Browser History Search

Help the user find pages from their browsing history. Auto-detect the default browser and query the right database. If the user explicitly names a browser (--browser=firefox, "search Firefox for…"), honour that override — useful when they're not sure which browser they were in.

Step 1: Detect the default browser

Run this once at the start to get the engine and DB path. macOS reads LaunchServices; Linux uses xdg-settings.

bash

detect_browser() {
  case "$OSTYPE" in
    darwin*)
      # Avoid $N references — the skill loader strips them when rendering into context.
      BUNDLE=$(defaults read ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.LaunchServices/com.apple.launchservices.secure 2>/dev/null \
        | grep -B1 'LSHandlerURLScheme = https;' \
        | head -n 1 \
        | sed -E 's/.*"([^"]+)".*/\1/')
      APPSUP="$HOME/Library/Application Support"
      case "$BUNDLE" in
        org.mozilla.firefox)               ENGINE=firefox;  DB="$APPSUP/Firefox/Profiles/*.default-release/places.sqlite" ;;
        org.mozilla.firefoxdeveloperedition) ENGINE=firefox; DB="$APPSUP/Firefox/Profiles/*.dev-edition-default/places.sqlite" ;;
        com.google.chrome)                 ENGINE=chromium; DB="$APPSUP/Google/Chrome/Default/History" ;;
        com.vivaldi.vivaldi)               ENGINE=chromium; DB="$APPSUP/Vivaldi/Default/History" ;;
        com.brave.browser)                 ENGINE=chromium; DB="$APPSUP/BraveSoftware/Brave-Browser/Default/History" ;;
        com.microsoft.edgemac)             ENGINE=chromium; DB="$APPSUP/Microsoft Edge/Default/History" ;;
        company.thebrowser.browser)        ENGINE=chromium; DB="$APPSUP/Arc/User Data/Default/History" ;;
        org.chromium.Chromium)             ENGINE=chromium; DB="$APPSUP/Chromium/Default/History" ;;
        *) echo "Unknown bundle ID: $BUNDLE" >&2; return 1 ;;
      esac
      ;;
    *)
      DESKTOP=$(xdg-settings get default-web-browser 2>/dev/null)
      case "$DESKTOP" in
        firefox.desktop)                       ENGINE=firefox;  DB="$HOME/.mozilla/firefox/*.default-release/places.sqlite" ;;
        firefox-developer-edition.desktop)     ENGINE=firefox;  DB="$HOME/.mozilla/firefox/*.dev-edition-default/places.sqlite" ;;
        google-chrome.desktop)                 ENGINE=chromium; DB="$HOME/.config/google-chrome/Default/History" ;;
        vivaldi-stable.desktop|vivaldi.desktop) ENGINE=chromium; DB="$HOME/.config/vivaldi/Default/History" ;;
        brave-browser.desktop)                 ENGINE=chromium; DB="$HOME/.config/BraveSoftware/Brave-Browser/Default/History" ;;
        microsoft-edge.desktop)                ENGINE=chromium; DB="$HOME/.config/microsoft-edge/Default/History" ;;
        chromium.desktop|chromium-browser.desktop) ENGINE=chromium; DB="$HOME/.config/chromium/Default/History" ;;
        *) echo "Unknown default browser: $DESKTOP" >&2; return 1 ;;
      esac
      ;;
  esac
  # Resolve any glob in DB (Firefox profile dirs)
  DB=$(ls $DB 2>/dev/null | head -1)
  echo "engine=$ENGINE db=$DB"
}
detect_browser

If the user passed --browser=NAME, skip detection and set ENGINE/DB from the same table.

Step 2: Copy the DB

The history DB is locked while the browser runs. Always copy first:

bash

cp "$DB" /tmp/history_copy.sqlite

Step 3: Query — branch on engine

Firefox (`moz_places` + `moz_historyvisits`, unix-epoch µs)

sql

-- Search by keyword (title or URL)
sqlite3 -header -column /tmp/history_copy.sqlite "
  SELECT datetime(v.visit_date/1000000,'unixepoch','localtime') as time,
         p.title, p.url
  FROM moz_historyvisits v JOIN moz_places p ON v.place_id=p.id
  WHERE p.title LIKE '%KEYWORD%' OR p.url LIKE '%KEYWORD%'
  ORDER BY v.visit_date DESC LIMIT 20;"

-- Activity around a timestamp (±30 min context window)
sqlite3 -header -column /tmp/history_copy.sqlite "
  SELECT datetime(v.visit_date/1000000,'unixepoch','localtime') as time,
         p.title, p.url
  FROM moz_historyvisits v JOIN moz_places p ON v.place_id=p.id
  WHERE datetime(v.visit_date/1000000,'unixepoch','localtime')
        BETWEEN 'YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM' AND 'YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM'
  ORDER BY v.visit_date;"

-- Browse a specific date
sqlite3 -header -column /tmp/history_copy.sqlite "
  SELECT datetime(v.visit_date/1000000,'unixepoch','localtime') as time,
         p.title, p.url
  FROM moz_historyvisits v JOIN moz_places p ON v.place_id=p.id
  WHERE date(v.visit_date/1000000,'unixepoch','localtime') = 'YYYY-MM-DD'
  ORDER BY v.visit_date;"

Chromium (`urls` + `visits`, WebKit-epoch µs — offset 11644473600000000)

sql

-- Search by keyword (title or URL)
sqlite3 -header -column /tmp/history_copy.sqlite "
  SELECT datetime((v.visit_time - 11644473600000000)/1000000,'unixepoch','localtime') as time,
         u.title, u.url
  FROM visits v JOIN urls u ON v.url = u.id
  WHERE u.title LIKE '%KEYWORD%' OR u.url LIKE '%KEYWORD%'
  ORDER BY v.visit_time DESC LIMIT 20;"

-- Activity around a timestamp
sqlite3 -header -column /tmp/history_copy.sqlite "
  SELECT datetime((v.visit_time - 11644473600000000)/1000000,'unixepoch','localtime') as time,
         u.title, u.url
  FROM visits v JOIN urls u ON v.url = u.id
  WHERE datetime((v.visit_time - 11644473600000000)/1000000,'unixepoch','localtime')
        BETWEEN 'YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM' AND 'YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM'
  ORDER BY v.visit_time;"

-- Browse a specific date
sqlite3 -header -column /tmp/history_copy.sqlite "
  SELECT datetime((v.visit_time - 11644473600000000)/1000000,'unixepoch','localtime') as time,
         u.title, u.url
  FROM visits v JOIN urls u ON v.url = u.id
  WHERE date((v.visit_time - 11644473600000000)/1000000,'unixepoch','localtime') = 'YYYY-MM-DD'
  ORDER BY v.visit_time;"

Workflow

Detect default browser (or honour --browser= override). Tell the user which engine + browser you resolved to.
Copy the DB to /tmp/history_copy.sqlite
Pick the query block matching $ENGINE. Substitute keyword / date / time window.
If the user is looking for something they found near another page, find the anchor first, note its timestamp, then query a window around it.
Present results concisely — time, title, URL.
If too many results, narrow with extra filters or a tighter window.
Clean up: rm /tmp/history_copy.sqlite

Tips

Users often remember vaguely. Try multiple LIKE patterns if the first doesn't hit.
Twitter/X links often appear as both twitter.com and x.com — search both. t.co short URLs indicate a click-through from Twitter.
For navigation chains: Firefox has moz_historyvisits.from_visit → another visit row. Chromium has visits.from_visit → another visit row. Both join back to themselves.
If the user can't remember which browser they were in, run the query against the other engine too — pass --browser= to force.
Chromium profiles other than Default (e.g. Profile 1, Profile 2) live alongside Default. Firefox dev-edition uses *.dev-edition-default instead of *.default-release.

User's Request

$ARGUMENTS

Browser History Search ​

Step 1: Detect the default browser ​

Step 2: Copy the DB ​

Step 3: Query — branch on engine ​

Firefox (moz_places + moz_historyvisits, unix-epoch µs) ​

Chromium (urls + visits, WebKit-epoch µs — offset 11644473600000000) ​

Workflow ​

Tips ​

User's Request ​