How Tab Tracker Works

Tab Tracker is designed around mechanical accuracy and absolute data isolation.

1. Active-Tab Time Measurement

Unlike basic extensions that run continuous interval timers whenever a browser window exists:

• Time is accrued only when a tab is in the foreground of an active window.
• The Chrome idle API detects system-level keyboard and mouse inactivity.
• If you walk away from your desk, lock your machine, or switch to another desktop application, tracking pauses immediately.

2. Midnight Rollovers

All metrics follow your system's local clock:

• Daily tallies automatically lock and archive at 12:00 AM local midnight.
• The dashboard stores today plus up to 30 past calendar days.
• Older days roll off sequentially to conserve local storage space without bogging down browser memory.

3. Hostname Truncation

Your URL bar contains private data—session IDs, tokens, search queries, and personal slugs:

• Tab Tracker strips everything except the root hostname (e.g., https://github.com/user/project?token=123 becomes github.com).
• Page titles and page contents are never read or stored.

4. Data Storage & JSON Portability

• All data resides exclusively inside Chrome's sandboxed chrome.storage.local.
• No tracking pixels, external API endpoints, or analytical telemetry scripts are bundled into the extension.
• Use the built-in JSON exporter to back up your history for personal archiving or self-hosted scripts.