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Omnibox & keywords

Omnibox keywords refer to specific words or short phrases that, when typed into a browser's address bar (also known as the omnibox), trigger specific actions or searches defined by either the browser itself or browser extensions.

Abookmark uses ' as its omnibox keyword (prefix). Type '{space/tab} in the omnibox to activate abookmark in omnibox. After this, you may type your bookmark keywords in the omnibox.

With the 'Keyboard shortcut' at chrome://settings/searchEngines set to Tab instead of Space or Tab, you'll need to use the Tab key. let's assume you're using the space key for simplicity.

Bookmark tag keywords

Bookmark keywords are similar to firefox bookmark keywords and your search engine shortcuts.

You may get access to a node from the address bar (omnibox) by '{space/tab}{keyword}{enter}.

Tag keywords themselves are marked with !. For example, xxx is a keyword if you have a node with tag !xxx, and you may type ' xxx in the address bar to go to the corresponding page.

You can directly use keywords in the omnibox without ' if Dirct Keywords is installed.

You can view the list of tag keywords by typing '{space/tab}{space}{enter} or ' :kl in the address bar.

alt + enter = open in new tab

tag keywords rules:

  1. currently it only works on native bookmarks.
  2. a keyword is supposed to be a unique tag.
  3. tag keywords must start with !, but the ! itself is not included in the keyword.
  4. a keyword is suppsed to be letters and should not include symbols as & < > % ' " : /...

You can import Firefox keywords as tag keywords using its bookmark .html export files.

tag keyword with arguments

' {keyword} {arg1} {arg2} {...}

If you have https://www.reddit.com/r/%s bookmarked with tag !r, then you may type ' r chrome to go to https://www.reddit.com/r/chrome.

If you have https://www.reddit.com/r bookmarked with tag !r, then you may type ' r /chrome or ' r/chrome to go to https://www.reddit.com/r/chrome.

If you have https://www.reddit.com/r/ bookmarked with tag !r, then you may type ' r chrome, ' r /chrome or ' r/chrome to go to https://www.reddit.com/r/chrome.

argument rules:

  1. If there is only one %s in the url, it will be replaced by the arguments joined with space.
  2. If there is more then one %s in the url, they will be replaced by the arguments one by one.
  3. If there is not enough %s, the remaining arguments will be appended to the end of the url.

Direct keywords

Similar to search engine shortcuts and Firefox bookmark keywords, you can directly use tag keywords in the omnibox. We've packaged this functionality into a separate extension called Dirct Keywords.

https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/bmnjoiicbdbkjchbacnkpeejblibogik

This extension allows you to use r/chrome instead of ' r/chrome.

Tag keywords are cached for faster loading and are refreshed on browser startup or some other circumstances. The cache can also be updated manually by preceding your keywords with ! .

! on its own is a built-in keyword to list all your keywords.

DuckDuckGo !bangs are also supported.

For security reasons, bookmarklets cannot be loaded by direct keywords.

Why do I use bookmark keywords?

  1. Speed and Efficiency.
  2. Easy to edit than search keywords.
  3. Dynamic. Bookmark keywords support parameters, enabling the generation of different URLs based on the keyword and the subsequent inputs. For example, if I bookmarked https://github.com/facebook/react/ as !rt, I may get the issue page directly by ' rt/issues or even ' rt/issues/32995, the pull page: ' rt pulls.

The fundamental elegance and power inherent in command-line interfaces are also present in omnibox keywords.

Add bookmark from omnibox (internal testing only)

You may add/store tabs from omnibox with keywords. The general format is:

' {'/`}[{keyword}] [{!=<%>-}] [{_title}][|{tags}][|{note1}]

examples:

' `r        //store current tab at the position of r
' `r - //store all tabs in current window at r
' 'r //add current tab at r
' 'r ! wiki | #t, !w | add current group with custom title, tags and note
' ' |#t //add current tab in inbox with tag #t
' '. //add current tab at last position since this session

Search bookmarks in omnibox (internal testing only)

You can search your bookmarks in the omnibox. The general search format is: ' / {search string}.

Certain search keywords may be employed even without / :

' title:xxx
' url:xxx
' in:{id/keyword}