Finicky - Take Control of Your URLs

February 13, 2025

Finicky - Take Control of Your URLs

Every link you click goes somewhere. But where? On macOS, the answer is usually "whatever your default browser is." Finicky changes that.

Finicky is a URL router for macOS. It intercepts every link before it opens and lets you decide—programmatically—what happens next.

Why You Need This

Work links in your work browser, personal in personal
Strip tracking parameters automatically
Open Zoom links directly in the Zoom app
Bypass paywalls with alternative frontends
Clean up Microsoft SafeLinks mess

Let me walk through my actual configuration.

Basic Setup

First, define your browsers:

const work = {
  name: "Microsoft Edge",
};

const personal = {
  name: "Safari",
};

export default {
  defaultBrowser: "Safari",
  // ...
};

Safari is my default. Edge is for work. Simple foundation.

Stripping Tracking Parameters

Every marketing link is polluted with tracking garbage. This rewrite rule cleans them:

rewrite: [{
  match: () => true, // Apply to ALL URLs
  url: ({ url }) => {
    const removeKeysStartingWith = ["utm_", "uta_"];
    const removeKeys = ["fbclid", "gclid"];

    const search = url.search
      .split("&")
      .map((parameter) => parameter.split("="))
      .filter(([key]) => !removeKeysStartingWith.some(
        (startingWith) => key.startsWith(startingWith)
      ))
      .filter(([key]) => !removeKeys.some(
        (removeKey) => key === removeKey
      ));

    return {
      ...url,
      search: search.map((parameter) => parameter.join("=")).join("&"),
    };
  },
}]

Before: example.com/page?utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=launch&fbclid=abc123 After: example.com/page

Every click, automatically cleaned.

Decoding Microsoft SafeLinks

Microsoft wraps URLs in "SafeLinks" that are impossible to read. This extracts the actual URL:

{
  match: /statics\.teams\.cdn\.office\.net\/evergreen-assets\/safelinks\/.*url=(https%3A%2F%2F(?:[a-zA-Z]+\.)zoom\.us.*)&locale=.*/,
  url: ({ url }) => {
    const match = url.search.match(/url=([^&]*)/);
    if (match && match[1]) {
      const decodedUrl = decodeURIComponent(match[1]);
      // Parse and return clean URL components
      // ...
    }
    return { ...url };
  },
}

Zoom links wrapped in Teams SafeLinks now work properly.

Opening Zoom in the Zoom App

Web Zoom is terrible. The app is better. This converts web URLs to app URLs:

{
  match: ({ url }) => url.host.includes("zoom.us") && url.pathname.includes("/j/"),
  url({ url }) {
    try {
      var pass = '&pwd=' + url.search.match(/pwd=(\w*)/)[1];
    } catch {
      var pass = ""
    }
    var conf = 'confno=' + url.pathname.match(/\/j\/(\d+)/)[1];
    return {
      search: conf + pass,
      pathname: '/join',
      protocol: "zoommtg"  // This triggers the Zoom app
    }
  }
}

Click a Zoom link → Zoom app opens directly. No browser detour.

Bypassing Medium Paywalls

Medium's paywall is annoying. Freedium provides the same content without it:

{
  match: /medium.com/,
  url: ({ url }) => {
    return {
      pathname: "/" + url.host + "/" + url.pathname,
      host: "freedium.cfd"
    }
  }
}

Every Medium link redirects to Freedium automatically.

Privacy-Respecting TikTok

TikTok tracking is aggressive. ProxiTok provides a privacy-respecting frontend:

{
  match: ({ url }) =>
    (url.host.endsWith("tiktok.com") && url.pathname.startsWith('/@')) ||
    url.host.endsWith("vm.tiktok.com"),
  url: ({ url }) => {
    const selectRandomTikTokProxy = () => {
      const TIKTOK_PROXIES = [
        "proxitok.pabloferreiro.es",
        "tok.habedieeh.re",
        "tt.vern.cc",
        // ... more instances
      ]
      return TIKTOK_PROXIES[Math.floor(Math.random() * TIKTOK_PROXIES.length)]
    }
    return {
      protocol: "https",
      host: selectRandomTikTokProxy(),
      pathname: url.pathname.startsWith('/@') ? url.pathname : `/@placeholder/video${url.pathname}`
    }
  }
}

Random proxy selection distributes load and improves reliability.

Browser Handlers

After URL rewriting, handlers decide which browser opens the link:

handlers: [
  {
    // Teams links open in Teams
    match: /^https?:\/\/teams\.microsoft\.com\/l\/meetup\-join\/.*$/,
    browser: "Microsoft Teams"
  },
  {
    // Zoom links open in Zoom app
    match: /zoom\.us\/join/,
    browser: "us.zoom.xos"
  },
  {
    // Work sites go to Edge
    match: [
      /lansweeper/,
      /app\.datadoghq\.eu/,
      /lattice(hq)?\.com/,
      /honeycomb\.io/,
      /powerbi\.com/,
      /office\.com/,
      /miro\.com/,
      /clickup\.com/
    ],
    browser: work
  },
  {
    // Links FROM Outlook always open in work browser
    match: ({ opener }) => opener.bundleId === "com.microsoft.Outlook",
    browser: work
  },
]

The opener context is powerful—you can route based on which app is opening the link, not just the URL itself.

Installation

brew install --cask finicky

Create ~/.finicky.js with your configuration. Finicky loads it automatically.

The Philosophy

URLs are data. Finicky lets you transform that data before it becomes action. Strip tracking, fix broken links, route to the right place, bypass annoyances.

Once configured, it's invisible. Links just work—the way they should.

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