Tips & Tricks

Real workflows from power users. These are the patterns that make MetaDock significantly more productive than a regular browser.

Power User Workflows

Profiles

1. Multi-Profile Research

Create separate profiles for different research contexts. Each has its own proxy, user agent, cookies, and bookmarks.

Example: A competitive analyst creates profiles for “Company A”, “Company B”, and “Public”. Each profile has different search histories and login states, preventing cross-contamination of research data.

Layout

2. Auto-Tile Then Lock

Let auto-tiling build your grid, then lock it to prevent accidental changes.

Steps: Open your sites one by one → MetaDock auto-arranges them → press Ctrl+Shift+E to equalize sizes → press F9 to lock → press Ctrl+S to save. Done. Your layout is permanent.

API

3. Batch Browser Operations

Control multiple browsers simultaneously with the REST API's batch endpoint.

Example: A QA tester uses a Python script to navigate 10 browser panels to different pages, fill out forms in all of them, and take screenshots — all in one API call with up to 100 operations per browser.

4. AI-Powered Automation

Connect Claude or another AI assistant via MCP to automate complex multi-browser workflows.

Example: Tell Claude: “Create 5 browser panels, navigate each to a different competitor's pricing page, take screenshots, and save them.” Claude does it all through MCP — creating browsers, navigating, screenshotting, and organizing the results.

Trading

5. Instant Trading Dashboard

Build a complete trading dashboard in under 30 seconds.

Steps: Press F6 → type AAPL, TSLA, GOOGL, NVDA → select TradingView for each → click “Open All” → 4 charts appear in a tiled grid → Ctrl+S to save → tomorrow, it's one click away.

Research

6. Bookmark-Driven Research

Use bookmarks and batch operations to avoid tab overload during research.

Workflow: Reading an article with 20 links → bookmark the interesting ones (Ctrl+D) into a “Research” folder → finish the article → batch-open the best bookmarks as new panels → research without losing your flow.

Workspaces

7. Context Switching with Workspaces

Eliminate context-switching friction by creating a workspace for each role.

Setup: Create workspaces for “Trading” (12 chart panels), “Development” (IDE + browser + docs), “Communication” (email + Slack + Discord), and “Entertainment” (streaming + social media). Switch between them with Ctrl+Shift+W. Each one restores instantly with everything exactly where you left it.

Keyboard

8. Keyboard-First Navigation

Navigate MetaDock entirely from the keyboard.

The essentials: Ctrl+K (go anywhere), Ctrl+1-9 (switch tabs), Ctrl+Tab (next browser panel), Ctrl+Shift+P (switch profile), Ctrl+S (save). These 5 shortcuts cover 80% of daily usage.

Settings

9. Settings Audit

Quickly review what you've customized.

Trick: Open Settings (Ctrl+,) → type @modified in the search bar. This shows only settings you've changed from defaults. Great for troubleshooting or sharing your setup with someone.

Apps

10. All-in-One Workspace

Combine browsers and native apps in a single workspace.

Example: Embed VS Code on the left half, your web app in a browser panel on the right, and a terminal at the bottom. Save the workspace. Now your entire dev environment restores with one click — including the embedded apps.

Choosing an Automation Protocol

MetaDock offers 5 different automation protocols. Here's how to pick the right one for your task:

Use Case	Best Protocol
AI assistant control (Claude, ChatGPT)	MCP — the AI sends tool calls to control MetaDock
Simple scripts (Python, curl, bash)	REST API — standard HTTP requests, easy to write
Real-time event monitoring	WebSocket — subscribe to events, get instant notifications
Existing Selenium test suites	WebDriver — drop-in W3C compatible, minimal code changes
Low-level browser debugging	CDP — full DevTools Protocol, use Puppeteer or Playwright
Complex multi-step automation	REST API + WebSocket — commands via REST, events via WebSocket

Starting out? Use the REST API. It's the simplest — just HTTP requests with JSON. You can automate everything from a 10-line Python script. Add WebSocket later when you need real-time events.

Performance Tips

Get the most out of MetaDock with these performance practices:

Use batch operations

Instead of making 10 separate API calls to navigate 10 browsers, use a single batch request. The batch endpoint supports up to 100 operations per browser. This is dramatically faster and reduces network overhead.

Subscribe, don't poll

If you need to know when a page finishes loading, subscribe to WebSocket events instead of polling the REST API in a loop. WebSocket delivers events instantly with zero wasted requests.

Isolate with profiles

Running automation across multiple accounts? Use a separate profile for each. This prevents cookie/cache conflicts and ensures each browser instance is truly independent.

Lock during automation

Press F9 to lock your layout before running automation scripts. This prevents accidental panel rearrangement if a script interaction triggers a drag event.