Straight answers.

Basics

What is Wyrd?

Wyrd is a Chrome extension that gets you to the page you mean in one word, without remembering where it lives. Type > then a space and a keyword, for example > waterbill, and Chrome opens the page you chose for it. A keyword can also search a site, fill a number into an address, open several pages at once, or bring back a saved bundle of tabs. And when tabs pile up, > /dedupe keeps one tab from each site and saves the rest under a keyword, so nothing is lost and nothing stays open twice.

Is Wyrd a Chrome plugin?

Yes. Chrome calls it an extension, and many people say plugin or add-on: they mean the same thing. Wyrd is installed from the Chrome Web Store into desktop Chrome (or from Firefox Add-ons into Firefox), and adds keywords to the address bar (some call them address bar shortcuts or URL keywords). It also opens a record by its number in tools such as Jira, Salesforce or Shopify, and puts tabs away under a name.

What jobs does Wyrd do?

Three. It gets you to the page you mean in one word, so you never have to remember where a link lives. It gives everyone in a household or team the same words for the same places, from one shared list where an address changes once for all of them. And it keeps your tabs in check: > /dedupe keeps one tab per site and saves the others, > /clear puts a whole window away under a name, and one keyword brings them back.

How do I use a keyword?

Type > in Chrome's address bar, press Space, then the keyword, and press Enter. Words after a search keyword become the search, so > yt lofi searches YouTube for "lofi", and anything that is not a keyword goes to your usual web search. You can also skip the >: make Wyrd your address bar's search engine (Settings, then Optional setup, then Search without the > prefix) and type the keyword on its own. Your first keyword, step by step →

Is Wyrd free?

Wyrd is free for individuals, friends and family, and for organisations while up to 30 people use its shared lists. From 31 people, an organisation pays USD 0.50 per person per month, billed yearly, for everyone who uses the shared lists. Pricing →

What does a licence pay for?

Keeping Wyrd going: updates as Chrome changes, fixes, and new features, which everyone gets. It also keeps Wyrd free for individuals, families and small teams. A licence unlocks nothing, because every feature is already free for everyone and there is no premium version. What a licence pays for →

How does paying for Wyrd work?

On the honour system. There are no licence keys and nothing is locked or checked: every feature works for everyone. An organisation of more than 30 people counts itself and buys the licences that apply, which supports Wyrd and keeps it within the terms. How the honour system works →

Do I need an account?

No. Wyrd has no account of its own and no server: you install it and start typing. Signing in with Google is only for the optional Google Sheet backup and sync.

Which browsers does Wyrd work in?

Desktop Chrome and Firefox, under the name Wyrd: on the Chrome Web Store and on Firefox Add-ons. In Firefox you type ! where Chrome uses >, because Firefox keeps > for its own Actions search. Everything else works the same, except Translate and automatic backups to a folder, which Firefox does not offer extensions.

Set up your first keyword, step by step →

Keywords

What can a keyword open?

A page, a search with your words in place of %s, an address with numbered blanks (%1, %2 and so on), several pages at once, another keyword (an alias such as @library), or a tab bundle.

How do I add a keyword?

Click Wyrd's icon on the page you want: the address is filled in, you pick a suggested keyword or type your own, and press Save. You can also add, edit and delete keywords on the Keywords page, which > /home opens.

What if I forget a keyword?

Start typing after > and a space: the suggestions find keywords that start with or contain what you typed, match their description or category, or are one typo off. > /home opens the Keywords page, which lists every keyword you can type with a search box.

Can I use Wyrd without typing > first?

Yes. Wyrd gives you a private search address in its Settings, under Optional setup; add it in Chrome's search engine settings and make it the default, and you type keywords straight into the address bar.

Can I use / or another character instead of >?

Yes, alongside it. The > itself is fixed by Chrome for every extension, but in Wyrd's Optional setup you can choose your own trigger, such as / or ;, and add it as the shortcut of Wyrd's search address in Chrome's site search. Then / gh tailwind works like > gh tailwind, without the suggestions while you type. Search without the prefix →

Keyword syntax in the docs →

Shared lists for teams and families

Do teams pay for shared lists?

Households and friends never pay. An organisation is free while up to 30 people use its shared lists; from 31 people it pays USD 0.50 per person per month, billed yearly, on the honour system. Pricing →

Can a team or a family share keywords?

Yes. A shared list can live in a Google Sheet, a GitHub file, or any https JSON or CSV file. Everyone subscribed gets the same keywords, Wyrd refreshes the list every 6 hours, and when an address changes it changes once, in the list. Search without the prefix →

How do people subscribe to a shared list?

Send them the list's invite link: Copy invite link on the list's row in Wyrd's Shared lists page. Opening it fills in the list's address in their Wyrd, and nothing is read or subscribed until they press Preview and then Subscribe. The link holds the list's address, never a token. They can also paste the address into the Shared lists page themselves.

Can an organisation preset shared lists for everyone?

Yes, if it manages Chrome. A Chrome policy for Wyrd, SharedLists, presets up to 10 lists at public https addresses. They show as "Set by your organisation" on everyone's Shared lists page and cannot be removed there, and each person still allows the list's site once.

What happens when someone changes a shared list?

Everyone subscribed gets the change at their next refresh: every 6 hours, when Chrome starts, or when they press Refresh. Wyrd notes which keywords each refresh added, changed or removed, so an unexpected change is easy to spot.

What if my own keyword and a shared keyword have the same name?

Your own keyword wins, always. The list's version stays reachable through the list's short name, for example > team/wiki or > team wiki.

Set up a shared list for your team →

Tab bundles

What are tab bundles?

A tab bundle is a saved set of tabs with a keyword. > /clear research saves the tabs of the window and closes them; > tabs/research brings them all back. > /dedupe keeps one tab from each site and saves the rest the same way, so a window full of copies becomes one tab per site. You switch Tab bundles on in Wyrd's Features page, and Chrome then asks for access to your open tabs.

Do tab bundles follow me to my other computers?

Your 10 most recent tab bundles follow you through your own Chrome sync, because Chrome gives each extension only about 100 KB of sync space. With Google Sheet backup and sync switched on, every bundle is kept in one sheet in your own Google Drive and reaches every computer where you sign in with Google.

Tab bundles in the docs →

Backups and moving computers

What happens to my keywords if I remove Wyrd?

Chrome deletes everything Wyrd keeps, including what it synced. Only a copy kept outside Chrome brings your keywords back: a backup file, or the daily backup in your own Google Sheet.

How do I back up my keywords?

On Wyrd's Activity page, Back up now saves a file called wyrd-backup-(date).json to your Downloads folder. For a backup that keeps itself up to date, turn on Automatic backups to a folder, or Google Sheet backup and sync, on the Features page.

How do I move Wyrd to a new computer?

Sign in to Chrome with the same account: your keywords, settings, shared-list subscriptions, reminders and 10 most recent tab bundles follow you through Chrome sync. For older tab bundles, categories and usage counts, restore a backup file on the new computer, or sign in with Google in Wyrd on both.

Backups in the docs →

Privacy and data

What does Wyrd store, and where?

Your keywords and settings stay in your own Chrome and sync through your own Chrome sync. Wyrd has no server and no account, and the developer receives nothing. It contacts other sites only for features you switch on, such as a shared list you subscribe to or the optional backup to a Google Sheet in your own Drive.

Does the Wyrd extension track me?

No. The extension has no analytics, telemetry, advertising or tracking, and it never reads the content of the pages you visit.

Does the website track me?

The website, wyrd.page, counts page views with Netlify's analytics, which reads the web server's own logs: no cookies and no tracking script. The extension has no analytics at all.

What can Wyrd see in my browser?

At install, only the address and title of the tab in front, and only when you click Wyrd's icon to save it. It reads your open tabs only if you switch on Tab bundles, and your history only if you allow it for suggestions or page titles; it never reads the content of the pages you visit.

Which network requests can Wyrd make?

None unless you set something up. Then only these: reading a shared list or starter pack you asked for, a commit to a GitHub list you gave a token, the optional AI helper you configured, one looked-up word with Define, and Google Sheet backup and sync after you sign in with Google.

Permissions and data in the docs →

AI assistants

Can I give my keywords to an AI assistant?

Yes. On Wyrd's Keywords page, "All keywords for an AI" copies or saves a plain Markdown list of your keywords, with a short note on how Wyrd reads them, to paste into Claude, ChatGPT or another assistant. Wyrd sends nothing itself.

Does Wyrd use AI?

Only if you choose to. Copy for an AI builds a text you paste into any AI chat to sort your keywords into categories, and the optional AI helper (Teams view, off by default) sends that text to a provider you set up with your own key; nothing changes until you preview the answer and press Apply.

Troubleshooting

Why does team/wiki not work without the >?

Without the > prefix, Chrome treats team/wiki as a web address and never hands it to Wyrd. Type team wiki with a space instead, or keep the > in front.

Why did my keyword run a web search instead?

A keyword without %s has nowhere to put extra words, so > cal friday runs an ordinary web search for "cal friday". Type the keyword on its own, or give its address a %s where the words should go.

Wyrd says a tab bundle is not on this computer. Why?

That bundle is older than your 10 most recent, so it stayed on the computer that saved it. Export it on that computer and import it on this one, or sign in with Google in Wyrd on both, and every bundle is on both.

Commands and no-prefix search in the docs →