Historian
Install extension
Historian
Keep 1000+ tabs searchable, grouped, and calm.
Historian is an Arc-inspired Chrome side panel for people who keep too many windows open, lose track of the right tab, and still want the interface to feel light, not noisy.
The sidebar on the right is a live site navigator built to feel like Historian itself: searchable, compact, and window-aware in spirit.
Search
Search first. The rest should follow quietly.
Historian is built around the moment you vaguely remember a tab, not the moment you have time to organize it. Search is immediate, keyboard-friendly, and still aware of which window the tab belongs to.
Fast by default
Start typing and narrow the pile immediately. No extra mode, no settings page detour, no bulky results view.
Window-aware results
The current window stays front and center so the browser still feels local, not flattened into one giant database.
Keyboard flow
Arrow keys move through rows, Enter jumps, Escape clears the input. The interface stays out of the way once your hands know it.
Readable metadata
Titles stay strong and URLs stay secondary, with slash commands to change how much metadata you want to see.
Groups
Groups should add structure, not visual noise.
Historian keeps grouped tabs compact and actionable. Collapse them, rename them, recolor them, and move tabs in and out without the sidebar turning into a nest of floating panels.
Inline actions beat fragile flyouts
The group picker now expands inside the same menu so it works in narrow side panels and stays usable even with longer group lists.
Readable at real scale
Tabs can pile up fast. Group rows keep the shape of the browser legible even when the session is large and messy.
Slash commands
Settings belong where the cursor already is.
Historian uses simple slash commands to keep small display settings close to the search bar instead of hiding them in a separate settings view. Try the same interaction in the sidebar on the right.
/url fullShow the complete address under each row./url domainKeep labels short and glanceable./url pathEmphasize the part of the URL that matters most.
Pricing
Free while the workflow sharpens into something obvious.
Right now the focus is product quality, not plan geometry. Historian is free while the core experience gets faster, calmer, and more dependable.
Current
Free
Everything important is available right now: fast search, grouped tabs, window-aware navigation, and slash-command display settings.
Philosophy
Earned later
If Historian ever grows beyond free, pricing should follow real utility. No fake tiers, no theatrical packaging, no friction before the core workflow feels inevitable.
Download
Install Historian, then let the side panel do the heavy lifting.
Historian lives where browser chaos actually happens: inside Chrome. Install it from the Web Store, open the side panel, and start using search immediately.
- Add Historian from the Chrome Web Store.
- Open the side panel from the toolbar or with
Ctrl+Shift+H. - Search, jump to a tab, or try
/urlto tune row metadata.
Changelog
Recent work is mostly about smoothing the daily feeling.
Historian gets better by removing friction: cleaner sticky states, more reliable menus, better release metadata, simpler branding, and lighter settings interactions.
1.5.0
Aligned package and manifest versions, refreshed branding, and shipped the simpler warm icon direction.
Slash-command settings
Added /url full, /url domain, and /url path with keyboard-friendly suggestions.
Inline group picker
Replaced the clipped flyout submenu with an inline group list that stays usable in a narrow sidebar.
Privacy
A utility like this should feel trustworthy before it feels clever.
Historian needs tab, tab-group, command, storage, and side-panel permissions so it can manage the browser state you already see. Settings like collapsed groups and URL display mode stay in Chrome local storage.
Local settings
Collapsed group state and small sidebar preferences are stored locally so the interface remembers how you like it.
Permission clarity
The best privacy story is simple: every permission should clearly map to something the product visibly does.