LinkRouter

URL Flow Chart

Mon, 21 Sep 2026 13:10:31 +0000

URL Flow Link to heading

An incoming link arrives through one of two intents and always travels the same pipeline before any browser is launched. Non-web schemes (e.g. mailto:) are dropped, and once a URL reaches a browser it is marked so it is never re-processed (loop guard). The shortener-resolution step is opt-in and off by default (zero network):

graph TD A["Incoming link
ACTION_VIEW — default browser / link tap
or ACTION_SEND — Share sheet"] --> B["Extract and normalize URL
(RuleEngine.normalize)"] B --> C{"Web URL?
(http / https)"} C -->|"no (e.g. mailto:)"| O["Ignore — finish"] C -->|"yes"| D{"Already handled?
(loop guard)"} D -->|"yes"| O D -->|"no"| E["Load enabled rules,
formats, filters, rewrites"] E --> E3["Canonicalize AMP cache URLs
(amp.to / ampproject.org → origin)"] E3 --> F{"Enabled shortener host?
(opt-in, off by default)"} F -->|"no"| E2 F -->|"yes"| G["Resolve shortener to final URL
(pure-JVM; ephemeral WebView fallback)"] G --> E2["Unwrap redirect wrappers
(user formats, e.g. google.com/url)"] E2 --> F2{"Nested shortener host?
(bounded depth)"} F2 -->|"no"| H F2 -->|"yes"| G H["Match rules
(specificity first, list-order tie-break)"] H --> I{"Rule matched?"} I -->|"no"| J["Fallback
(chooser / OS default / block / ask-and-remember / specific browser)"] J --> N["finish"] I -->|"yes"| K["Host rewrite
(first enabled rewrite rule)"] K --> L["Strip tracker query params
(final launched URL only)"] L --> M["Launch in target browser
(private / normal / in-app WebView / Stop)"] M --> N

Screenshots

Mon, 21 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

A look at the main screens of LinkRouter:

Rules - route certain sites to certain browsers
Redirect formats - extract the real destination from tracking redirectors
Query parameter filters - strip off tracking query parameters
Shortener hosts - resolve shortened URLs to their final destination before routing
Settings

Rules Link to heading

Redirect formats Link to heading

Query parameter filters Link to heading

Shortener hosts Link to heading

Settings Link to heading

Feature Test Links

Thu, 10 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Feature Test Links Link to heading

Every row below is rendered directly from app/linkrouter-rules-examples.json — the same fixtures the unit-test suite consumes — so the page is a 1:1 map of what the router should do: Input (what you open) → Expected Output (what the target browser should show).

Setup — enable the relevant feature before testing it:

Shortener hosts and Host rewrites ship disabled (opt-in) — flip the specific host ON in Settings first.

Rules and Redirect formats must exist (add them, or keep) in Settings.

Query-param filters ship enabled by default.

See How to test for a reliable workflow.

LinkRouter Privacy Policy

Wed, 09 Sep 2026 13:10:31 +0000

LinkRouter Privacy Policy Link to heading

App: LinkRouter (net.chaosengine.linkrouter) Last updated: 2026-09-08

LinkRouter is a local, rule-based URL router for Android. It contains no accounts, no analytics, no ads, no crash reporting, and no third-party SDKs. This page explains what data is processed and where it lives.

What data LinkRouter processes Link to heading

URLs you route. When a link is delivered to LinkRouter (e.g. because you’ve set it as your default browser), the URL is read, matched against your rules, and forwarded to your chosen browser. It is processed locally, in memory, in the foreground, only in response to your tap, and is not persisted as browsing history.
Your rules and settings. Your routing rules, fallback settings, shortener-host toggles, redirect formats, and tracking-param filters are stored locally in app-private storage (Room/SQLite). They never leave your device.
Opt-in: shortener “web resolution.” Only if you explicitly enable a shortener host (e.g. t.co, bit.ly), LinkRouter makes a network fetch to follow that shortener’s redirect and learn the final URL. This feature is off by default — a default install never makes any network calls.

What LinkRouter does NOT collect Link to heading

No accounts or sign-in.
No analytics, ads, telemetry, or crash reporting.
No third-party SDKs of any kind.
No collection or sale/sharing of data with any party.
No persisted browsing history or URL log.

Permissions Link to heading

INTERNET (a normal, install-granted permission — not a runtime permission). Used only for the opt-in shortener web-resolution feature described above. Disabled by default.
System “default apps / handle links” — this is a setting you choose in the Android system settings (set LinkRouter as default browser or link handler). LinkRouter does not request or modify it by itself.

Data retention & deletion Link to heading

Everything LinkRouter stores lives on your device, in app-private storage. You can delete all of it at any time by:

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Agent Directives & Constraints Link to heading

Scope Link to heading

Do NOT run destructive commands: git reset --hard, git push --force, git clean -fd, git checkout -- .
Do NOT commit directly to main or master. Always start new work with a checkout of a new branch in a worktree: git worktree add -b <branchname> $(pwd)/../$(basename $(pwd))-worktrees/<branchname>, where <branchname> is opencode/<type>/<short-desc> (type is one of feature, fix, chore), e.g. opencode/fix/login-crash.
- When the work is complete, push the branch and create a PR with gh targeting the base branch: gh pr create --base main.
- After the PR is merged, remove the worktree: git worktree remove $(pwd)/../$(basename $(pwd))-worktrees/<branchname>.
Never modify files inside .git/, or any file ending in .env*, *.jks, or .pem.
Edits can be made to files inside .github/ but do NOT commit them.

Verification Link to heading

Before completing a task, run tests locally via scripts/build-debug.sh
Stage only the specific files modified for the requested feature.

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

LinkRouter — Build Specification Link to heading

Self-contained design + build plan for a pure Android dispatcher app. It matches each outgoing web URL against user-defined rules and launches the target browser — optionally in private — then exits immediately. It never renders pages, makes no network calls, and requires zero permissions (the sole exception is D9 shortener resolution: opt-in per host, off by default → zero network).

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

LinkRouter (`net.chaosengine.linkrouter`) Link to heading

A privacy-focused, rule-based URL router for Android: it intercepts http/https links (as the system default browser) and, per your user-defined rules, strips tracking/query params, rewrites URLs, and forwards them to a user-chosen browser — including private-window launchers for Chrome/Firefox. It is a router/dispatcher, not a browser: it never renders pages itself.

Features Link to heading

Rule engine: ordered rules matching exact host, *.subdomain, path prefix, or full regex; list order is priority, with specificity scoring as tie-breaking.
Redirect formats: pattern-based extraction from redirect-style URLs via pure-JVM string processing (no network).
Shortener-host handling: opt-in per-host resolution of t.co / bit.ly / is.gd-style redirects (pure-JVM redirect following with a WebView interstitial fallback), re-running the rule engine on the final URL. Off by default → zero network.
URL query-param / tracker cleanup: global and domain-scoped stripping of tracking params (utm_*, gclid, fbclid, fbid, etc.) from the final launched URL only; never affects rule matching.
Browser chooser with private-window support: dispatches to installed browsers with per-browser private capability (Firefox real-private verified; Chrome opens normally + honest warning when private is requested but unsupported); built-in in-app WebView target (real private, no cross-app leak); system/OS-default/chooser/ask-and-remember fallback modes.
JSON import/export of rules, settings, shortener hosts, redirect formats, and param filters (local backup/restore, no sync).

Privacy Link to heading

Local-only rule and settings storage (Room, app-private storage). No URL history is ever persisted.
No ads, no analytics, no telemetry, no third-party SDKs.
Only the INTERNET permission is declared (a normal, install-granted permission), and it is exercised only if you enable the opt-in “shortener web resolution” feature for one or more hosts — all built-in shortener hosts ship disabled, so a default install makes zero network calls.
See PRIVACY.md for the full privacy policy.

Requirements Link to heading

Android minSdk 26 (Android 8.0)
Gradle: AGP 8.10.1, Kotlin 2.0.21

Build Link to heading

./gradlew :app:assembleDebug # debug APK (signed with the automatic debug key)
./gradlew :app:testDebugUnitTest # JVM + Robolectric unit tests
./gradlew :app:bundleRelease # Play AAB (unsigned unless you configure release signing, below)

Release signing Link to heading

Release signing is entirely external-secret-driven (no keystore path or password ever lives in this repo). Provide all four via environment variables or gradle.properties keys (see gradle.properties.example):

LinkRouter

URL Flow Chart

URL Flow Link to heading

Screenshots

Rules Link to heading

Redirect formats Link to heading

Query parameter filters Link to heading

Shortener hosts Link to heading

Settings Link to heading

Feature Test Links

Feature Test Links Link to heading

LinkRouter Privacy Policy

LinkRouter Privacy Policy Link to heading

What data LinkRouter processes Link to heading

What LinkRouter does NOT collect Link to heading

Permissions Link to heading

Data retention & deletion Link to heading

Agent Directives & Constraints Link to heading

Scope Link to heading

Verification Link to heading

LinkRouter — Build Specification Link to heading

LinkRouter (net.chaosengine.linkrouter) Link to heading

Features Link to heading

Privacy Link to heading

Requirements Link to heading

Build Link to heading

Release signing Link to heading

LinkRouter (`net.chaosengine.linkrouter`) Link to heading