Inspiration
A crowded browser is a collection of unfinished intentions: a tutorial, a shopping cart, a video, and three copies of the same problem. Tabs Anonymous turns that mess into a haunted support group and a short comedy.
What it does
Up to twelve tabs become animated characters in a therapy room. They defend their usefulness, expose duplicates, and testify about each other. Give a tab the microphone, roast it, or call a witness. Keep up to six in the spotlight, group the others, or retire them to the balcony. Verdicts are reversible; real tabs stay open.
The Halloween edition adds pumpkin lanterns, ghost pins, moonlight, and a gold trophy ceremony. Every session ends with an award, a 2400 × 1350 PNG card, a text recap, and an optional silent Full HD film.
Try it
Play the demo. Click Start therapy; use Skip scene to reach voting quickly. The fictional demo works immediately with captions. Speech and AI require the optional local Kokoro and Ollama setup.
The optional Chrome extension reads eligible tab titles and URLs with permission. Real browser grouping has a separate preview and requires an explicit Apply. No tab-closing operation exists.
How it was built
React, TypeScript, Vite, and Motion power a shared web and Manifest V3 extension interface. Original SVG characters have independent expressions and accessories. A deterministic reducer handles verdicts, relationships, and awards. A cancellable animation clock controls playback.
Local Qwen3 through Ollama writes replies using bounded tab metadata and recent conversation. Local Kokoro supplies a therapist voice and distinct tab voices. Scripted captions continue when the writer is unavailable. Canvas renders the shareable artwork and video locally without capturing the screen or microphone.
Challenges and learning
The hardest part was coordinating dialogue, speech, animation, and interruptions. Late replies must never replace a newer scene. Undo must refresh what the therapist knows. Personality depends on timing and context as much as artwork. Clear fallback states and explicit browser permissions make the comedy trustworthy.
Accomplishments
A complete desktop and mobile game with expressive characters, reversible decisions, reload recovery, optional approved grouping, and shareable awards. The latest checks passed 59 unit tests and 44 browser tests, including real video exports and native Chromium grouping in a disposable profile.
What is next
Richer emotional performances and more cinematic interactions. The local speech and writer models require separate downloads and are not bundled with the extension.
