Web Browser — User Guide | YoBench

What the Web Browser module does

The Web Browser is a full-featured browser right inside YoBench, built on the same engine as Chrome. It opens any website, keeps several isolated workspaces with their own accounts, takes screenshots, searches inside pages and works with an AI assistant that can see the open page.

What you get:

• Up to 9 workspaces — each with its own cookies, history and sessions. "Work", "Personal", "Test" — no account leakage between them.
• Pinned tabs and tab groups — pin tabs you always need and group tabs by project with colour labels.
• Screenshots in three modes — visible area, full page or a region you select with the mouse.
• Split view — two tabs side by side to compare a design with a prototype, or docs with code.
• AI assistant next to the page — answers questions about the open page, reads selected text and metadata.
• Find on page with match highlighting and counter.
• Download manager — pause and resume, the list survives an app restart.
• Browsing history — search by URL or title with workspace and date filters.
• Familiar keyboard shortcuts — just like a regular browser.

Workspaces

A workspace is an isolated environment with its own cookies, localStorage and history. By default a single workspace ("Default") is open. You can create up to eight more.

What is persisted in each workspace:

• Cookies and localStorage for every site.
• Browsing history (separate per workspace).
• Tab groups.
• Split view state.

Switch between workspaces with Cmd/Ctrl+Alt+1..9. The title bar shows which workspace is active.

Tabs

Open and close

• Cmd/Ctrl+T — new tab (focus moves straight to the address bar).
• Cmd/Ctrl+W — close the active tab.
• Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+T — reopen the last closed tab.

Switching

• Cmd/Ctrl+1..8 — go to the tab with that number.
• Cmd/Ctrl+9 — last tab.
• Cmd/Ctrl+Tab — next tab.
• Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+Tab — previous tab.

Page navigation

• Cmd/Ctrl+L — focus the address bar (with the URL selected).
• Cmd/Ctrl+R or F5 — reload.
• Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+R — hard reload that clears the cache.
• Cmd/Ctrl+[ — back.
• Cmd/Ctrl+] — forward.
• Esc — stop loading the page.

Pinning

The tab context menu has Pin tab / Unpin tab. Pinned tabs move to the start of the bar and stay there across app restarts.

Groups

• Tab context menu → New group — opens a dialog with the group name.
• Groups get a colour from a palette of 7 (red, orange, green, cyan, blue, purple, pink).
• A group can be collapsed to hide its tabs.
• Groups belong to a workspace — every workspace has its own set.

Find on page

• Cmd/Ctrl+F — opens the search bar over the page content.
• All matches are highlighted with an "N of M" counter.
• Next / Prev to step through matches.
• Match Case option for case-sensitive searches.

Screenshots

• Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+S opens a menu with three modes:
  • Viewport — the visible area of the screen.
  • Full page — the entire page, even when it scrolls.
  • Region — a rectangle you select with the mouse.
• Format — PNG, file name yobench-screenshot-YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS.png.
• Saved to the system "Downloads" folder by default; you can pick a different one through the save dialog.
• Alternatively the screenshot can go straight to the clipboard.
• A finished screenshot can be sent into the AI assistant with one click.

Split view

• Cmd/Ctrl+\ — turn the active tab into the left pane and open another one next to it.
• Drag the splitter with the mouse to change the ratio between 10% and 90%.
• Cmd/Ctrl+Alt+← — focus the left pane.
• Cmd/Ctrl+Alt+→ — focus the right pane.
• The split state is saved with the workspace and restored on the next launch.

AI assistant

Cmd/Ctrl+J or the icon in the right-hand panel opens the AI assistant next to the active tab. The assistant uses the AI provider configured in Settings.

The assistant has three tools to inspect the open page on demand:

• Metadata — title, URL, description, H1–H3 headings.
• Page text — visible text up to 50,000 characters (can be raised to 100,000).
• Selection — whatever you selected on the page with the mouse.

The assistant decides which tool to call — for "what is this article about" it pulls the text, for "what does this paragraph say" it pulls the selection. This saves tokens and avoids sending the whole page to the provider every turn.

Browsing history

• The clock icon in the right-hand panel → an internal History tab.
• Full-text search across URLs and titles.
• Filters by workspace and by date.
• Pagination of 50 entries with lazy loading on scroll.
• Repeated visits to the same URL within 60 seconds update the timestamp instead of creating a new entry.
• Clear all wipes the entire history.

Downloads

• The downloads icon in the right-hand panel → an internal Downloads tab.
• Filters: All / Active / Completed / Failed.
• Each download shows status (running, paused, completed, cancelled, interrupted), size and progress.
• Actions: Pause / Resume (when running), Cancel, Remove, Open file, Open in folder.
• The list survives app restarts.

Right-hand side panel

A vertical strip with four sections (top to bottom):

1. AI assistant — opens the chat next to the active tab (Cmd/Ctrl+J).
2. Screenshot — menu with the three capture modes (Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+S).
3. History — internal tab with browsing history.
4. Downloads — internal tab with the download manager.

Full keyboard-shortcut reference

Tabs

Address bar and navigation

Workspaces, search and AI

Split view and fullscreen

Settings

In Settings → Browser you can:

• Toggle Open links in app — whether links from other YoBench modules open in the embedded browser or in your system browser.
• Pick the AI provider for the browser's AI assistant.

Walkthrough

1. Create a workspace

1. Open Web Browser in the sidebar.
2. In the title bar — workspace switcher, + Add workspace.
3. Enter a name (e.g. "Work").
4. Create — the workspace activates automatically.
5. Cmd/Ctrl+Alt+1..9 to switch between workspaces.

2. Take a full-page screenshot

1. Open the page.
2. Press Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+S or click the camera icon in the right-hand panel.
3. Pick Full page.
4. The file is saved to the system "Downloads" folder as yobench-screenshot-YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS.png.

3. Ask the assistant about the page

1. Open the page you want to discuss.
2. Cmd/Ctrl+J opens the AI assistant on the right.
3. Ask a question, e.g. "what is this article about" or "list every technology mentioned here".
4. The assistant pulls the right fragment (text or selection) on its own and answers with a source reference.

4. Compare two pages side by side

1. Open the first page in the active tab.
2. Cmd/Ctrl+\ — the active tab becomes the left pane and a new one opens next to it.
3. Type the second URL in the right pane.
4. Drag the splitter to change the pane ratio.
5. Cmd/Ctrl+Alt+← / Cmd/Ctrl+Alt+→ to move focus between panes.

What's next

• Password Manager — store website logins and quickly fill them in.
• Scenarios — automate browsing routines and data collection.
• Context & RAG — send pages straight into a knowledge base.

Help and feedback

Missing a shortcut you need or want a new feature? Reach out via the feedback form.