@plimeor/browser-peek

Read cookies and local storage from local browser profiles, straight from the command line. macOS, Linux, and Windows.

Two command groups — cookie and storage — each with list and get. Pick a browser (via flag) and a profile (via picker), then either list a store or look a value up by name.

Install

bun add --global @plimeor/browser-peek

Or run without installing:

bunx @plimeor/browser-peek cookie list

First command

# List all cookies for Chrome's current profile
browser-peek cookie list

Commands

Each store has its own group: cookie for cookies, storage for local storage. Both groups expose list and get.

cookie list · storage list

Without --domain, list prints an overview: each origin and how many entries it holds, busiest first. Add --domain to drill into one site and see the actual entries.

browser-peek cookie list                         # overview of every origin
browser-peek cookie list --domain github.com     # entries for one site
browser-peek storage list --domain github.com --full   # full values, no truncation

Both views cap at 50 rows by default. Raise it with --limit N (--limit 0 for no cap) or lift it entirely with --all.

cookie get <name> · storage get <name>

Look up an entry by name within the store.

• Exactly one match → printed directly.
• No match or several → an interactive picker opens.

browser-peek cookie get session_id                     # may prompt to disambiguate
browser-peek cookie get session_id --domain mysite.com # narrow first, usually one hit
browser-peek storage get theme                         # local storage by key

--domain is the recommended disambiguator: names are rarely unique across sites, so filtering by host collapses the candidate set.

Options

| Option | Shortcut | Description | | --- | --- | --- | | --browser <chrome\|safari> | -b | Browser to read. Default: chrome. | | --profile <id\|name> | -p | Profile to use. Skips the picker. | | --domain <text> | -d | Case-insensitive substring filter on origin/host. Switches list to detail rows. | | --limit <n> | -l | (list) Max rows/origins to show. 0 = no limit. Default: 50. | | --all | -a | (list) Show everything; overrides --limit. | | --full | | (list) Show full values instead of truncating. | | --json | | (get) Emit a JSON result envelope; disables all prompts. |

get --json never prompts. If a browser has more than one profile, pass --profile explicitly.

Browser support

| Browser | Cookies | Local Storage | Notes | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Chrome | ✅ | ✅ | Verified on macOS. | | Safari | ⚠️ | ⚠️ | macOS only. Requires Full Disk Access; profile selection limited to Default. Latest Safari only. |

Per platform:

| Platform | Chrome cookies | Chrome local storage | | --- | --- | --- | | macOS | ✅ | ✅ | | Linux | ✅ | ✅ | | Windows | ❌ (DPAPI / App-Bound Encryption — not yet) | ✅ |

The browser layer is an adapter registry, so adding Firefox (or Edge, Brave, etc.) later is a drop-in.

Permissions

• Chrome cookies on macOS are encrypted with a key in the Keychain. The first read triggers a one-time Keychain prompt — approve it.
• Chrome cookies on Linux are encrypted with a key in the system keyring (GNOME Keyring / KWallet), read via secret-tool (libsecret) — install it and unlock your login keyring. Without a keyring, Chrome's hardcoded fallback key is used automatically.
• Safari data is protected by the system. Grant your terminal Full Disk Access in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Full Disk Access.

How it works

Browsers hold exclusive locks on their databases while running, and reading the live files risks corruption. Each adapter copies the relevant data into a throwaway temp directory and reads the copy:

• Chrome cookies — SQLite (bun:sqlite). v10/v11 values are AES-128-CBC decrypted with the "Chrome Safe Storage" key — from the macOS Keychain, or on Linux from the system keyring (v11) or a hardcoded fallback (v10); the SHA256(host_key) prefix that recent Chrome prepends is stripped.
• Chrome local storage — LevelDB (level); META:/VERSION keys skipped, UTF-16/Latin-1 value encodings decoded.
• Safari cookies — the Cookies.binarycookies binary format.
• Safari local storage — WebKit .localstorage SQLite files.

Library API

import { getAdapter } from '@plimeor/browser-peek'

const chrome = getAdapter('chrome')
const profile = await chrome.defaultProfile()
const cookies = await chrome.readCookies(profile!)

Exports: getAdapter, BROWSER_IDS, chromeAdapter, safariAdapter, BrowserPeekError, and the BrowserAdapter / StoreRecord / Profile types.