Connect the extension

Once the daemon is running, connect the extension to it. Each Vault the daemon serves then shows up as its own bookmark source.

Before you start

Check that the daemon is running:

npx bookmarks-but-better@latest status

When everything is fine, the last lines say everything is in place. If no browser is connected yet, the status also shows the address to connect to. If something needs fixing, see Troubleshooting.

Connect

1. Open the extension’s Settings → Sources.
2. Under Daemons, leave the address as http://127.0.0.1:52222, or change it if your daemon uses another port.
3. Click Connect.
4. Your browser asks for permission to reach the address. Allow it.

The extension then checks that the daemon answers, finds its Vaults, and switches the dashboard to a Vault. Your browser bookmarks stay enabled, so you can switch back at any time.

You can also connect during the setup wizard by turning on Local vault.

About the address and the permission

• The address must be 127.0.0.1 or localhost, over http. You can type it without http://, and if you leave out the port, 52222 is used.
• The extension does not ask for permission to reach your computer when you install it. It asks only when you click Connect.
• The connection is saved only if the daemon really answers.
• If the daemon cannot be reached later, the extension shows an error. It never quietly shows your browser bookmarks instead.

Under Advanced, there is an optional bearer token field. Leave it blank.

What you see after connecting

In Settings → Sources, each daemon has a card with:

• its address and status: Checking…, Connected or Unreachable, along with how many Vaults it serves
• one row per Vault, with a Rename button, a Use button (or the Active badge), and a switch to enable or disable it
• a menu button with Refresh Vaults and Forget daemon

If the daemon does not answer, the card shows Retry and suggests running npx bookmarks-but-better@latest status to find out why.

Refresh Vaults

The extension does not notice on its own when you add or remove a Vault. After you run npx bookmarks-but-better@latest vault add or vault remove, open the daemon’s menu in Settings → Sources and click Refresh Vaults. See Multiple vaults.

Rename a Vault’s label

Click the pencil button next to a Vault, type a Display label, and click Save label. The label only applies in this browser profile. It does not rename the Vault on disk or change its id.

Disable a Vault or forget a daemon

• Disable a Vault with its switch to hide it from the dashboard. The connection is kept, so you can turn it back on later.
• Forget daemon removes the connection and all its Vaults from this browser profile. Your Vault folders on disk are not touched.

At least one source must stay enabled. To use a Vault only, first make sure the Vault is enabled, then turn off Browser bookmarks.

Connect another daemon

If you run a daemon on another port, click Connect another daemon and enter its address.

Connection errors

Message	What to do
… is not loopback — the daemon is only reachable at 127.0.0.1 or localhost.	Use 127.0.0.1 or localhost.
Permission to reach the daemon was not granted, so nothing was contacted.	Click Connect again and allow the permission.
No response from http://127.0.0.1:52222 within the timeout.	The daemon is not answering. Run npx bookmarks-but-better@latest status.
The daemon at … reported an unhealthy status (…).	Run npx bookmarks-but-better@latest status and follow the fixes it lists.

For more, see Troubleshooting.