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#+TITLE: Crumb
#+AUTHOR: Christian Cleberg
#+OPTIONS: toc:nil
Crumb is a local-only browser history tracker. It consists of two parts: a
WebExtension-based browser plugin and a local HTTP server. Crumb logs each
visited web page to a plaintext file in Org-mode format.
* Components
- Browser extension (WebExtension API, JavaScript)
- Local HTTP listener (Python + Flask)
- Plaintext log file (~/.crumb/history.log)
* Functionality
Each time a page is loaded in the browser, the extension sends the page metadata
to the local server. The server appends this data to a structured log file.
Data captured per page:
- Page title
- URL
- Timestamp (UTC)
- Hostname
- Path
- Optional: query string, tab ID, window ID, favicon URL
The log is formatted as an Org-mode file, with one top-level heading per visit
and standard =:PROPERTIES:= metadata.
* Requirements
- Python 3.x
- Flask
- A Chromium-based or Firefox browser with extension developer mode enabled
* Usage
1. Start the local listener:
#+BEGIN_SRC shell
python3 -m venv venv
source ./venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt
python server.py
#+END_SRC
2. Load the extension into your browser:
- Enable Developer Mode
- Load the =crumb_extension/= directory
3. Browse the web. Entries will appear in =~/.crumb/history.org=
4. Search the log using:
#+BEGIN_SRC shell
python search.py <term>
#+END_SRC
* Example Log Entry
#+BEGIN_SRC org
* Example Domain
:PROPERTIES:
:URL: http://example.com
:TIMESTAMP: 2025-06-04T20:31:01.123456
:HOST: example.com
:PATH: /
:TAB: 143
:WINDOW: 1
:FAVICON: https://example.com/favicon.ico
:END:
#+END_SRC
* Preview Images
Screenshots of Crumb in use.
#+CAPTION: Developer Console Output
[[./screenshots/devtools.png]]
#+CAPTION: Org-Mode History Log
[[./screenshots/history.png]]
#+CAPTION: Search Utility in Terminal
[[./screenshots/search.png]]
* Limitations
- Browser extensions cannot write files directly; communication requires the
local server.
- History is stored in plaintext and is not encrypted. You can bolt-on a
third-party encryption tool, if required.
- Data is stored locally and is never transmitted externally.
* License
GPL 3.0 License. See LICENSE file.
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