libra open

Resolve a remote URL into a web URL and optionally launch the system browser.

Synopsis

libra open [<remote>]

Description

libra open determines the web-browsable URL for a repository and, in human-output mode, opens it in the default system browser. The command accepts an optional positional argument that can be either a configured remote name (e.g. origin) or a direct URL.

When no argument is given, the command tries the following in order:

1. The current branch's configured upstream remote.
2. A remote named origin.
3. The first configured remote (alphabetically).

If the resolved URL uses SSH or SCP syntax (git@host:path or ssh://...), it is automatically transformed to an HTTPS URL. The final URL is validated to ensure it uses http:// or https:// before being passed to the OS browser launcher. This prevents local file access, javascript:, or other injection vectors.

On macOS the command uses open, on Linux xdg-open, and on Windows cmd /C start.

Options

Common Commands

libra open
libra open origin
libra open https://github.com/libra-tools/libra
libra open --json

Human Output

Opening https://github.com/libra-tools/libra

--quiet suppresses stdout.

Structured Output (JSON examples)

{
  "ok": true,
  "command": "open",
  "data": {
    "remote": "origin",
    "remote_url": "[email protected]:libra-tools/libra.git",
    "web_url": "https://github.com/libra-tools/libra",
    "launched": false
  }
}

When the argument is a direct URL instead of a remote name, remote is null:

{
  "ok": true,
  "command": "open",
  "data": {
    "remote": null,
    "remote_url": "https://github.com/libra-tools/libra",
    "web_url": "https://github.com/libra-tools/libra",
    "launched": false
  }
}

Schema Notes

• remote is the logical remote name, or null when a direct URL was provided
• remote_url is the raw URL from config (or the direct URL argument)
• web_url is the transformed browsable HTTPS URL
• launched is true when the browser was successfully spawned in human mode
• launched is false for --json / --machine, where browser launch is intentionally skipped

URL Transformation Rules

Design Rationale

Why support direct URLs?

The primary use case for libra open is quickly jumping to a repository's web interface. Sometimes a developer or agent has a URL from a chat message, issue tracker, or log output and wants to open it without first configuring a remote. Accepting direct URLs alongside remote names makes the command a universal "open this repo in the browser" tool. If the argument matches a configured remote name, that takes precedence; otherwise it is treated as a literal URL. This dual-mode behavior eliminates a common friction point without adding complexity.

Why not just use git web--browse?

git web--browse is an internal Git helper that launches a browser but has several limitations: it does not transform SSH/SCP URLs to HTTPS, it does not validate URL safety, and it requires the instaweb or browse helpers to be configured. Libra's open command handles the full URL transformation pipeline (SCP to HTTPS, SSH to HTTPS, .git suffix stripping) and validates that the final URL uses a safe scheme before passing it to the OS launcher. This makes it work out-of-the-box for all common remote URL formats without additional configuration.

Why URL safety validation?

When a remote URL is transformed and passed to an OS command (open, xdg-open, cmd /C start), there is a risk of command injection or unintended file access if the URL uses a scheme like file://, javascript:, or contains shell metacharacters. Libra validates that the final URL uses only http:// or https:// before launching the browser. On Windows, the URL is additionally quoted to prevent cmd.exe metacharacter expansion. This defense-in-depth approach protects against both accidental misconfiguration and deliberate attacks via crafted remote URLs.

Parameter Comparison: Libra vs Git vs jj

Error Handling