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Backlight 0.9.0

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@mbahakeskin mbahakeskin released this 05 Nov 19:03
· 7 commits to main since this release
v0.9.0
33340bb

BasicShell is now Backlight. The same browser under a name that says what it does: the page is lit from behind, and what sits in front is yours. A new icon, and everything that carried the old name has the new one.

Download: Backlight-0.9.0.zip, with Backlight.app inside: unzip, move it to Applications. A release is the build with the agent tools (Settings › Agents, off until you turn it on); the plain build is ./build.sh from the source.

It is self-signed, not an Apple Developer ID, so the first time macOS refuses to open it: open it once, then System Settings › Privacy & Security › Open Anyway.

Requires: macOS 27 on Apple silicon.

Coming from BasicShell

  • Quit BasicShell, then open Backlight. At its first launch Backlight copies what BasicShell kept: your tabs, history, bookmarks, profiles, extensions, settings, and your sign-ins and site data. It only copies, so BasicShell and its data stay as they were until you delete them (~/Library/Application Support/BasicShell, ~/Library/WebKit/com.mbahakeskin.basicshell, ~/Library/HTTPStorages/com.mbahakeskin.basicshell*, ~/Library/Preferences/com.mbahakeskin.basicshell.plist). If BasicShell is still open, Backlight says so and waits.
  • What macOS keeps by the app's identity is asked again: location, camera and microphone for pages, notifications, and being your default browser (System Settings › Desktop & Dock › Default web browser).
  • BasicShell can't update itself to Backlight: an update has to be the same app, and this one has a new identity (com.mbahakeskin.backlight). Download this zip once; Backlight updates itself from here on.
  • Agents: the server is called backlight now (tools mcp__backlight__… in Claude Code) and the skill is backlight. Settings › Agents › Add to Claude Code (or the others) adds the new entry and takes the old basicshell one out; the skill is written again from the same page.
  • The agent tools, the extension and page scripts, the folder in Application Support and the repository (github.com/mbahakeskin/Backlight; the old address redirects) are renamed too.

New since 0.8.2

  • A new name and icon (a dark glass disc with a crescent of light behind it).
  • The first launch brings BasicShell's data along (above), tested against a copy of a real install: 30 tabs, 1,584 history entries, bookmarks, profiles, extensions, settings and cookies all came across.

Known limits

  • A keyword's prompt reaches Claude only if claude.ai still fills its box from ?q=; sources disagree, so cl hello may open an empty chat.
  • Add as Search Engine… needs a search form that uses GET; one that posts is refused with a message.
  • Not saved: DRM-protected video, live streams, video described by a DASH .mpd with segment templates, and the adaptive streams of YouTube.
  • Passkeys and Apple Passwords need an Apple Developer ID and so don't work yet.
  • Extensions run in the main profile only.

After updating, quit and reopen Backlight if it did not restart itself, and start a new chat in your agent.

SHA-256: Backlight-0.9.0.zip ae30bf701af69c1d13525a8b8caa0b560034dffb529408e4a19e06be6261f653

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