No browser chosen, no "Open on" button

The plain address is the one thing that button must not offer -- followed
in the browser the rewrite rules are installed in, it comes straight back
here -- so there is nothing to show until there is a browser to hand it to.
The copy button and the selectable URL were always the part carrying the
weight; the open link now ships hidden and the script reveals it along with
the scheme.

That also settles what the button should say. It went back to "Open on
<platform>": the browser's name was there to explain a tap that went
nowhere, and a button that is not shown until it works needs no such
explanation.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <[email protected]>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01KF5YF3iZVKbezwALap8LYd

README.md

@@ -95,11 +95,12 @@ which is the browser being escaped. The choice is kept in that browser's own
 `localStorage` — not a cookie and not synced, because "which browser is installed" is a
 fact about the device, not about you, and the phone's answer is not the Mac's.
 
-The link in the page is always the plain `https://` address, and the scheme is swapped in
+Until a browser is chosen there is no "Open on …" button at all — the plain address is
-by the script afterwards; with JavaScript off, or with the default left alone, nothing
+the one thing it must not offer, since following it only comes back here. The markup
-changes. Once a browser is chosen the button says which one, because a scheme for a
+carries that address anyway, hidden, and the script swaps in the scheme and reveals the
-browser that isn't installed opens nothing at all, and a silent tap needs an
+button once there is somewhere to send it. So with JavaScript off, or with the default
-explanation. The URL underneath stays selectable either way.
+left alone, the copy button and the selectable URL are the whole of it, which is all
+that was ever load-bearing.
 
 ## How it works
 

public/app.js

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 // Progressive enhancement only. Without this file the page still shows the
 // media in a swipeable rail and the original URL as selectable text.
 
-import { browserById, browsersFor, detectOs, openUrlFor } from './browsers.js';
+import { browsersFor, detectOs, openUrlFor } from './browsers.js';
 
 const VIEW_KEY = 'antisocial:view';
 const BROWSER_KEY = 'antisocial:browser';
@@ -48,24 +48,21 @@ function storedBrowser() {
   }
 }
 
-// The markup carries the plain address, so the link still goes somewhere
+// The markup carries the plain address, which is the one thing the button
-// with this file missing. Only once a browser has been chosen is the href
+// must not offer: followed in the browser the rewrite rules are installed
-// swapped for that browser's scheme -- and the name goes onto the button,
+// in, it redirects straight back to this page. So the link ships hidden and
-// because a scheme for a browser that is not installed opens nothing and
+// is only revealed once a browser has been picked to hand it to. With no
-// the tap would otherwise be a silent no-op.
+// choice made -- or none this system has a scheme for -- the copy button
+// and the URL below it are the whole of it.
 function applyBrowser(id) {
   const os = detectOs();
-  const label = browserById(id)?.label;
 
   for (const link of document.querySelectorAll('.original__open')) {
     link.dataset.original ??= link.getAttribute('href');
-    link.dataset.label ??= link.textContent.trim();
 
     const href = openUrlFor(link.dataset.original, id, os);
     link.href = href;
-    link.textContent = href === link.dataset.original
+    link.hidden = href === link.dataset.original;
-      ? link.dataset.label
-      : `${link.dataset.label} in ${label}`;
   }
 }
 

public/browsers.js

@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ export function browsersFor(os) {
   return BROWSERS.filter((browser) => browser.id === 'default' || browser[os]);
 }
 
-export function browserById(id) {
+function browserById(id) {
   return BROWSERS.find((browser) => browser.id === id);
 }
 

src/render/challenge.ts

@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ export function renderChallenge(challenge: Challenge, box: Box | undefined): str
     <footer class="post__foot">
       <div class="original">
         <button type="button" class="copy" id="give-up">Give up and show me the link</button>
-        <a class="original__open" href="${challenge.originalUrl}" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">
+        <a class="original__open" href="${challenge.originalUrl}" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank" hidden>
           Open on ${challenge.platformLabel}
         </a>
         <p class="original__url"><code>${challenge.originalUrl}</code></p>

src/render/layout.ts

@@ -43,14 +43,19 @@ export function badge(platform: string, label: string): Raw {
 }
 
 /** The copy control, plus the URL itself so it is always selectable even if
- *  the clipboard API is unavailable. */
+ *  the clipboard API is unavailable.
+ *
+ *  The open link ships hidden: followed in the browser the rewrite rules are
+ *  installed in, it redirects straight back here, so it is only worth showing
+ *  once a browser has been picked to hand it to. The script reveals it, and
+ *  the href in the markup is the plain address it starts from. */
 export function originalUrlBlock(originalUrl: string, platformLabel: string): Raw {
   return html`<div class="original">
     <button type="button" class="copy" data-url="${originalUrl}">
       <span class="copy__idle">Copy original link</span>
       <span class="copy__done" hidden>Copied</span>
     </button>
-    <a class="original__open" href="${originalUrl}" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Open on ${platformLabel}</a>
+    <a class="original__open" href="${originalUrl}" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank" hidden>Open on ${platformLabel}</a>
     <p class="original__url"><code>${originalUrl}</code></p>
   </div>`;
 }

test/render.test.ts

@@ -105,8 +105,12 @@ test('a failure still hands the link back', () => {
     detail: 'TikTok showed a verification puzzle instead of the post.',
   });
   assert.ok(page.includes('data-url="https://www.tiktok.com/@a/video/1"'));
-  assert.ok(page.includes('Open on TikTok'));
+  assert.ok(page.includes('<code>https://www.tiktok.com/@a/video/1</code>'));
   assert.ok(page.includes('verification puzzle'));
+  // Following the original link in the browser the rewrite rules are
+  // installed in only comes back here, so it stays hidden until the script
+  // has a browser to hand it to.
+  assert.ok(/<a class="original__open"[^>]* hidden>Open on TikTok<\/a>/.test(page));
 });
 
 function redditPost(overrides: Partial<Post> = {}): Post {