edge-sidebar-history-migration

name	edge-sidebar-history-migration
description	Recover Microsoft Edge sidebar/App Tower shortcut URLs and convert them into an importable Side Shortcuts Popout backup.

Edge Sidebar History Migration

Use this skill when a user wants to move Microsoft Edge sidebar/App Tower links into Side Shortcuts Popout after Edge removes or hides the built-in sidebar app list.

Workflow

1. Choose the input mode:

   • Direct Edge profile export with -EdgeProfilePath.
   • Already exported JSON / Markdown list with -InputPath.

2. For direct Edge export, use the profile directory or its Preferences file:

   powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\tools\edge-sidebar-migrate\edge-sidebar-migrate.ps1 export-edge `
     -EdgeProfilePath "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Microsoft\Edge\User Data\Default" `
     -OutputPath .\Side-Shortcuts-Popout-edge-sidebar-backup.json `
     -ShortcutListOutputPath .\edge-sidebar-link-list.json
   

3. For an already exported list, run:

   powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\tools\edge-sidebar-migrate\edge-sidebar-migrate.ps1 convert `
     -InputPath .\path\to\edge-sidebar-list.md `
     -OutputPath .\Side-Shortcuts-Popout-edge-sidebar-backup.json
   

4. Ask the user to review the generated JSON if the recovered source was noisy or inferred from browser history.

5. Import from Side Shortcuts Popout Options -> Import -> Merge.

6. Verify by checking that the shortcut count and titles match the recovered list.

Data Contract

Each shortcut should have:

{
  "title": "ChatGPT",
  "url": "https://chat.openai.com/",
  "mobile": true
}

The generated backup uses:

{
  "version": 1,
  "app": "side-shortcuts-popout",
  "shortcuts": []
}

Shortcut IDs are deterministic from URL, so repeated imports with Merge do not create duplicates for the same URL.

Edge 149 Notes

Edge 149 removes the built-in sidebar app list UI. Direct export still works when the profile Preferences file keeps the old sidebar URL records. If the script reports that only titles remain, Edge has likely cleaned the URL records; use a pre-cleanup Preferences backup or an already exported list.

When LLM Judgment Helps

Use LLM judgment only for recovering or cleaning the source list, for example:

• Deciding which entries from browser history were likely old Edge sidebar apps.
• Normalizing long product URLs to canonical home URLs.
• Assigning readable titles to recovered URLs.

Do not use LLM judgment for the actual import file format. Use the CLI so the output stays deterministic.