Arc

Arc History

Overview

Arc records browsing history, downloads, and omnibox search terms in a Chromium History SQLite database inside each profile directory. The database is identical in format to Chrome's, so the schema, transition types, and queries on the Chrome History page all apply unchanged. This page covers what differs for Arc.

File Locations

ArtifactPath
History database~/Library/Application Support/Arc/User Data/{Profile}/History
Journal file~/Library/Application Support/Arc/User Data/{Profile}/History-journal
WAL / SHM files~/Library/Application Support/Arc/User Data/{Profile}/History-wal, History-shm

Replace {Profile} with Default, Profile 1, and so on. Check every profile directory. Arc ties each Space to a profile, so a user with separate "Work" and "Personal" Spaces may have browsing split across several History databases.

Tables of Interest

TableContents
urlsOne row per unique URL: title, visit count, typed count, last visit time
visitsOne row per visit: time, transition type, referring visit, duration
downloads, downloads_url_chainsDownloaded files, target paths, and redirect chains
keyword_search_termsSearch terms typed into the command bar, linked to urls

See Chrome History for full column definitions.

Timestamps

All History timestamps are WebKit format: microseconds since 1601-01-01 00:00:00 UTC.

SELECT
    datetime(v.visit_time / 1000000 - 11644473600, 'unixepoch') AS visit_time_utc,
    u.url,
    u.title,
    v.transition & 0xFF AS core_transition
FROM visits v
JOIN urls u ON u.id = v.url
ORDER BY v.visit_time DESC;

Arc-Specific Analysis Notes

  • Correlate with the sidebar. A URL that is also a pinned tab in Sidebar Items is something the user deliberately kept. The pinned tab's timeLastActiveAt can show recent use even when history has been cleared.
  • Today tabs are archived, not closed. Arc archives unpinned tabs after a user-configurable period (12 hours by default). Their visits remain in History, but the tab is no longer in the sidebar.
  • Command-bar searches. Arc replaces Chrome's address bar with a command bar (⌘T). Check keyword_search_terms as you would for Chrome. Searches that open a results page also appear in urls and visits with the query in the URL.
  • Clearing history. Clearing history in Arc removes rows from this database but not the sidebar file. StorableSidebar.json and its timestamped backups may still hold URLs and titles the user deleted from history.

What macfor Collects

The browser.arc plugin parses History in every profile and emits browser_history, browser_download, and browser_search_term records with browser: arc. These use the same record shapes as Chrome, so Arc and Chrome activity can share one timeline.

References

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