desktop: revert extension key (restores lost settings) + feed-on-startup via pref

v0.2.12 added a manifest "key" to pin the extension id, which CHANGED the id —
chrome.storage is keyed by id, so feeds/settings/keys got orphaned. Remove the
key: the id reverts to the original path-derived one and the existing data comes
back (it was never deleted).

For feed-on-startup, don't force a URL (chrome://newtab/ = default NTP,
chrome-extension:// = blocked from the command line). Instead seed
session.restore_on_startup=5 ("Open the New Tab page") once per profile, which
opens the NTP via the new-tab path that honors the chrome_url_overrides feed.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>

Author: ralyodio

apps/desktop/extensions/ai-sidebar/manifest.json

@@ -1,8 +1,7 @@
 {
   "manifest_version": 3,
   "name": "TronBrowser",
-  "key": "MIIBIjANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQEFAAOCAQ8AMIIBCgKCAQEAtiZowpoE0HPpGEHjHLb1jsfa/G49HQGizDxZDbUbuIle96BxBD0KWZ54u1bMFgHi3RxYrmmMmhvvRfV3z6FSfTDlZjB7ydrkcrx4wFXLp9gWd/ec3VuNFy+qgob9Hmn77AH7NV58tf3G2u92vi3FA0b+Jte9+ZzuhabX5sseJY5IPvgL1ZdIALTVqb6dGdEz6O/yaID7BOusDbmewgDY2jANDZtiazL48oWiARM0TRNAvtvl3nWIK4dIVHnYOXdyGixKSr1lc/e8HkSoGkLp5O9zP9DT0DYPwSg/EZjlfoC1NDlwVNgxX0tw2r6BIiiXrhaUFfdUap5Jm6k582z1ZQIDAQAB",
-  "version": "0.2.12",
+  "version": "0.2.13",
   "description": "TronBrowser — privacy-first, AI-native. Branded new tab, private search, CoinPay login, and a bring-your-own-keys AI sidebar.",
   "icons": {
     "16": "icons/icon-16.png",

apps/desktop/launcher/tronbrowser

@@ -131,6 +131,26 @@ PY
   mkdir -p "$DATA"; : > "$DATA/.tron-search-xprivo"
 fi
 
+# Show the feed (ai-sidebar New Tab page) on startup. We can't pass a startup URL —
+# chrome://newtab/ opens Chromium's DEFAULT NTP and chrome-extension:// pages are
+# blocked from the command line — but restore_on_startup=5 ("Open the New Tab page")
+# goes through the new-tab path, which honors the chrome_url_overrides feed. Once
+# per profile, then respect the user's chrome://settings/onStartup choice.
+if command -v python3 >/dev/null 2>&1 && [ ! -f "$DATA/.tron-startup-ntp" ]; then
+  TB_PREFS="$DATA/Default/Preferences" python3 - <<'PY' 2>/dev/null || true
+import json, os
+p = os.environ["TB_PREFS"]
+os.makedirs(os.path.dirname(p), exist_ok=True)
+try:
+    d = json.load(open(p)) if os.path.exists(p) else {}
+except Exception:
+    d = {}
+d.setdefault("session", {})["restore_on_startup"] = 5  # 5 = open the New Tab page
+json.dump(d, open(p, "w"))
+PY
+  mkdir -p "$DATA"; : > "$DATA/.tron-startup-ntp"
+fi
+
 # Auto-detection only ever selects Ungoogled Chromium / flatpak ungoogled / the
 # macOS Ungoogled cask (which installs as Chromium.app). The only way to reach a
 # non-ungoogled binary is an explicit TRONBROWSER_BROWSER override — warn there,
@@ -175,15 +195,6 @@ FLAGS="--user-data-dir=$DATA --class=TronBrowser --no-first-run --no-default-bro
 LOG="${TRONBROWSER_LOG:-$DATA/tron.log}"
 FLAGS="$FLAGS --log-level=2"
 
-# On a fresh launch with no URL, open the TronBrowser feed (the ai-sidebar new-tab
-# page) instead of a blank/default page. chrome://newtab/ shows Chromium's DEFAULT
-# NTP from the command line — the chrome_url_overrides newtab only applies to
-# UI-created tabs — so open the extension's page directly. The ID is fixed by the
-# manifest "key" (blkabajacljkbmjnffffobbnoipcckah).
-if [ "$#" -eq 0 ]; then
-  set -- "chrome-extension://blkabajacljkbmjnffffobbnoipcckah/newtab.html"
-fi
-
 if [ -n "$MAC_APP" ]; then
   # macOS: launch the .app via LaunchServices (`open`). Running the inner binary
   # directly SIGABRTs, and `-n` gives a separate instance from any running

apps/desktop/src/launcher.test.ts

@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
 import { describe, it, expect } from 'vitest';
-import { resolveStartUrls, DEFAULT_START_URL } from './launcher.js';
+import { resolveStartUrls } from './launcher.js';
 
 describe('resolveStartUrls', () => {
-  it('opens the feed (new tab page) when no URLs are given', () => {
-    expect(resolveStartUrls()).toEqual([DEFAULT_START_URL]);
-    expect(resolveStartUrls([])).toEqual([DEFAULT_START_URL]);
+  it('injects no URL on a bare launch (NTP feed comes from the startup pref)', () => {
+    expect(resolveStartUrls()).toEqual([]);
+    expect(resolveStartUrls([])).toEqual([]);
   });
 
   it('respects explicit URLs when provided', () => {
@@ -14,8 +14,4 @@ describe('resolveStartUrls', () => {
       'https://b.com',
     ]);
   });
-
-  it('defaults to the ai-sidebar new-tab feed (fixed extension id)', () => {
-    expect(DEFAULT_START_URL).toBe('chrome-extension://blkabajacljkbmjnffffobbnoipcckah/newtab.html');
-  });
 });

apps/desktop/src/launcher.ts

@@ -16,17 +16,14 @@ export interface LaunchConfig extends LaunchOptions {
 }
 
 /**
- * The page shown on a fresh launch when no URLs are given: the TronBrowser feed
- * (the ai-sidebar new-tab page). chrome://newtab/ from the command line shows
- * Chromium's DEFAULT NTP — the `chrome_url_overrides` newtab override only applies
- * to UI-created tabs — so we open the extension's page directly. The extension ID
- * is fixed by the manifest "key".
+ * Resolves the URLs to open. No forced startup URL — a fresh launch opens the
+ * New Tab page (the ai-sidebar feed) via the browser's startup preference, which
+ * goes through the new-tab path that honors `chrome_url_overrides`. Navigating to
+ * chrome://newtab/ or a chrome-extension:// page from the command line does NOT
+ * (default NTP / blocked by Chromium), so we never inject one here.
  */
-export const DEFAULT_START_URL = 'chrome-extension://blkabajacljkbmjnffffobbnoipcckah/newtab.html';
-
-/** Resolves the URLs to open, defaulting to the feed when none are supplied. */
 export function resolveStartUrls(urls?: string[]): string[] {
-  return urls && urls.length > 0 ? urls : [DEFAULT_START_URL];
+  return urls && urls.length > 0 ? urls : [];
 }
 
 /** Launches the browser process with privacy flags enforced. */