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Astela

0029. Import from other browsers in the data service

Status

Section titled “Status”

Accepted

Date

Section titled “Date”

2026-11-01

Context

Section titled “Context”

People who switch browsers want their bookmarks, history and open tabs to come along, ideally with one click and also from the setup guide. Chromium-based browsers (Chrome, Edge, Brave, Vivaldi, Opera, Chromium) keep bookmarks in a JSON file and the history in SQLite; Firefox-based browsers (Firefox, Zen, LibreWolf, Floorp, Waterfox) keep both in places.sqlite and their open tabs in mozLz4-compressed session files. A browser that is running keeps its databases open. Reading SQLite blocks, and the browser process must never block (ADR 0009).

Decision

Section titled “Decision”
  • Where: the import runs in the data service (app/src/platform/import/), next to profile.db. The browser process only passes calls on, opens imported tabs and updates the shells.
  • Finding browsers: the import looks only in the folders where the supported browsers keep their profiles on each system, including the folders of their Flatpak and Snap packages on Linux where these exist, and lists the profiles that their Local State or profiles.ini names. A page refers to a profile only by the id that this search returned, so no page can make the import read any other file.
  • Reading: databases are copied, with their write-ahead log, to a folder next to the profile and read there; the data service empties that folder when it starts, so a running browser keeps working and its files are never written. Each kind of data is read on its own; what cannot be read is reported, and the rest is imported.
  • What: bookmarks go into a folder of the other bookmarks named after the browser, with the profile’s name when the browser has more than one; a later import of the same profile replaces that folder while it is still in the other bookmarks. History merges by address and keeps the newer visit and the higher count, so importing again changes nothing. Open tabs come from Firefox-based browsers and open in new windows, where only the active tab loads. Chromium’s session files are not read yet. Cookies and passwords are never imported; passwords follow with the password manager.
  • Limits: at most 100,000 pages of history and 500 tabs, and only http and https addresses.
  • Policy: ImportEnabled set to false as a mandatory policy turns the import off: the settings page and the setup guide say so instead of listing the browsers, and the browser refuses an import.

Consequences

Section titled “Consequences”

Positive:

  • One click imports from every supported browser on all three systems, while the other browser keeps running.
  • Importing twice does not duplicate bookmarks or history.

Negative:

  • A browser that holds its database exclusively, such as Chrome on Windows, may have to be closed before its history can be read; the page says so.
  • Open tabs of Chromium-based browsers are not imported yet.