desktop: open the feed on startup via a fixed-id extension URL (v0.2.12)

chrome://newtab/ from the command line shows Chromium's DEFAULT new-tab page —
the chrome_url_overrides newtab only applies to UI-created tabs — so the feed
never showed on a fresh launch (blank/default NTP with bookmarks+history).

Pin the extension id with a manifest "key" and open
chrome-extension://blkabajacljkbmjnffffobbnoipcckah/newtab.html when the
launcher gets no URL. (Local settings re-sync from the account on the stable id.)

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>

Author: ralyodio

apps/desktop/extensions/ai-sidebar/manifest.json

@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 {
   "manifest_version": 3,
   "name": "TronBrowser",
-  "version": "0.2.11",
+  "key": "MIIBIjANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQEFAAOCAQ8AMIIBCgKCAQEAtiZowpoE0HPpGEHjHLb1jsfa/G49HQGizDxZDbUbuIle96BxBD0KWZ54u1bMFgHi3RxYrmmMmhvvRfV3z6FSfTDlZjB7ydrkcrx4wFXLp9gWd/ec3VuNFy+qgob9Hmn77AH7NV58tf3G2u92vi3FA0b+Jte9+ZzuhabX5sseJY5IPvgL1ZdIALTVqb6dGdEz6O/yaID7BOusDbmewgDY2jANDZtiazL48oWiARM0TRNAvtvl3nWIK4dIVHnYOXdyGixKSr1lc/e8HkSoGkLp5O9zP9DT0DYPwSg/EZjlfoC1NDlwVNgxX0tw2r6BIiiXrhaUFfdUap5Jm6k582z1ZQIDAQAB",
+  "version": "0.2.12",
   "description": "TronBrowser — privacy-first, AI-native. Branded new tab, private search, CoinPay login, and a bring-your-own-keys AI sidebar.",
   "icons": {
     "16": "icons/icon-16.png",

apps/desktop/launcher/tronbrowser

@@ -175,6 +175,15 @@ FLAGS="--user-data-dir=$DATA --class=TronBrowser --no-first-run --no-default-bro
 LOG="${TRONBROWSER_LOG:-$DATA/tron.log}"
 FLAGS="$FLAGS --log-level=2"
 
+# On a fresh launch with no URL, open the TronBrowser feed (the ai-sidebar new-tab
+# page) instead of a blank/default page. chrome://newtab/ shows Chromium's DEFAULT
+# NTP from the command line — the chrome_url_overrides newtab only applies to
+# UI-created tabs — so open the extension's page directly. The ID is fixed by the
+# manifest "key" (blkabajacljkbmjnffffobbnoipcckah).
+if [ "$#" -eq 0 ]; then
+  set -- "chrome-extension://blkabajacljkbmjnffffobbnoipcckah/newtab.html"
+fi
+
 if [ -n "$MAC_APP" ]; then
   # macOS: launch the .app via LaunchServices (`open`). Running the inner binary
   # directly SIGABRTs, and `-n` gives a separate instance from any running

apps/desktop/src/launcher.test.ts

@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ describe('resolveStartUrls', () => {
     ]);
   });
 
-  it('defaults to the extension-overridden new tab page', () => {
-    expect(DEFAULT_START_URL).toBe('chrome://newtab/');
+  it('defaults to the ai-sidebar new-tab feed (fixed extension id)', () => {
+    expect(DEFAULT_START_URL).toBe('chrome-extension://blkabajacljkbmjnffffobbnoipcckah/newtab.html');
   });
 });

apps/desktop/src/launcher.ts

@@ -16,12 +16,13 @@ export interface LaunchConfig extends LaunchOptions {
 }
 
 /**
- * The page shown on a fresh launch when no URLs are given: the extension-
- * overridden New Tab page (the TronBrowser feed). Without an explicit startup
- * URL, Chromium opens a blank/default page, so the `chrome_url_overrides` newtab
- * feed only appears once the user opens a *new* tab — we open it on startup.
+ * The page shown on a fresh launch when no URLs are given: the TronBrowser feed
+ * (the ai-sidebar new-tab page). chrome://newtab/ from the command line shows
+ * Chromium's DEFAULT NTP — the `chrome_url_overrides` newtab override only applies
+ * to UI-created tabs — so we open the extension's page directly. The extension ID
+ * is fixed by the manifest "key".
  */
-export const DEFAULT_START_URL = 'chrome://newtab/';
+export const DEFAULT_START_URL = 'chrome-extension://blkabajacljkbmjnffffobbnoipcckah/newtab.html';
 
 /** Resolves the URLs to open, defaulting to the feed when none are supplied. */
 export function resolveStartUrls(urls?: string[]): string[] {