From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

PSA: How to overcome the 260-character Windows shortcut field limit

Would you have signed up to Google or Dogpile, when search came out
just to search, or should your searches NOT require a login account?

I use LLM instead of a Google Search nowadays, simply because the
search queries and output results are more natural.

Where I think it's absurd that a login/account is required for some.
So I open up a dozen LLMs (just like I used to open up search forms).

But there is a 260-character limitation on shortcut target fields.

If you know of other ways to get around the 260-character target
limit, please let us know so that we benefit from your experience.

My philosophy is to use each web browser for one task and one task only.
Since MS Edge sucks, I've tasked it with being my search engine for LLMs.

But opening a set of free no-registration search LLMs is >260 characters. "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge\Application\msedge.exe" --profile-directory=Default edge://settings/privacy/clearBrowsingData https://chatgpt.com/ https://gemini.google.com/app https://duck.ai/ https://www.perplexity.ai/ https://plai.chat/ https://huggingface.co/chat/ https://duckduckgo.com/chat

How do we get around that 260-character shortcut target limitation?

1. A batch file, of course, can get around the 260-char limit.
TARGET: C:\data\sys\batch\llm.bat
:: llm.bat
start "" "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge\Application\msedge.exe" --profile-directory=Default edge://settings/privacy/clearBrowsingData https://chatgpt.com/ https://gemini.google.com/app https://duck.ai/ https://www.perplexity.ai/ https://plai.chat/ https://huggingface.co/chat/ https://duckduckgo.com/chat
:: end of llm.bat

2. Another trick is to use cmd.exe /c start "" syntax
(because Windows AppPaths already knows where msedge is registered
so we only need the word "msedge" for Windows to find it).
TARGET: cmd.exe /c start msedge --profile-directory=Default edge://settings/privacy/clearBrowsingData https://chatgpt.com/ https://gemini.google.com/app https://duck.ai/ https://www.perplexity.ai/ https://plai.chat/ https://huggingface.co/chat/ https://duckduckgo.com/chat

Note: The empty quotes after start are intentional because
start treats its first quoted argument as a window title,
so "" supplies a blank title.

3. Another case-specific trick is to shorten URL components:
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge\Application\msedge.exe" --profile-directory=Default edge://settings/privacy/clearBrowsingData chatgpt.com gemini.google.com/app duck.ai perplexity.ai plai.chat huggingface.co/chat duckduckgo.com/chat

4. PowerShell doesn't suffer from string-truncation issues inside
shortcuts, and we can invoke Edge directly via its COM shell
object or Start-Process.

cmd.exe /c powershell -windowstyle hidden -command "Start-Process msedge '--profile-directory=Default edge://settings/privacy/clearBrowsingData https://chatgpt.com https://gemini.google.com/app https://duck.ai https://perplexity.ai https://phind.com'"

5. We can compress long fields into shell environment variables.
Win+R > sysdm.cpl > Advanced > Environment Variables.
EDGE_OPT = --profile-directory=Default edge://settings/privacy/clearBrowsingData
cmd.exe /c start msedge %EDGE_OPTS% https://chatgpt.com https://gemini.google.com/app https://duck.ai https://perplexity.ai

6. VBScript Wrapper (look ma, no black cmd flash!)
gvim wscript.exe C:\data\sys\vbs\llm.vbs
Set WshShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
WshShell.Run "msedge --profile-directory=Default edge://settings/privacy/clearBrowsingData https://chatgpt.com https://gemini.google.com/app https://duck.ai https://www.perplexity.ai https://phind.com", 0, False
Target=wscript.exe C:\data\sys\vbs\llm.vbs

7. Create Edge tab open-on-startup tab grouping
Open all tabs and save as an Edge profile (e.g., profile_llm)
Edge Account Icon > Set up a new profile > Personal
Target=msedge --profile-directory="profile_llm"

8. We can also use tab groups and bookmarks.
:
Any others methods to overcome the 260-character target limit?

Note: Above targets have duplicates (e.g., ddg) but the point
is that an LLM link target will be longer than 260 characters.

What I need to add & test might be some of these but the point
of this thread is simply ways to get around the 260-char limit.

That's because this is my short list of LLms to test in the shortcut!
https://arena.ai/
https://chatgpt.com
https://chat.mistral.ai/chat
https://chat.qwen.ai/
https://chat.webllm.ai/
https://deepai.org/chat
https://deep-seek.com/chat
https://duckduckgo.com/chat
https://easemate.ai/chat-gpt-free
https://ecogpt.com/
https://gemini.google.com/app
https://gizza.ai/chat
https://huggingface.co/spaces
https://lumo.proton.me/guest
https://olabiba.com/
https://perplexity.ai
https://phindai.org/
https://pi.ai/talk/
https://plai.chat
https://quad.chat/
https://rewind.ai/best/no-sign-up/
https://rok.rokteam.org/chat
https://search.brave.com/
https://talkai.info/chat/
https://venice.ai/
https://webkitonline.com/ai/chat/

And possibly
https://aifreeforever.com/chat
https://surfsense.com/free
https://zalt.me/tools/free-ai-chat-online

Any other web-based LLMs that are free and which require no login account?
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

This llm.bat script below works for any set of URLs you want to open.

Since there's a lot of initial readjustment to the score of URLs,
I opted for the batch method, which allows for more flexibility.

This is the early version, where since I want to put comments
next to each LLM URL (e.g., works with VPN, 25-turn limit,
1000 character-per-turn limit, etc.) I'm going to the "start"
method that is shown in the optional list commented out.

But if folks want a simple list method, w/o start, here it is.

:: --------------------------------------------------------------------
:: llm.bat
:: Set shortcut TARGET to this batch file C:\data\sys\bat\llm.bat
:: It will open all known free no-registration no-login web-based LLMs
:: This is designed to make it easy to manage the list and the order
:: --------------------------------------------------------------------
:: v1p2 20261012 Added optional "start" method so comments can be added
:: v1p1 20261012 Added alphabetical LLM URLs into a maintable list
:: v1p0 20261012 Batch method to overcome shortcut target 26-char limit
:: --------------------------------------------------------------------
@echo off
set "EDGE=C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge\Application\msedge.exe"

for %%U in (
"https://chatgpt.com/"
"https://gemini.google.com/app"
"https://duckduckgo.com/chat"
"https://arena.ai/"
"https://chat.mistral.ai/chat"
"https://chat.qwen.ai/"
"https://chat.webllm.ai/"
"https://deepai.org/chat"
"https://deep-seek.com/chat"
"https://easemate.ai/chat-gpt-free"
"https://ecogpt.com/"
"https://gizza.ai/chat"
"https://huggingface.co/spaces"
"https://lumo.proton.me/guest"
"https://olabiba.com/"
"https://perplexity.ai/"
"https://phindai.org/"
"https://pi.ai/talk/"
"https://plai.chat/"
"https://quad.chat/"
"https://rewind.ai/best/no-sign-up/"
"https://rok.rokteam.org/chat"
"https://search.brave.com/"
"https://talkai.info/chat/"
"https://venice.ai/"
"https://webkitonline.com/ai/chat/"
"https://aifreeforever.com/chat"
"https://surfsense.com/free"
"https://zalt.me/tools/free-ai-chat-online"
) do (
start "" "%EDGE%" --profile-directory=Default "%%~U"
)

:: Optional URLs -- uncomment any lines to enable them:
:: start "" "%EDGE%" --profile-directory=Default "https://aifreeforever.com/chat"
:: start "" "%EDGE%" --profile-directory=Default "https://surfsense.com/free"
:: start "" "%EDGE%" --profile-directory=Default "https://zalt.me/tools/free-ai-chat-online"

:: end of llm.bat
--
Every working example is someone paying forward a hard-learned lesson.
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

Maria Sophia wrote:

Every working example is someone paying forward a hard-learned lesson.

Below is the current version of llm.bat for your edification.

Each day, for an entire day, I test out one more LLM to the list.
It's easy as I just comment/uncomment the "start" line in llm.bat.

Most fail after a few turns, either because they switch to login mode, or,
as with chatgpt, they slow down to a crawl for INPUT (output too!).

I left chatgpt on 'cuz you can restart it and it will speed up again.
I left gemini on also, cuz it nags like hell to log in, but lets you not.
But gemini really hates vpn, while both chatgpt and ddg don't complain. DuckDuckGo is more of a random pain, as it randomly requires confirmation.

This is only the current status after a few days worth of testing.
:: --------------------------------------------------------------------
:: llm.bat
:: Set Edge shortcut TARGET to this batch file C:\data\sys\bat\llm.bat
:: It will open all known free no-registration no-login web-based LLMs
:: This is designed to make it easy to manage the list and the order
:: --------------------------------------------------------------------
:: v1p8 20261015 One by one, I'm testing and adding comments to the start
:: v1p7 20261014 Added a 2 second wait period to prevent race conditions
:: v1p6 20261012 Added commented-out option to open each in a new window
:: v1p5 20261012 Changed to variables instead of repeating command options
:: v1p4 20261012 Added checks for missing executables just in case
:: v1p3 20261012 Changed from a list to a start method to allow comments
:: v1p2 20261012 Added optional "start" method so comments can be added
:: v1p1 20261012 Added alphabetical LLM URLs into a maintable list
:: v1p0 20261012 Batch method to overcome shortcut target 26-char limit
:: --------------------------------------------------------------------
@echo off
set "EDGE=C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge\Application\msedge.exe"
:: set "EDGE_ARGS=--profile-directory=Default --new-window"
set "EDGE_ARGS=--profile-directory=Default"

if not exist "%EDGE%" (
echo Edge was not found at:
echo "%EDGE%"
exit /b 1
)

:: A list is simplest, but it doesn't safely allow for comments
:: such as "works with VPN", "1K character limit", "25-turn limit", etc.

for %%U in (
"https://duckduckgo.com/chat"
"https://chatgpt.com/"
"https://gemini.google.com/app"
) do (
start "" "%EDGE%" %EDGE_ARGS% "%%~U"
)

:: Add a wait period so that a race condition keeps desired order
timeout /t 2 /nobreak >nul

:: The start method easily allows for comments but then the
:: order tabs appear may change given each is run separately.

:: PASS: Fast startup, slows down over time, but works well with VPN
:: start "" "%EDGE%" %EDGE_ARGS% "https://chatgpt.com/"

:: PASS: Slow startup, does not slow over time but does not work well with VPN
:: start "" "%EDGE%" %EDGE_ARGS% "https://gemini.google.com/app"

:: PASS: Randomly requires privacy acceptance policy at first start
:: Slower than most
:: Randomly asks to use location
:: start "" "%EDGE%" %EDGE_ARGS% "https://duckduckgo.com/chat"

:: FAIL: Randomly requires login at from 0 to about 3 turns.
:: start "" "%EDGE%" %EDGE_ARGS% "https://arena.ai/"

:: FAIL: Random login, requires privacy acceptance at every startup.
:: start "" "%EDGE%" %EDGE_ARGS% "https://chat.mistral.ai/chat"

:: FAIL: Randly requires a login
:: Randomly asks "What year were you born"
:: start "" "%EDGE%" %EDGE_ARGS% "https://chat.qwen.ai/"

:: comment
start "" "%EDGE%" %EDGE_ARGS% "https://deepai.org/chat"

:: comment
:: start "" "%EDGE%" %EDGE_ARGS% "https://deep-seek.com/chat"

:: comment
:: start "" "%EDGE%" %EDGE_ARGS% "https://easemate.ai/chat-gpt-free"

:: comment
:: start "" "%EDGE%" %EDGE_ARGS% "https://ecogpt.com/"

:: comment
:: start "" "%EDGE%" %EDGE_ARGS% "https://gizza.ai/chat"

:: comment
:: start "" "%EDGE%" %EDGE_ARGS% "https://huggingface.co/spaces"

:: comment
:: start "" "%EDGE%" %EDGE_ARGS% "https://lumo.proton.me/guest"

:: comment
:: start "" "%EDGE%" %EDGE_ARGS% "https://olabiba.com/"

:: comment
:: start "" "%EDGE%" %EDGE_ARGS% "https://perplexity.ai/"

:: comment
:: start "" "%EDGE%" %EDGE_ARGS% "https://phindai.org/"

:: comment
:: start "" "%EDGE%" %EDGE_ARGS% "https://pi.ai/talk/"

:: comment
:: start "" "%EDGE%" %EDGE_ARGS% "https://plai.chat/"

:: comment
:: start "" "%EDGE%" %EDGE_ARGS% "https://quad.chat/"

:: comment
:: start "" "%EDGE%" %EDGE_ARGS% "https://rewind.ai/best/no-sign-up/"

:: comment
:: start "" "%EDGE%" %EDGE_ARGS% "https://rok.rokteam.org/chat"

:: comment
:: start "" "%EDGE%" %EDGE_ARGS% "https://search.brave.com/"

:: comment
:: start "" "%EDGE%" %EDGE_ARGS% "https://talkai.info/chat/"

:: comment
:: start "" "%EDGE%" %EDGE_ARGS% "https://venice.ai/"

:: comment
:: start "" "%EDGE%" %EDGE_ARGS% "https://webkitonline.com/ai/chat/"

:: comment
:: start "" "%EDGE%" %EDGE_ARGS% "https://aifreeforever.com/chat"

:: comment
:: start "" "%EDGE%" %EDGE_ARGS% "https://surfsense.com/free"

:: Error: Unable to find a compatible GPU
:: start "" "%EDGE%" %EDGE_ARGS% "https://chat.webllm.ai/"


:: comment
:: start "" "%EDGE%" %EDGE_ARGS% "https://zalt.me/tools/free-ai-chat-online"

:: Need to figure out what this is
:: start "" "%EDGE%" %EDGE_ARGS% "https://aifreeforever.com/chat"

:: Need to figure out what this is
:: start "" "%EDGE%" %EDGE_ARGS% "https://surfsense.com/free"

:: Need to figure out what this is
:: start "" "%EDGE%" %EDGE_ARGS% "https://zalt.me/tools/free-ai-chat-online"

:: end of llm.bat
--
On Usenet, we share what we know and learn what we don't.
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

On 10/16/2026 4:22 AM, Maria Sophia wrote:

Maria Sophia wrote:

Every working example is someone paying forward a hard-learned lesson.

Below is the current version of llm.bat for your edification.

Why not use a simple html file like this instead of bat file:

https://onlib.de/temp/ai.html

Make it the start page of Edge and with a simple middle mouse click
(I prefer mouse button 4 for this purpose) you can open an AI
page in a new TAB. When you close the TAB (I use mouse button 5
for closing a TAB) you are back in the menu.

And if you put this page on an web server, you (and maybe interested
others) can access it from any computer.



--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

Maria Sophia wrote:

PSA: How to overcome the 260-character Windows shortcut field limit

Is the shortcut limit different from the general path limit?

If not, doesn't it go away for Win10/Win11 with a registry setting?

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem] "LongPathsEnabled"=dword:00000001
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

On Fri, 16 Oct 2026 08:28:17 +0100, Andy Burns wrote:

Maria Sophia wrote:

PSA: How to overcome the 260-character Windows shortcut field limit

Is the shortcut limit different from the general path limit?

If not, doesn't it go away for Win10/Win11 with a registry setting?

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem] "LongPathsEnabled"=dword:00000001

That setting is only for the kernel side of the file-system handling, which
is a relatively new software support (since Windows 10).

Applications may hard-code the 260-character limit in their own code, in
order not to bother checking error code.

If that setting is already enabled and the system has been restarted (for
the setting to take effect), and the shell still limit paths to 260
characters, then the shell is not yet updated to take advantage of that setting. By "shell", I meant the shell library. e.g. SHELL32.DLL,
SHLWAPI.DLL, etc.

The LNK shortcut file format itself is not limited to 260 characters for strings. For ANSI typed strings, they're stored as a NULL-terminated string (thus no length limit). For Unicode typed strings, they're stored as a
finite string length where the length is defined as an unsigned 16-bit
integer. Meaning that, Unicode strings can be up to 65534 bytes or 32767 Unicode characters. Note: Windows' native Unicode format is UTF-16. Not
UTF-8.
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

JJ wrote:

On Fri, 16 Oct 2026 08:28:17 +0100, Andy Burns wrote:

Maria Sophia wrote:

PSA: How to overcome the 260-character Windows shortcut field limit

Is the shortcut limit different from the general path limit?

If not, doesn't it go away for Win10/Win11 with a registry setting?

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem]
"LongPathsEnabled"=dword:00000001

That setting is only for the kernel side of the file-system handling, which is a relatively new software support (since Windows 10).

Applications may hard-code the 260-character limit in their own code, in order not to bother checking error code.

If that setting is already enabled and the system has been restarted (for
the setting to take effect), and the shell still limit paths to 260 characters, then the shell is not yet updated to take advantage of that setting. By "shell", I meant the shell library. e.g. SHELL32.DLL, SHLWAPI.DLL, etc.

The LNK shortcut file format itself is not limited to 260 characters for strings. For ANSI typed strings, they're stored as a NULL-terminated string (thus no length limit). For Unicode typed strings, they're stored as a
finite string length where the length is defined as an unsigned 16-bit integer. Meaning that, Unicode strings can be up to 65534 bytes or 32767 Unicode characters. Note: Windows' native Unicode format is UTF-16. Not UTF-8.

Wow. THANK YOU both for helping to answer the question of how to overcome
the reputed 260-character limit on shortcut TARGET field overall length.

I LOVE Andy's suggestion, but looking at JJ's clarification, it seems maybe that LongPathsEnabled registry setting enables long paths for supported applications' file-system operations but, from what JJ clarified, perhaps a shortcut's command line is not a file path, so the 260-character field
limit may be coming from the shortcut editor or another shell component.

I readily publicly and openly admit that I don't understand this stuff yet,
as if I understood it, there would be no need to ask for help solving it.

Apparently the 260-character limit I'm hitting is likely not in the .lnk
file format itself but in the Windows shortcut Properties dialog, which
seems to impose its own limit on the Target field of any given shortcut.

Apparently these are three separate limits
a. MAX_PATH
b. Shortcut Target field
c. Command-line length

Looking them up, and trying to summarize them with respect to the limit
a. MAX_PATH:
This is, apparently, only the traditional 260-character limit
on many Windows file paths as Andy showed that Windows 10 and 11
can possibly support longer paths under certain conditions,
depending on the registry setting and application manifest.

b. Shortcut Target field:
This is the limit being imposed on me by the Windows shortcut editor
or, as JJ noted, perhaps by other shell components but as noted, it
is not a strict 260-character limit inherent in the .lnk file format.

c. Command-line length:
Apparently this is a totally separate limit imposed by the
process-launching mechanism (such as the Windows CreateProcessW API
which allows a command line of up to 32,767 characters, including
the terminating null character that JJ astutely noted above).

BTW, I found five more ways to overcome the limitation, but I'm using the
batch file method (i.e., llm.bat) for now and it's working just fine.
1. A PowerShell script with a short shortcut
powershell.exe -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File "C:\data\sys\scripts\llm.ps1"
$urls = @(
'https://chatgpt.com/'
'https://chat.mistral.ai/chat'
'https://chat.qwen.ai/'
'https://duck.ai/'
'https://gemini.google.com/app'
'https://lumo.proton.me/guest'
'https://perplexity.ai/'
'https://venice.ai/'
)
Start-Process msedge -ArgumentList $urls
2. A plain text URL list and a launcher
Get-Content 'C:\data\sys\llm-urls.txt' |
Where-Object { $_ -match '^https?://' } |
ForEach-Object { Start-Process msedge -ArgumentList $_ }
3. A local HTML launchpad
<!doctype html>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<title>LLM Search Launchpad</title>
<h1>LLM Search</h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://chatgpt.com/">ChatGPT</a></li>
<li><a href="https://gemini.google.com/app">Gemini</a></li>
<li><a href="https://duck.ai/">Duck.ai</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.perplexity.ai/">Perplexity</a></li>
<li><a href="https://chat.mistral.ai/chat">Mistral</a></li>
<li><a href="https://chat.qwen.ai/">Qwen</a></li>
</ul>
4. A bookmark folder
5. A dedicated Edge profile with startup pages
msedge.exe --profile-directory="Profile 2"
--
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.
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

Maria Sophia wrote:

I LOVE Andy's suggestion, but looking at JJ's clarification, it seems maybe that LongPathsEnabled registry setting enables long paths for supported applications' file-system operations but, from what JJ clarified, perhaps a shortcut's command line is not a file path

I have a customer (used to be still running Server 2012R2 but now
migrated to Server 2025.

They have a few staff whose main task is to send quotes in response to
tender requests, they have a share that's divided-up like

Z:\quotes\year\quotenum_companyname_projectdescription\

where quotenum is auto-generated for them, they populate subfolders with relevant PDF and CAD files, leasing to the final quote.

The descriptions get stupidly long, some of the folders end up with
copies of quotes for previous work, so

Z:\Quotes\2026\123456_WidgetCo_ProjectDescriptionSqueezedIntoProjectNameField\CopyOf2025\654321_DifferentCompany_SimilarProjectWithEquallyAnnoyingName

They've been told not to do that, but of course they do it anyway, they complain when they can't manipulate files within that tree.

The new server has only been in (with the long paths setting) since
August, but I've not had any calls to "fix" dodgy folders so far ...


--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-11

Andy Burns wrote:

Maria Sophia wrote:

I LOVE Andy's suggestion, but looking at JJ's clarification, it seems maybe >> that LongPathsEnabled registry setting enables long paths for supported
applications' file-system operations but, from what JJ clarified, perhaps a >> shortcut's command line is not a file path

I have a customer (used to be still running Server 2012R2 but now
migrated to Server 2025.

They have a few staff whose main task is to send quotes in response to tender requests, they have a share that's divided-up like

Z:\quotes\year\quotenum_companyname_projectdescription\

where quotenum is auto-generated for them, they populate subfolders with relevant PDF and CAD files, leasing to the final quote.

The descriptions get stupidly long, some of the folders end up with
copies of quotes for previous work, so

Z:\Quotes\2026\123456_WidgetCo_ProjectDescriptionSqueezedIntoProjectNameField\CopyOf2025\654321_DifferentCompany_SimilarProjectWithEquallyAnnoyingName

They've been told not to do that, but of course they do it anyway, they complain when they can't manipulate files within that tree.

The new server has only been in (with the long paths setting) since
August, but I've not had any calls to "fix" dodgy folders so far ...

I love Usenet because we get ideas and solutions and experiences from
everyone around the world, where this improves our empirical knowledge.

Having been on these ngs for decades, I don't remember this ever being discussed, so it's good to know the details of where the limit comes from.

At first, I thought it was a shell limit, but in reality, the 260
character limits seems to be in whatever link editor Windows uses.

As noted, the LongPathsEnabled registry setting does not remove every 260-character limit in Windows. It enables long-path support for
applications that opt in to it, but it does not automatically change the behavior of every Windows component, API, or application.

Together we learned the length of a shortcut's executable path, the length
of its stored arguments, and the length of the command line Windows can
execute are three different limits.

Anyway, I decided to use a batch file to resolve the problem, where
every day, all day, where I used to run a search, I use this file.

I generally uncomment one to-be-tested supposedly free no-registration
LLM each day, where most work only for a while, and then they fail.

To that end, here is the current file, but I still have a few more LLMs
to test, so it will take a few more days of testing to hone the results.


:: --------------------------------------------------------------------
:: llm.bat
:: Set Edge shortcut TARGET to this batch file C:\data\sys\bat\llm.bat
:: It will open all known free no-registration no-login web-based LLMs
:: This is designed to make it easy to manage the list and the order
:: --------------------------------------------------------------------
:: v1p8 20261015 One by one, I'm testing and adding comments to the start
:: v1p7 20261014 Added a 2 second wait period to prevent race conditions
:: v1p6 20261012 Added commented-out option to open each in a new window
:: v1p5 20261012 Changed to variables instead of repeating command options
:: v1p4 20261012 Added checks for missing executables just in case
:: v1p3 20261012 Changed from a list to a start method to allow comments
:: v1p2 20261012 Added optional "start" method so comments can be added
:: v1p1 20261012 Added alphabetical LLM URLs into a maintable list
:: v1p0 20261012 Batch method to overcome shortcut target 260-char limit
:: --------------------------------------------------------------------
@echo off
set "EDGE=C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge\Application\msedge.exe"
set "EDGE_ARGS=--profile-directory=Default"
:: Use this option if you want each LLM to open in a separate window
:: set "EDGE_ARGS=--profile-directory=Default --new-window"

:: I chose Microsoft Edge because it's not of much use for anything else
if not exist "%EDGE%" (
echo Edge was not found at:
echo "%EDGE%"
exit /b 1
)

:: A long list is simplest, but it doesn't safely allow for comments
:: such as "works with VPN", "1K character limit", "25-turn limit", etc.
:: Note that ultimate tab order is a race condition so I put slowest first.

for %%U in (
"https://duckduckgo.com/chat"
"https://chatgpt.com/"
"https://gemini.google.com/app"
"https://deepai.org/chat"
) do (
start "" "%EDGE%" %EDGE_ARGS% "%%~U"
)

:: The start method easily allows for comments but then the
:: order tabs appear may change given each is run separately.
:: Add a wait period so that race conditions are slowed a bit
timeout /t 2 /nobreak >nul

:: PASS: Fast startup, slows down miserably over a few turns,
:: but works well when re-opened, so it's a server-side slowdown.
:: Works well with VPN
:: Can read some current news URLs (will look for others if not)
:: Single-click URLs
:: Constnatly nags to log in but allows a swipe
:: start "" "%EDGE%" %EDGE_ARGS% "https://chatgpt.com/"

:: PASS: Slow startup, does not slow over time but hates VPN
:: Can read most (if not all) current news URLs
:: URls are two-click
:: start "" "%EDGE%" %EDGE_ARGS% "https://gemini.google.com/app"

:: PASS: Randomly requires privacy acceptance policy at first start
:: Randomly asks to use location (out of the blue)
:: Can read some current news URLs (will look for others if not)
:: Slower than most so I put it first in the long list
:: start "" "%EDGE%" %EDGE_ARGS% "https://duckduckgo.com/chat"

:: FAIL: Randomly requires login at from 0 to about 3 turns.
:: start "" "%EDGE%" %EDGE_ARGS% "https://arena.ai/"

:: FAIL: Random login, requires privacy acceptance at every startup.
:: start "" "%EDGE%" %EDGE_ARGS% "https://chat.mistral.ai/chat"

:: FAIL: Randomly requires a login
:: Randomly asks "What year were you born" which defaults to 2000.
:: It accepts that, so it's just absurd but the login is what kills it.
:: start "" "%EDGE%" %EDGE_ARGS% "https://chat.qwen.ai/"

:: PASS: Useful
:: Links are easy to click where they open a new tab directly
:: Can read most (if not all) current news URLs
start "" "%EDGE%" %EDGE_ARGS% "https://deepai.org/chat"

:: FAIL:
:: Only allows 4 turns before locking up
:: Jesus Christ. You have to accept 5 prompts at every startup
:: 1. Click "Do Not Sell My Information"
:: 2. Turn on "Do not sell or share my information"
:: 3. Scroll to the bottom
:: 4. Click "Save Settings"
:: 5. Click "Consent"
start "" "%EDGE%" %EDGE_ARGS% "https://deep-seek.com/chat"

:: FAIL
:: Stops working after a short while
:: Restart does not reset token count
:: Doesn't stop rather obnoxious popup ads
start "" "%EDGE%" %EDGE_ARGS% "https://easemate.ai/chat-gpt-free"

:: PASS: Starts nagging to log in after a few turns
:: Guest limit seems to be about 60 normal turns per day
:: But it seems to forget that if you restart the session
start "" "%EDGE%" %EDGE_ARGS% "https://ecogpt.com/"

:: comment
start "" "%EDGE%" %EDGE_ARGS% "https://gizza.ai/chat"

:: comment
:: start "" "%EDGE%" %EDGE_ARGS% "https://huggingface.co/spaces"

:: comment
:: start "" "%EDGE%" %EDGE_ARGS% "https://lumo.proton.me/guest"

:: comment
:: start "" "%EDGE%" %EDGE_ARGS% "https://olabiba.com/"

:: comment
:: start "" "%EDGE%" %EDGE_ARGS% "https://perplexity.ai/"

:: comment
:: start "" "%EDGE%" %EDGE_ARGS% "https://phindai.org/"

:: comment
:: start "" "%EDGE%" %EDGE_ARGS% "https://pi.ai/talk/"

:: comment
:: start "" "%EDGE%" %EDGE_ARGS% "https://plai.chat/"

:: comment
:: start "" "%EDGE%" %EDGE_ARGS% "https://quad.chat/"

:: comment
:: start "" "%EDGE%" %EDGE_ARGS% "https://rewind.ai/best/no-sign-up/"

:: comment
:: start "" "%EDGE%" %EDGE_ARGS% "https://rok.rokteam.org/chat"

:: comment
:: start "" "%EDGE%" %EDGE_ARGS% "https://search.brave.com/"

:: comment
:: start "" "%EDGE%" %EDGE_ARGS% "https://talkai.info/chat/"

:: comment
:: start "" "%EDGE%" %EDGE_ARGS% "https://venice.ai/"

:: comment
:: start "" "%EDGE%" %EDGE_ARGS% "https://webkitonline.com/ai/chat/"

:: comment
:: start "" "%EDGE%" %EDGE_ARGS% "https://aifreeforever.com/chat"

:: comment
:: start "" "%EDGE%" %EDGE_ARGS% "https://surfsense.com/free"

:: Error: Unable to find a compatible GPU
:: start "" "%EDGE%" %EDGE_ARGS% "https://chat.webllm.ai/"

:: comment
:: start "" "%EDGE%" %EDGE_ARGS% "https://zalt.me/tools/free-ai-chat-online"

:: Need to figure out what this is
:: start "" "%EDGE%" %EDGE_ARGS% "https://aifreeforever.com/chat"

:: Need to figure out what this is
:: start "" "%EDGE%" %EDGE_ARGS% "https://surfsense.com/free"

:: Need to figure out what this is
:: start "" "%EDGE%" %EDGE_ARGS% "https://zalt.me/tools/free-ai-chat-online"

:: end of llm.bat
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