Gopher Reader - Support
Help and FAQs for Gopher Reader, the browser extension that shows any web page as clean text with numbered links, and for the optional Gopher Client desktop app for Linux. Browse the FAQ below or use the contact form.
Frequently Asked Questions
Installation
How do I install Gopher Reader?
In Chrome, Edge and other Chromium browsers, open the Chrome Web Store page and click Add to Chrome (Edge asks once whether to allow extensions from other stores). In Firefox desktop, open the Firefox Add-ons page and click Add to Firefox. Pin the Gopher Reader button to the toolbar so it stays in sight. The extension is made for desktop browsers.Do I need the Gopher Client app?
No. The extension works on its own in every supported browser. The Gopher Client desktop app is optional and currently Linux only; it adds the Open in Gopher app button, see below.Reading
How do I convert a page?
Click the toolbar button or press Alt+Shift+0. The reading copy opens in a new tab and the original page stays where it was. The extension reads only the tab you chose and only when you ask, so a new page needs another click.What are the Article, Full page and Links views?
Article extracts the main writing of the page; when no article is detected it shows the readable text of the page. Full page keeps navigation, sidebars and other page text. Links lists every web and Gopher destination once, with a stable number that the text also uses.How do I search, change the font size or switch to dark mode?
Find (or the/ key) searches the displayed text: Enter moves to the next match, Shift+Enter back, Escape closes it. A− and A+ change the font size, Wrap toggles line wrapping, and the System, Light and Dark choice sets the appearance. These settings are kept for the next page.Can I keep or export a page?
Save page bookmarks the title and address of the source page, up to 200 bookmarks; Saved pages opens that list, and a saved page opens its original site, where you click the extension again. Export text downloads the current view as a UTF-8 .txt file with its numbered links. Refresh text reads the source tab again, including text the page loaded later.The shortcut does nothing, or a page cannot be converted
Another extension may already use Alt+Shift+0. Change the shortcut in Chrome under Extensions → Keyboard shortcuts, or in Firefox under Add-ons and themes → the gear icon → Manage Extension Shortcuts. Some pages cannot be converted at all: the browser’s own pages, the extension stores, PDFs and pages the browser protects. Very long pages are shortened, and the reading copy says so.Privacy
What does the extension store or send?
Nothing is sent anywhere. The extension makes no network requests, has no analytics and no accounts. The reading copy of each open reader tab lives in the browser’s session storage and is removed when that tab closes; your settings and bookmarks (title, address and the time you saved them) stay in the browser’s local storage. Form contents are never copied, and images are replaced by their text descriptions.Why does it ask for these permissions?
activeTab and scripting let it read the page in the current tab after you click, and nothing else. storage keeps the reading copies, settings and bookmarks. nativeMessaging is used only by Open in Gopher app, to talk to the Gopher Client app on the same computer. There are no host permissions, so it cannot read other tabs or sites.Gopher Client app (Linux)
What does Open in Gopher app do?
With the Gopher Client desktop app installed, the button saves the article text, the full-page text and the numbered links in the app’s library and opens them in the app as a Gopher menu. The app serves that library over the real Gopher protocol at127.0.0.1:7070, an address only your own computer can reach. Saved pages stay readable offline, link to each other and are available to other Gopher clients on the same machine. Clicking the button again for the same reading copy updates the saved snapshot.How do I install the Gopher Client app?
Download the Linux package (gopher-client-…-linux-x86_64.tar.gz) from the releases page, extract it and run ./install.sh. It installs for your user only and needs no administrator rights: it adds Gopher Client to the application menu, registers gopher:// links and registers the browser integration for Chrome, Chromium, Edge and Firefox. A 64-bit Linux desktop with GTK 3 is required. Restart the browser afterwards. Snap and Flatpak browsers may need additional native messaging setup.The button says “Could not connect to Gopher Client”
The app is not installed,install.sh has not been run yet, or the browser was not restarted after installing. Browsers that keep their profile in their own folder (Brave, Vivaldi and similar) are not registered by install.sh; Chrome, Chromium, Edge and Firefox are. Everything else in the extension keeps working without the app.How do I manage the saved pages?
Saved web pages in the app’s toolbar reopens or removes copies, and Stop serving stops the local server while keeping the data; opening the library or sending a new page starts it again. Copies live under~/.local/share/gopher-reader/pages, capped at 100 pages and 64 MiB. Port 7070 must be free.Updates & uninstall
How do I update?
The browser updates the extension automatically from the Chrome Web Store or Firefox Add-ons. For the app, download the new package and run./install.sh again; it replaces the installed version and keeps your saved pages.How do I uninstall?
Remove the extension from the browser’s extensions page; its settings and bookmarks go with it. For the app, delete~/.local/share/gopher-client (the app), ~/.local/share/gopher-reader (the saved pages), the launcher ~/.local/share/applications/org.gopherclient.gopher_flutter_client.desktop and the Gopher Reader host files under ~/.config/<browser>/NativeMessagingHosts and ~/.mozilla/native-messaging-hosts.Contact Support
Can’t find what you’re looking for? Send us a message and we’ll get back to you within 1–2 business days.Bug Reports & Feature Requests
For bug reports and feature requests, please open an issue at github.com/rafael-minuesa/gopher-flutter-client/issues. Please include your browser, the address of the page and the steps to reproduce so we can investigate efficiently.