> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://arka-agent-mintlify-f21cea86.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Open URL in browser

> Open websites in your default browser from the terminal with site aliases like youtube or github, full URLs, or desktop browser app launchers.

Open sites in your default system browser without leaving the terminal.

## Quick start

```bash theme={null}
arka open youtube
arka open github.com
arka open https://news.ycombinator.com
arka browse google
open google in browser
```

## Site aliases

Common names map to URLs automatically:

| Name | Opens |
| - | - |
| `youtube` | [https://youtube.com](https://youtube.com) |
| `google` | [https://google.com](https://google.com) |
| `github` | [https://github.com](https://github.com) |
| `reddit` | [https://reddit.com](https://reddit.com) |
| `wikipedia` | [https://wikipedia.org](https://wikipedia.org) |
| `hackernews` / `hn` | [https://news.ycombinator.com](https://news.ycombinator.com) |

Full `https://` URLs and `domain.tld` patterns work as-is.

Arka keeps the path and query you provide. So `open https://example.com/docs?a=1` opens that exact URL instead of inventing a new one.

## Browser app launchers

Bare browser names launch the installed desktop browser app instead of opening the matching `.com` site:

| Name | Launches |
| - | - |
| `brave` | Brave Browser |
| `chrome` / `googlechrome` | Google Chrome |
| `chromium` | Chromium |
| `firefox` | Firefox |
| `safari` | Safari (macOS) |
| `edge` / `microsoftedge` | Microsoft Edge |
| `arc` | Arc |
| `vivaldi` | Vivaldi |
| `opera` | Opera |

```bash theme={null}
arka open brave
arka open firefox
arka launch chrome
```

The alias triggers on the bare token only. To open the matching website instead, pass a URL-like target:

```bash theme={null}
arka open brave.com
arka open https://firefox.com
```

Arka calls `open -a "<App>"` on macOS, `start` on Windows, and the first matching binary on `PATH` on Linux (for example `brave-browser`, `google-chrome`, `microsoft-edge`). If the app is not installed, Arka prints `Could not launch '<App>'` and exits non-zero.

Natural language examples:

```bash theme={null}
arka open this exact url https://example.com/docs?a=1
arka repair broken links in this file
```

## vs play\_youtube

| Phrase | Skill |
| - | - |
| `arka open youtube` | Opens youtube.com in browser |
| `arka play lofi on youtube` | YouTube playback skill |

Arka disambiguates **open** (browser) from **play** / **watch** (media).

## Commands

| Command | Description |
| - | - |
| `arka open <site-or-url>` | Open in default browser |
| `arka browse <site-or-url>` | Alias |
| `open_url <target>` | Direct skill (fish) |


## Related topics

- [Command aliases, subcommand synonyms, and skill names](/reference/aliases.md)
- [AI agent guide — use Arka over MCP](/guides/ai-agents.md)
- [MCP integration for Cursor and Claude](/guides/mcp.md)
- [Bookmark manager](/guides/bookmarks.md)
- [Browser video capture](/guides/video-capture.md)


This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.