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[Feature]: Browser has some rough UX edges - history/local servers enumeration #4746

Description

@chrisdeeming

Before submitting

  • I searched existing issues and did not find a duplicate.
  • I am describing a concrete problem or use case, not just a vague idea.

Area

apps/desktop

Problem or use case

When opening the Browser in the right side panel, the tab loads a list of "Local servers" which looks to be an enumerated list of services accessible over localhost.

My setup is a little different where I have multiple docker containers and clean domains e.g. main.app.local dev.app.local feature.app.local and so on.

It looks too like users of dev environments such as Laravel Herd would have a similar issue as these would be e.g. laravel.test or other.test and so on.

It also enumerates things that aren't actually websites, e.g. I have a local mailhog server running on port 1025, that's an SMTP server, not a web server. It even picks up mysqld running locally on port 3306.

Essentially, the "Local servers" section, while useful I'm sure in many contexts, just isn't useful in mine, and likely others' use cases.

Essentially in my case, there are a list of 30 services that are advertised and only a very small number of them are actually web accessible.

Image

Restarting T3 code closes all previous tabs.

Opening the sites I actually want to open requires typing the URL in full as there's no history saved to recall from.

Proposed solution

Browser splash

  • Local servers is only useful if it can enumerate services that are actually capable of serving over HTTP/S
  • Ideally this section would be split into two, perhaps with an accordion or tabs, where recently used servers is at the top

Browser history

  • Light history should be recorded per project so that the address bar can auto complete based on recently accessed URLs
  • This would also provide the "Recently used" section mentioned above with the data it needs

Why this matters

The Local servers list on many systems will be an unwieldy list of local servers that may not necessarily be browser accessible, and it doesn't really enough to surface commonly or recently used web services.

Smallest useful scope

Probably a recently used section under Local servers but only if it stores entries that aren't necessarily advertised under the enumerated Local servers list.

Alternatively, address bar auto complete for recently accessed websites.

Alternatives considered

I've at least considered that already the Browser offering in T3 Code is already somewhat improved over the ChatGPT / Claude app experience which doesn't even have an enumerated list of local servers, nor does it have address bar auto complete or any sort of history. So at the very least this is once again an opportunity to trump their app 🙂

Risks or tradeoffs

No real risks or tradeoffs, just decisions about whether the history can/should be bound to the project or session and whether the browser itself actually has that context when you open it

Examples or references

No response

Contribution

  • I would be open to helping implement this.

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    enhancementRequested improvement or new capability.needs-triageIssue needs maintainer review and initial categorization.

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