open

Open a specified browser. Supports targeting via alias or browser@buildId, with an optional initial URL.

Usage

pbvm open [-t <target>] [-u <url>]

Options

Option	Short	Description
--target	-t	Browser identifier: {browser}@{buildId} or {alias}
--url	-u	URL to open in the browser on launch

How it works

Currently, pbvm open can only open browsers that already have a record in the current directory's browserlist.json. Use pbvm create to add a browser first.

1. Look up the matching browser in browserlist.json using the -t argument
2. If the browser is not yet installed in the Store, trigger a download and install automatically
3. Launch the browser with update checks, first-run wizards, and other distractions disabled
4. If -u is provided, navigate to that URL on launch

Firefox-specific handling

Before launching Firefox, pbvm automatically configures:

• user.js: disables auto-update and default browser check
• policies.json: hard-blocks updates and telemetry via enterprise policy

Chromium/Chrome-specific handling

Disables the following via launch flags:

• Auto-update
• First-run wizard
• Default browser check

Examples

# Open by alias
pbvm open -t my-chrome

# Open by browser@buildId
pbvm open -t chrome@134.0.6998.35

# Open and navigate to a specific URL
pbvm open -t my-chrome -u https://example.com

# Interactive selection when arguments are missing
pbvm open

Notes

• The browser is launched in detached mode — closing the terminal does not affect the browser
• Each browser instance uses an independent profile directory (~/.local/share/pbvm/profiles/), so they don't interfere with each other
• The same browser version can be opened multiple times: Chrome-based browsers delegate to the existing instance (no visual change), while Firefox opens a new window

For details on profile directory structure and browser file locations, see Store & cache directory.