bookmarklets instantly.

sample Tridactyl key bindings:
---
bind =beta composite js 'urlbookmarklet-protocol://'+location.href+'_______ffbeta' | open
bind =dev composite js 'urlbookmarklet-protocol://'+location.href+'_______ffdev' | open
bind =um composite js 'urlbookmarklet-protocol://'+location.href+'_______gchromium' | open
bind =gc composite js 'urlbookmarklet-protocol://'+location.href+'_______gchrome' | open
bind =edge composite js 'urlbookmarklet-protocol://'+location.href+'_______msedgebeta' | open
bind =vi composite js 'urlbookmarklet-protocol://'+location.href+'_______vivaldi' | open
bind =wolf composite js 'urlbookmarklet-protocol://'+location.href+'_______librewolf' | open

That's it! 🥳