browser-info

🏆 Used by

• Atode-GUI(mine) - Read-later article management tool with quick save functionality

If you use browser-info in your project, let me know and I'll add you to the list!

🚀 Cross-platform library for retrieving active browser URL and detailed information.

Fast, reliable, and easy-to-use browser information extraction with multiple strategies.

✨ Features

• ⚡ Ultra Fast: PowerShell-based extraction (sub-millisecond performance)
• 🔧 DevTools Support: Chrome DevTools Protocol for advanced scenarios (Windows only)
• 🌐 Multi-Browser: Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari, Brave, Opera, Vivaldi
• 🎛️ Multiple Strategies: Choose between speed, compatibility, or detailed info
• 🔄 Auto Fallback: Intelligent method selection with graceful fallbacks
• 🖥️ Cross-Platform: Windows (full support), macOS (partial), Linux (planned)
• 🔒 Security-First: No vulnerable dependencies, regular security audits

🚀 Quick Start

Basic Usage

use browser_info::get_active_browser_info;

fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
    // Check if a browser is currently active
    if !browser_info::is_browser_active() {
        println!("No browser is currently active");
        return Ok(());
    }
    
    // Get comprehensive browser information
    let info = get_active_browser_info()?;
    
    println!("📖 Title: {}", info.title);
    println!("🔗 URL: {}", info.url);
    println!("🌐 Browser: {:?}", info.browser_type);
    println!("📍 Position: ({}, {})", info.window_position.x, info.window_position.y);
    println!("🔒 Incognito: {}", info.is_incognito);
    
    Ok(())
}

Async API (with DevTools support)

use browser_info::{get_browser_info, ExtractionMethod};

#[tokio::main]
async fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
    // Auto-detection with fallback (PowerShell → DevTools)
    let info = get_browser_info().await?;
    println!("URL: {}", info.url);
    
    Ok(())
}

Method Selection

use browser_info::{get_browser_info_safe, ExtractionMethod, get_browser_info_with_method};

// Fast & Compatible (PowerShell - Recommended)
let info = get_browser_info_safe()?;

// Just get the URL (lightweight)
let url = browser_info::get_active_browser_url()?;

// Explicit Method Selection
let info = get_browser_info_with_method(ExtractionMethod::PowerShell).await?;

// DevTools method (Windows only, requires debug mode)
#[cfg(all(feature = "devtools", target_os = "windows"))]
let info = browser_info::get_browser_info_detailed().await?;

📦 Installation

Add to your Cargo.toml:

[dependencies]
browser-info = "0.2"

# Optional: for async API and DevTools support
tokio = { version = "1.0", features = ["full"] }
reqwest = { version = "0.11", features = ["json"] }

Features

• default = ["devtools"]: Includes DevTools support (Windows only)
• devtools: Chrome DevTools Protocol support (requires reqwest and tokio)

🎛️ Extraction Methods

Method	Speed	Setup Required	Platform	Best For
Auto	⚡ Fast	None	Windows, macOS	General use (recommended)
PowerShell	⚡ Ultra Fast	None	Windows	Production, reliability
DevTools	🔧 Moderate	Chrome debug mode	Windows only	Advanced info, no UI interference
AppleScript	🍎 Fast	None	macOS only	Native macOS support

Platform Support

Platform	Status	Methods Available
Windows	✅ Full	PowerShell, DevTools, Auto
macOS	🚧 Partial	AppleScript, Auto
Linux	⏳ Planned	Coming soon

Chrome DevTools Setup (Optional)

For DevTools method on Windows, start Chrome with debug mode:

chrome.exe --remote-debugging-port=9222 --user-data-dir=temp

📊 Performance

Based on our benchmarks:

• PowerShell: ~0.4ms (sub-millisecond)
• AppleScript: ~50ms (native macOS)
• DevTools: ~300ms (network overhead)
• Auto: Uses fastest available method per platform

🔧 Development

Building

# Build with all features
cargo build --all-features

# Build without DevTools (faster compilation)
cargo build --no-default-features

# Platform-specific builds
cargo build --target x86_64-pc-windows-msvc
cargo build --target x86_64-apple-darwin

Testing

# Run all tests
cargo test --all-features

# Run platform-specific tests
cargo test --features devtools  # Windows only

🔍 Examples

Check out /examples for more usage patterns:

cargo run --example basic_usage

🧪 Benchmarking

Run performance tests:

cargo bench

View detailed HTML reports in target/criterion/.

🛡️ Security

This library prioritizes security:

• ✅ No vulnerable dependencies - Regular security audits with cargo audit
• ✅ Safe Rust - No unsafe code blocks
• ✅ Input validation - All external data is validated
• ✅ CI/CD security - Automated security scanning in GitHub Actions

🐛 Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Windows: "PowerShell execution policy"

Set-ExecutionPolicy -ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Scope CurrentUser

DevTools: "Connection refused"

• Ensure Chrome is running with --remote-debugging-port=9222
• Check if port 9222 is not blocked by firewall

Debug Mode

Enable debug logging:

env_logger::init();
let info = get_active_browser_info()?;

🤝 Contributing

Contributions welcome! Please see our contributing guidelines.

Development Setup

1. Clone the repository
2. Install Rust (1.87+ required)
3. Run tests: cargo test --all-features
4. Submit a pull request

Roadmap

• Linux support (X11 and Wayland)
• Firefox DevTools Protocol support
• Browser extension API
• WebDriver integration

📄 License

Licensed under MIT License. See LICENSE for details.

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_{Built with ❤️ by Katy}