majiayu000 TabzChrome Guide
TabzChrome is a Chrome extension providing full Linux terminals in your browser sidebar with persistence, profiles, and browser automation.
When to Use This Skill
Trigger on questions about:
- Profile creation and management
- Terminal spawning and API integration
- MCP browser automation tools
- Audio/TTS notifications and settings
- Debugging terminal issues
- Recent features and changes
Quick Reference
Profiles
Profiles are templates for spawning terminals with saved settings (theme, font, directory, startup command).
To create a profile:
- Open Settings (⚙️) → Profiles tab
- Click "Add Profile"
- Set name, category, theme, font size
- Optional: working directory (empty = inherits from header)
- Optional: startup command (e.g.,
lazygit,htop)
Key features:
- Smart directory inheritance from header
- Categories with 9 colors (collapsible)
- Import/Export as JSON
- Drag-drop reordering in dashboard
Integration
Markdown Links - Create runnable buttons in .md files viewed in dashboard:
[Run Tests](tabz:spawn?cmd=npm%20test&name=Tests)
[Launch Claude](tabz:spawn?profile=claude%20code)
[Queue to Chat](tabz:queue?text=git%20status)
[Paste to Terminal](tabz:paste?text=pwd)
| Action | Format | Button Color |
|---|---|---|
| Spawn | tabz:spawn?cmd=xxx |
Green |
| Spawn profile | tabz:spawn?profile=name |
Green |
| Queue to chat | tabz:queue?text=xxx |
Blue |
| Paste to terminal | tabz:paste?text=xxx |
Orange |
Spawn API - Create terminals programmatically:
TOKEN=$(cat /tmp/tabz-auth-token)
curl -X POST http://localhost:8129/api/spawn \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-H "X-Auth-Token: $TOKEN" \
-d '{"name": "Worker", "workingDir": "~/projects", "command": "claude"}'
HTML triggers - Add to any web page element:
<button data-terminal-command="npm run dev">Start Dev</button>
For full API documentation, read references/api-endpoints.md.
MCP Tools
71 tools for browser automation: screenshots, clicks, downloads, network capture, debugger, audio/TTS, history, sessions, cookies, emulation, and notifications.
Quick example:
mcp-cli info tabz/tabz_screenshot # Check schema first
mcp-cli call tabz/tabz_screenshot '{}' # Capture viewport
| Category | Tools |
|---|---|
| Tab Management | list_tabs, switch_tab, rename_tab |
| Screenshots | screenshot, screenshot_full |
| Interaction | click, fill, execute_script |
| Downloads | download_image, download_file, cancel_download |
| Debugger | get_dom_tree, profile_performance, get_coverage |
| Audio/TTS | speak, list_voices, play_audio |
| History | history_search, history_visits, history_recent, history_delete_* |
| Sessions | sessions_recently_closed, sessions_restore, sessions_devices |
| Cookies | cookies_get, cookies_list, cookies_set, cookies_delete, cookies_audit |
| Emulation | emulate_device, emulate_geolocation, emulate_network, emulate_media, emulate_vision |
| Notifications | notification_show, notification_update, notification_clear, notification_list |
Visual Feedback: Elements glow when tools interact (🟢 click, 🔵 fill, 🟣 inspect).
Getting Selectors: Right-click any element → "Send Element to Chat" for unique CSS selector.
For complete tool reference, read references/mcp-tools.md.
Debugging
Essential commands:
ps aux | grep "node server.js" | grep -v grep # Backend running?
tmux ls | grep "^ctt-" # List terminals
curl http://localhost:8129/api/health # Health check
For common issues and solutions, read references/debugging.md.
Audio/TTS
Neural text-to-speech notifications for Claude Code status changes. Audio generated via edge-tts, played through Chrome.
Key settings (Settings → Audio):
- Voice: 10 neural voices, or "Random" for unique voice per terminal
- Rate: Speech speed (-50% to +100%)
- Pitch: Voice pitch (-200Hz to +300Hz) - higher = more urgent
- Events: Ready, session start, tools, subagents, context warnings
Context alerts auto-elevate pitch + rate:
- 50% warning:
+100Hz,+15%rate - 75% critical:
+200Hz,+30%rate
API example:
curl -X POST http://localhost:8129/api/audio/generate \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"text": "Task complete", "pitch": "+20Hz"}'
For voice codes, parameters, and API details, read references/audio-tts.md.
Recent Features
| Version | Key Feature |
|---|---|
| 1.2.19 | Codebase simplification (MCP client removed, hooks extracted) |
| 1.2.8 | Send Element to Chat, MCP visual feedback, debugger tools |
| 1.1.16 | tabz-guide plugin, tui-expert agent |
| 1.1.15 | Context window % on tabs, audio alerts |
| 1.1.14 | 3D Focus Mode |
For full changelog, read references/changelog.md.
Advanced Topics
Ghost Badge (Detached Sessions)
To free tab space while keeping sessions alive:
- Right-click tab → "👻 Detach Session"
- Ghost badge (👻) appears in header with count
- Click badge → Reattach or Kill sessions
Claude Status Tracking
Tabs show live Claude status with emoji indicators:
- 🤖✅ Ready/waiting
- 🤖⏳ Thinking
- 🤖🔧 Using tool
- 🤖🤖 Subagents running
Voice pool: Select "Random (unique per terminal)" to distinguish multiple Claude sessions.
Renderer Toggle
Toggle WebGL/Canvas in header (GPU icon):
- Canvas (default): Works everywhere, supports light mode
- WebGL: GPU-accelerated, dark mode only
File Locations
Paths relative to TabzChrome installation directory.
| File | Purpose |
|---|---|
README.md |
User guide |
docs/API.md |
REST API reference |
CHANGELOG.md |
Version history |
tabz-mcp-server/MCP_TOOLS.md |
MCP tools reference |
docs/PLUGIN.md |
Plugin/hook setup |
Essential Commands
# Backend
./scripts/dev.sh # Start backend (tmux session)
# Build
npm run build # Build extension
# MCP
mcp-cli info tabz/<tool> # Check schema (REQUIRED)
mcp-cli call tabz/<tool> '{...}' # Call tool
# API
curl http://localhost:8129/api/health
For detailed information on any topic, read the corresponding file in references/.