From 53c828150b19b37a910f267995cf10f1af0b5714 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Chris Tate <chris@ctate.dev>
Date: Tue, 10 Feb 2026 09:49:39 -0600
Subject: [PATCH] fix: auto-switch to externally opened tabs

Update `setupContextTracking` in `BrowserManager` to auto-switch `activePageIndex` to newly opened tabs and invalidate the CDP session accordingly. This mirrors what `newTab()` and `newWindow()` already do for explicitly created tabs, and aligns CLI behavior with how real browsers focus newly opened tabs.

Fixes #384
---
 src/browser.test.ts | 27 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 src/browser.ts      | 13 ++++++++++++-
 2 files changed, 39 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/src/browser.test.ts b/src/browser.test.ts
index ae0ea0cd..4df6b61e 100644
--- a/src/browser.test.ts
+++ b/src/browser.test.ts
@@ -132,6 +132,33 @@ describe('BrowserManager', () => {
         expect(result.remaining).toBe(1);
       }
     });
+
+    it('should auto-switch to externally opened tab (window.open)', async () => {
+      // Ensure we start on tab 0
+      const initialIndex = browser.getActiveIndex();
+      expect(initialIndex).toBe(0);
+
+      const page = browser.getPage();
+
+      // Use window.open to create a new tab externally (as a user/script would)
+      await page.evaluate(() => {
+        window.open('about:blank', '_blank');
+      });
+
+      // Wait for the new page event to be processed
+      await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 500));
+
+      // Active tab should now be the newly opened tab
+      const newIndex = browser.getActiveIndex();
+      expect(newIndex).toBe(1);
+
+      const tabs = await browser.listTabs();
+      expect(tabs.length).toBe(2);
+      expect(tabs[1].active).toBe(true);
+
+      // Clean up: close the new tab
+      await browser.closeTab(1);
+    });
   });
 
   describe('context operations', () => {
diff --git a/src/browser.ts b/src/browser.ts
index c60baacd..b6a64e47 100644
--- a/src/browser.ts
+++ b/src/browser.ts
@@ -1278,7 +1278,7 @@ export class BrowserManager {
 
   /**
    * Set up tracking for new pages in a context (for CDP connections and popups/new tabs)
-   * This handles pages created externally (e.g., via target="_blank" links)
+   * This handles pages created externally (e.g., via target="_blank" links, window.open)
    */
   private setupContextTracking(context: BrowserContext): void {
     context.on('page', (page) => {
@@ -1287,6 +1287,17 @@ export class BrowserManager {
         this.pages.push(page);
         this.setupPageTracking(page);
       }
+
+      // Auto-switch to the newly opened tab so subsequent commands target it.
+      // For tabs created via newTab()/newWindow(), this is redundant (they set activePageIndex after),
+      // but for externally opened tabs (window.open, target="_blank"), this ensures the active tab
+      // stays in sync with the browser.
+      const newIndex = this.pages.indexOf(page);
+      if (newIndex !== -1 && newIndex !== this.activePageIndex) {
+        this.activePageIndex = newIndex;
+        // Invalidate CDP session since the active page changed
+        this.invalidateCDPSession().catch(() => {});
+      }
     });
   }