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Switch link rules on and off from the menu bar

Junction is a free, open-source macOS app that becomes your default browser and routes each link by your rules. It lives in the menu bar — no windows, no Dock icon — and its menu lists every rule, so you can turn one off or on with a single click.

Junction’s Rules menu: five rules checked on, the demo-mode rule off, and Edit Rules… at the bottom

How do I turn a rule off without opening Settings?

Click Junction’s menu-bar icon, open Rules, and click the rule. A checkmark means the rule is on; click it again to turn it back on.

  • Rules are listed in match order, the order Junction checks them.
  • Edit Rules… at the bottom opens the Rules pane in Settings.

Junction skips it. A link the rule would have caught goes to the next rule that matches, or to your fallback browser if none does — exactly as if the rule weren’t there.

Yes. Add a catch-all rule with the pattern * that opens a clean browser profile, then turn it off in the Rules menu. Before a demo, tick it there: every link opens in the clean profile, with no personal tabs or history on screen, until you untick it.

rule
{
  "name": "Demo mode → clean profile",
  "match": { "patterns": ["*"] },
  "action": { "app": "com.google.Chrome", "profile": "Profile 3" }
}
junction test
$ junction test "https://example.com/"
input:       https://example.com/
rule:        [1] Demo mode → clean profile
action:      open in com.google.Chrome profile "Profile 3"
url:         https://example.com/

Keep it at the top of your list, so it wins over every other rule while it’s on. Profile directories are explained in Chrome profiles.

Can I pause my work rules on weekends?

Yes. Turn the work rule off in the Rules menu on Friday and back on on Monday; its links open in your fallback browser in between.

rule
{
  "name": "Work tools → work profile",
  "match": { "patterns": ["*.atlassian.net/*", "app.clickup.com/*", "docs.google.com/*"] },
  "action": { "app": "com.google.Chrome", "profile": "Profile 1" }
}

To send everything to one place for a while, a catch-all rule like the demo one above is quicker than switching rules off one by one.

What else is in Junction’s menu?

Item What it does
Recent Links The last 10 links Junction routed. In memory only — never written to disk.
Rules Every rule, checked when it’s on.
Settings… Fallback, rules, browsers and profiles, deep links, updates.
Update to … Appears, and the icon gets a dot, when an update is ready.

The icon also warns you when the config file has an error; the last rules that worked stay live until you fix it. More in syncing rules across Macs.

Get Junction

Junction is free and MIT-licensed, for macOS 13 or later on Apple silicon and Intel. Install it with Homebrew or the DMG, then follow the first-launch steps.