I built a Chrome extension that punishes you for having too many tabs open

The idea

I always have 40+ tabs open. Every tab manager I tried felt like a chore. So I asked: what if instead of making cleanup easier, I made the problem impossible to ignore?

Split is a Chrome extension that glitches your browser the more tabs you have open. The glitches are the punishment — they get worse as your tab count grows. The source of the chaos is a Pac-Man style ghost living on your new tab page, with 5 mood states that escalate from calm to full beast mode. Open enough tabs and your browser starts to feel broken. It's pressure, not productivity porn.

The tools underneath

The ghost and the glitches are the hook, but the real value is the tab management: save named workspaces, park tabs for later, hibernate inactive ones, Tab Manager with search and duplicate detection. The goal is to give users everything they need to actually close tabs with confidence.

Where it's at

Just shipped v0.1 to the Chrome Web Store
No monetization yet — free while I validate retention
Roadmap: Pro tier with unlimited workspaces + Focus Mode (that's where the real $$ is)
Inspired loosely by the movie Split — tab overload as a dissociative metaphor felt right

What I don't know yet

Whether the glitches are a retention mechanism or a gimmick people uninstall after 10 minutes. That's what I'm trying to find out.

Would love feedback from anyone who's shipped a Chrome extension — especially around the review process and early growth.

Chrome Store: https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/split/cojgpdmphfbliokdhbodhpeoaaiflool