WhyTab ⌬

"Why do I have this tab open?"

WhyTab is a Chrome extension that helps you stay intentional about your browser tabs. It captures why you opened a tab, infers intent using AI when you don't, and surfaces tabs you've forgotten about — before they pile up into chaos.

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Features

Intent Capture

When you open a new tab, a small floating bubble appears asking "Why this tab?". Type a quick reason and hit Save. It takes two seconds and makes your tab bar meaningful.

AI Intent Inference

If you dismiss or ignore the bubble, WhyTab uses Groq (free, no credit card) to automatically infer what the tab is likely for based on its title and URL. AI-inferred intents appear with a subtle ✦ ai tag so you always know the source.

Forgotten Tab Detection

Tabs you haven't visited in 3+ days are flagged as forgotten — highlighted in amber with a count in the header. Use the Forgotten filter to review and close what you no longer need.

Local-first, No Tracking

All tab data is stored in chrome.storage.local. Nothing is sent anywhere except the title and URL to Groq when inferring intent (and only if you've configured a key). No analytics. No accounts.

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Installation

WhyTab is not yet on the Chrome Web Store. Install it manually in a minute:

1. Clone or download this repo
2. Go to chrome://extensions
3. Enable Developer mode (top right toggle)
4. Click Load unpacked and select the project folder
5. Pin the ⌬ icon to your toolbar

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Setup (AI Inference)

AI intent inference is optional but recommended — it's powered by Groq's free tier.

1. Sign up at console.groq.com and create a free API key
2. Click the WhyTab icon → Settings in the footer
3. Paste your key (gsk_...) and hit Save

That's it. WhyTab will now infer intent automatically for any tab you don't answer.

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How It Works

Phase 1 — Tab tracking WhyTab's service worker listens to onCreated, onUpdated, onActivated, and onRemoved tab events to track when each tab was opened and last visited. Stale tabs (3+ days unvisited) are surfaced in the popup.

Phase 2 — Intent capture When a tab finishes loading, WhyTab injects a content script that renders the intent bubble. The bubble auto-dismisses after 10 seconds, pauses if you focus the input, and responds to Escape/Enter. The intent is sent back to the service worker via chrome.runtime.sendMessage and stored in chrome.storage.local.

Phase 3 — AI inference If no intent is captured, the service worker calls the Groq API (llama-3.1-8b-instant) with the tab's title and URL and asks for a short phrase describing why the tab was likely opened. The result is stored as aiIntent and displayed with a distinct muted style. User-provided intent always takes priority and overwrites any AI inference.

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Tech Stack

• Manifest V3 Chrome Extension
• Vanilla JS — no frameworks, no build step
• chrome.scripting for programmatic content script injection
• chrome.storage.local for all persistence
• chrome.alarms for the hourly stale tab check
• Groq API (llama-3.1-8b-instant) for intent inference
• Syne + DM Mono for typography

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File Structure

whytab/
├── background.js      # Service worker — tab lifecycle, AI inference
├── content.js         # Injected bubble UI
├── content.css        # Bubble styles (scoped to #whytab-*)
├── popup.html         # Extension popup
├── popup.js           # Popup logic
├── popup.css          # Popup styles
├── options.html       # Settings page
├── options.js         # API key management
├── options.css        # Settings styles
└── manifest.json      # MV3 config

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Roadmap

• Auto-close stale tabs after a configurable threshold

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