Yojam: a macOS default‑browser shim that routes links through a rule engine

Tired of clicking a link and watching it open in the wrong browser, wrong profile, or — dare I say — the wrong planet? That little moment of frustration is the emotional core of Yojam. Set it as your default browser and it intercepts every link you click, then routes each URL where you actually need it — browser, profile, or app — or offers a quick picker at your cursor when you want to decide on the fly. It’s a tidy solution for anyone juggling work and personal profiles, cloud accounts, or app vs. web workflows.

What it does

Yojam is essentially a rule engine for URLs: route by domain, prefix, regex, or source app. Want work links in Edge’s corporate profile and everything personal in Safari? Done. It supports targeting specific profiles in Chrome, Firefox, Brave, Edge, Vivaldi, and Opera, plus private-window toggles, mailto routing, clipboard monitoring, iCloud sync, and Shortcuts integration. It has been reported that Yojam strips common tracking parameters (utm_source, fbclid, gclid and 30+ others) before the browser ever sees them, and that it can auto‑learn which browser you prefer per domain. There are also regex-based rewrite templates (Twitter→Nitter, Reddit→old.reddit) included but disabled by default — handy for privacy-minded users.

Receiving links and ecosystem hooks

Every macOS link source goes through the same pipeline: app clicks via the default‑browser path, Finder .webloc files, Handoff and AirDrop, the Share and Services menus, and even browser extensions and a yojam:// URL scheme for Shortcuts, Raycast, Alfred, or scripts. No second‑class handling. The app lives in the menu bar only (no Dock, no Cmd+Tab clutter) and it has been reported that the experience is snappy and lightweight for day‑to‑day use.

Installing and building

You can grab the latest release from yoj.am and install from the DMG; on first launch Yojam will ask to become your default browser so it can intercept links. If you want to build from source you’ll need macOS 14+, Xcode 16+, and xcodegen (brew install xcodegen) to generate the Xcode project. Note that swift build won’t produce a functioning .app bundle for default‑browser behavior — the Share Extension, Safari Web Extension, and native messaging host are Xcode‑only targets and extensions/build.sh generates dist/yojam-chrome.zip and dist/yojam-firefox.xpi, with signing and store submission left to the packager.

If you live in multiple profiles and environments, Yojam promises to stop the small, steady bleed of friction from your day. A neat little Swiss Army knife for macOS link hygiene — privacy and sanity in one package.

Sources: github.com/fluffypony, Lobsters