Browser
Open web pages and local development servers in editor tabs
Athas can show web pages in tabs next to your code, so a local development server, its docs, or an issue tracker stays one tab away while you work.
Opening a Browser Tab
- Choose New Browser Tab from the + menu of any tab bar
- Run Browser: New Browser Tab or Browser: Open URL... from the command palette
Type an address or a search into the address bar and press Enter. Addresses without a scheme
work as you would expect: localhost:5173, 127.0.0.1:8080/health and :3000 open over HTTP,
athas.dev/docs opens over HTTPS, and anything else searches the web.
Links a page opens in a new window open as a new browser tab. Mail and phone links open in your default apps. Downloads are saved to your Downloads folder, and a toast lets you reveal the file when it finishes.
Tabs and Panes
Browser tabs behave like other tabs: split them, move them between panes, pin them, and reorder them. A page keeps running while its tab is in the background, so switching back never reloads it or loses what you typed. Open browser tabs, their addresses and zoom levels are restored when you reopen the workspace.
Shortcuts
While a page has focus, it receives its own keyboard shortcuts, except the ones that move around Athas: the command palette, quick open, new, close and reopen tab, tab switching, and toggling the sidebar or terminal keep working. Rebinding those commands in keymaps changes them for browser tabs too.
| Action | macOS | Windows, Linux |
|---|---|---|
| Focus the address bar | Cmd+L | Ctrl+L |
| Reload | Cmd+R | Ctrl+R |
| Back / Forward | Cmd+[ / Cmd+] | Ctrl+[ / Ctrl+] |
| Zoom in / out / reset | Cmd+= / Cmd+- / Cmd+0 | Ctrl+= / Ctrl+- / Ctrl+0 |
| Page developer tools | Cmd+Alt+I | Ctrl+Alt+I |
Privacy and Security
Pages run in the system web view (WebKit on macOS and Linux, WebView2 on Windows) and keep their cookies and storage in a browser profile separate from Athas itself. Clear Browsing Data in the page menu removes that profile's cookies, storage and cache; on macOS it needs macOS 14 or later.
Pages cannot call into Athas. The only thing a page can tell Athas is which tab has focus, its title, icon and history position, and which of the shortcuts above was pressed. Pages can never load the Athas interface itself or local files.
Developer tools for pages are available in development builds of Athas.