Side panel view

## Why it matters

The popup is quick but intrusive. Click the page and it vanishes. This is fine for a one-off check, but if you are testing a checkout flow or a login sequence, you lose visibility the moment you fill a form. The side panel stays open as you navigate, so you can watch tags fire while you interact with the page.

## How it works

The side panel docks to the right edge of the browser window. Open it from the toolbar button or with the keyboard shortcut (Alt+Shift+T by default, customisable at chrome://extensions/shortcuts). The panel shows the same hit stream and filters as the popup. When you switch browser tabs, the side panel follows you and shows captures for the active tab only. Close it with the X button or press Escape.

The side panel needs Chrome 114 or later. Older browsers fall back to the popup only. When both are open at once, they share state, so a filter or mute in the popup also affects the side panel, and vice versa.

## What does not matter

The side panel and popup are the same tool, not two separate capture streams. Having both open does not double-capture or create conflicts. On mobile Chrome, the side panel is not available, so the popup is your only option. This is a browser limitation, not a Scalpel Tags design choice.

## Code example

Opening the side panel from an extension button looks like this under the hood:

chrome.sidePanel.open({
  tabId: currentTabId,
});
Copy

The side panel then fetches the captured data for that specific tab from chrome.storage.local, so each tab has its own independent log.

## How Scalpel Tags shows it

Click the Scalpel Tags toolbar button and hold it, or press the keyboard shortcut. Choose "Open side panel" from the menu (or it opens directly if that is your default). The panel slides in from the right side of the browser window and stays there as you browse, fill forms, or navigate. The hit table, dataLayer timeline, and filters work identically to the DevTools panel. Close the panel by clicking the X, pressing Escape, or clicking the toolbar button again.