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Create your first rule

Build one routing rule from start to finish, then test it.

This walkthrough builds one real rule from start to finish: send your work Google Mail links to Google Chrome. By the end you will have a rule that routes links automatically, and you will know how to test it. The same steps work for any rule you want.

Open the rules editor

Click the BrowserFairy icon in your menu bar (the status area at the top right of the screen). One menu opens. Choose Rules Editor….

The first time you launch BrowserFairy, it opens the rules editor for you, so it may already be on screen. The editor has a sidebar of your rules on the left and a detail area on the right.

Set your default browser first

Rules only take effect once BrowserFairy is your Mac's default browser. If you have not done that yet, see Set your default browser, then come back here.

Add a new rule

In the rules editor, click the + button to add a rule. A new, empty rule appears in the sidebar and opens in the detail area on the right.

New rules start turned off and match every link until you edit them, so adding one will not change how your links open yet. Next we give it a name, a target browser, and a condition, then turn it on.

Name the rule

At the top of the detail area is a text field that shows the placeholder Rule title. Click it and type a name that describes the outcome, for example Work Gmail. The name is only for you. It helps you find the rule later in the sidebar and does not affect matching.

Choose the browser

Below the name, the rule reads as a plain sentence. It begins with Open link with followed by a browser picker. Click the picker and choose Google Chrome. This is the browser that will open every link this rule matches, so the sentence now reads "Open link with Google Chrome".

Build the condition

After the browser, the sentence continues with the word when, then a compound row that reads Any of the following are true, with the conditions listed below it. This is where you describe which links the rule should catch.

Set the condition row

The first condition row has a left popup for the attribute, an operator popup, and a value field.

  1. In the left popup, choose Link address. This matches against the full link text.
  2. In the operator popup, choose begins with. The other operators are "contains", "ends with", "is", and "is not".
  3. In the value field, type https://mail.google.com.

Your rule now reads as a sentence: open link with Google Chrome when any of the following are true, Link address begins with https://mail.google.com. Any link whose address starts with that text will open in Chrome.

Matching is case-insensitive

Link address comparisons ignore upper and lower case, so you do not need to match capitalization exactly. There is no separate domain or host field, so the text you enter is matched against the whole link.

About Any, All, and None

The compound row controls how multiple conditions combine. Any matches if at least one condition is true, All matches only if every condition is true, and None matches when no condition is true. With a single condition, leave it on Any. You will add more conditions in Conditions.

Turn the rule on

New rules start turned off, so flip this rule's toggle on. BrowserFairy now starts routing matching links.

The free version keeps the first three rules in your list active, so one of your first rules stays active. If a rule shows the banner This rule is inactive and won't route any links., it is past the free limit; move it into the top three or see Free and Pro.

Here is the finished rule, shown exactly as the editor renders it:

Open link withGoogle Chromein profileWork (alex@acme.example)when
Anyof the following are true
Link addressbegins withhttps://mail.google.com
The finished rule, read as a sentence: open link with Chrome when the Link address begins with your Google Mail address.

And here is how it looks in the rules editor, listed in the sidebar alongside other rules:

The rules editor. Your new rule appears in the sidebar, and clicking it opens the same sentence in the detail area.

Test it

The best way to confirm a rule works is to click a real link from another app.

  1. Open an app that has links, such as Mail, Notes, or Slack.
  2. Click a link that starts with https://mail.google.com. (A link to your Gmail inbox works well.)
  3. The link should open in Google Chrome.

If it opens in the right browser, your rule is working. From now on, every matching link opens in Chrome automatically.

Opened in the wrong browser?

Confirm BrowserFairy is the default browser, that the rule is turned on, and that the value matches the link. Rules run top to bottom and the first turned-on rule that matches wins, so a broad rule above this one could catch the link first. See How routing works and Troubleshooting.

What to do next

You now have a working rule. To build more and understand the details:

  • Create rules covers naming, ordering, enabling, and the rule limit in depth.
  • Conditions explains every attribute and operator, including Link clicked for matching the app a link came from.
  • Rule recipes gives ready-to-copy rules for common setups, such as work, banking, and local development.