HTTP Switchboard is a Chromium-extension that lets users take very granular control over the kinds of requests their browser issued: cookies, scripts, images, frames, XHRs, etc., organized by source domain and destination domain, in a matrix interface. Instead of relying solely on curated blocker lists, this tool let you whitelist or blacklist entire classes of requests, per domain, with one-click operations at the intersection of type and domain. Its focus was on privacy and transparency: you could inspect attempted connections, block them entirely, and prevent data from leaving your browser at all. Although the project is now archived and succeeded by other tools (notably uBlock Origin and µMatrix), its design still influences modern request-filtering tools and is a historical reference in browser-privacy architecture. For users who want to understand how fine-grained control over web network activity can be exposed and managed, this repository remains instructive.
Features
- Matrix UI mapping source domain × destination domain × request types (cookies, images, XHR, etc)
- Point-click blocking or allowing of individual cells (type+domain), entire rows or columns
- Real-time inspection of attempted outbound connections and requests
- Efficient filtering engine capable of tens of thousands of rules with low memory footprint
- Ability to define scopes so rules apply only in certain contexts (e.g., when visiting a domain)
- Open-source filtering engine accessible for building derivative extensions