> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://alexandria.enhe.social/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://alexandria.enhe.social/features/read-later-shelf.md).

# Read Later Shelf

The Read Later Shelf is Alexandria's built-in save-for-later system. It lets you stash any tab you want to come back to — without cluttering your bookmarks or relying on memory.

## Opening the Shelf

Click **Read Later** in the main menu. If you've reordered your menu, it may appear in a different position — see [Custom Menu Ordering](broken://pages/351f60c9a00e84c401ebb9b666227d963c12fa4c).

## Saving a Tab

There are two ways to save a tab to your shelf:

**From the popup**

Open the Read Later view and click **Save current tab**. The tab's title and URL are saved instantly and appear at the top of your list.

**From the right-click menu**

Right-click anywhere on a page and select **Save to Read Later**. This works without opening Alexandria's popup. If the page is already on your shelf, the option changes to **Remove from Read Later** instead. On internal `chrome://` pages, the context menu option is hidden.

**Duplicate detection:** If the current tab is already on your shelf, the popup button briefly shows "Already saved!" instead of adding it again. The right-click menu handles this by switching to the remove option.

**Shelf limit:** The shelf holds up to 60 items. Once full, the save button displays "Shelf is full (60/60)" and is disabled until you remove something. The right-click menu shows a localized disabled state as well.

## Opening a Saved Item

Click any row to open that URL in a new tab. The item stays on your shelf — it is not removed automatically. Items are yours to keep until you decide to delete them.

## Removing an Item

Hover over any saved item (or navigate to it with the keyboard) to reveal a 🗑️ button on the right side of the row. Click it to remove that item from the shelf. Only that item is removed — your other saved items are unaffected.

To clear everything at once, you can remove items individually. A bulk "Clear all" option may be added in a future version.

## Shelf Capacity

| Detail          | Value                                  |
| --------------- | -------------------------------------- |
| Maximum items   | 60                                     |
| Stored per item | Title, URL, timestamp                  |
| Favicons        | Loaded live, not stored                |
| Storage used    | \~21 KB worst case (well within quota) |

## Omni-Search Integration

Saved shelf items appear in [Omni-Search](broken://pages/b32ce61c90bf2a551ce3ab7fd978a87cd6ca3995) results alongside bookmarks and history. They are marked with a 📝 icon and surface at the top of results, since they represent pages you have explicitly chosen to save.

## Sync Across Devices

The shelf uses `chrome.storage.sync`, the same mechanism Alexandria uses for your custom menu order. This means your saved items follow you automatically across any device where you are signed in.

| Browser                 | Sync support                                                     |
| ----------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Chrome                  | ✅ Full sync via Google account                                   |
| Brave                   | ✅ Syncs when Extensions toggle is enabled in Brave Sync settings |
| Edge                    | ✅ Full sync via Microsoft account                                |
| Other Chromium browsers | ⚠️ Typically local only — items do not sync across devices       |

{% hint style="info" %}
**Brave users:** Open `brave://settings/braveSync/setup` and ensure the **Extensions** data type is toggled on. Without it, the shelf saves locally but will not appear on other devices.
{% endhint %}

## Shelf Badge

You can optionally display your shelf item count as a badge on the Alexandria toolbar icon. This is an opt-in setting — enable it in [Settings](broken://pages/4908f20816f279df432037908ba55d2e1fb0c28a). The badge disappears when your shelf is empty and stays current even when the popup is closed.

## Keyboard Navigation

| Action                 | Key                                   |
| ---------------------- | ------------------------------------- |
| Navigate to shelf item | Arrow Up / Arrow Down                 |
| Open item              | Enter                                 |
| Reveal delete button   | Tab (from the row)                    |
| Delete item            | Enter (when delete button is focused) |
| Go back                | Arrow Left                            |


---

# Agent Instructions
This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. Learn more at gitbook.com.

## Querying This Documentation
If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://alexandria.enhe.social/features/read-later-shelf.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.