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sevkin/url_open.go

Last active February 2, 2026 19:00
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golang open url in default browser
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url_open.go
// https://stackoverflow.com/questions/39320371/how-start-web-server-to-open-page-in-browser-in-golang
// open opens the specified URL in the default browser of the user.
func open(url string) error {
var cmd string
var args []string
switch runtime.GOOS {
case "windows":
cmd = "cmd"
args = []string{"/c", "start"}
case "darwin":
cmd = "open"
default: // "linux", "freebsd", "openbsd", "netbsd"
cmd = "xdg-open"
}
args = append(args, url)
return exec.Command(cmd, args...).Start()
}
@NohbdyHub
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NohbdyHub commented Feb 2, 2026 

// openURL opens the specified URL in the default browser of the user.
func openURL(url string) error {
	var cmd string
	var args []string

	switch runtime.GOOS {
	case "windows":
		cmd = "cmd.exe"
		args = []string{"/c", "rundll32", "url.dll,FileProtocolHandler", strings.ReplaceAll(url, "&", "^&")}
	case "darwin":
		cmd = "open"
		args = []string{url}
	default:
		if isWSL() {
			cmd = "cmd.exe"
			args = []string{"start", url}
		} else {
			cmd = "xdg-open"
			args = []string{url}
		}
	}

	e := exec.Command(cmd, args...)
	err := e.Start()
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}
	err = e.Wait()
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}

	return nil
}

// isWSL checks if the Go program is running inside Windows Subsystem for Linux
func isWSL() bool {
	releaseData, err := exec.Command("uname", "-r").Output()
	if err != nil {
		return false
	}
	return strings.Contains(strings.ToLower(string(releaseData)), "microsoft")
}

Only way I could get this to work on my Windows 10 machine, helpful link from @Xxproner. Quotes being wrapped around url seem to be getting stripped by exec?

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