Skip to content
ZigShellZigShell

Browser Pane & zsb

Browser Pane Model

Section titled “Browser Pane Model”

ZigShell docks a native Microsoft Edge window beside the shell. Edge remains Edge: profile, tabs, extensions, cookies, password managers, and page behavior stay native.

ZigShell owns:

  • pane visibility
  • pane geometry
  • border masks
  • focus routing
  • zsb binding files
  • URL state persistence

ZigShell does not own Edge internals.

Border Masks

Section titled “Border Masks”

Edge draws non-client frame areas that can appear as grey borders. ZigShell covers those areas with narrow mask windows that match the active ZigShell theme.

Rules:

  • Masks must stay inside ZigShell’s window.
  • Masks must hide when overlays are open.
  • Masks must not cover changelog, inbox, Ctrl+K, or URL picker overlays.
  • AMOLED theme should use black masks.
  • The active browser focus border must not expose grey Edge frame strips.

Opening And Reconnecting

Section titled “Opening And Reconnecting”

Use Ctrl+Shift+O to open or reconnect the active shell’s browser pane.

Use Ctrl+K actions when available:

  • Open browser URL
  • Insert zsb instructions
  • Force-refresh zsb browser-pane binding

zsb

Section titled “zsb”

zsb is the browser-control CLI available inside ZigShell-spawned shells.

Common commands:

Terminal window
zsb navigate "https://example.com"
zsb text
zsb snapshot
zsb click "button"
zsb type "input[name=q]" "query"
zsb screenshot -o out.png
zsb status
zsb doctor
zsb sidebar

Routing Rule

Section titled “Routing Rule”

zsb must target the browser pane owned by the current shell’s exact session.

It must never steal a pane from another active agent just because a browser exists elsewhere. If no matching pane is bound, zsb should return a useful status/error or trigger a rebind flow.

Binding Files

Section titled “Binding Files”

ZigShell publishes local binding files under %APPDATA%\ZigShell, including:

  • panewin-<tmux-session>.txt
  • panewin-zss-<shell-id>.txt
  • browserwin-<shell-id>.txt

The remote VPS shim uses these identities to route browser commands back to the owning ZigShell tab.

Tunnel Failures

Section titled “Tunnel Failures”

When a remote zsb command fails because the tunnel is down, the error should say so directly. Agents should not keep retrying blind browser commands for minutes.