November 28, 2025 software firefox

What’s going on, Internet? While tech circles are grumbling about Mozilla stuffing AI features into Firefox that nobody asked for (lol), I figured I’d write about a feature people might actually like if they’re not already using it. This is how I’m containing the messy sprawl of the modern web using Firefox Containers.

After the ability to run uBlock Origin, containers are easily one of Firefox’s best features. This week I finally finished building a setup that isolates the biggest data vacuums on the internet.

This isn’t because I visit these sites often or on purpose. I usually avoid them. This is for the moments where I click something without paying attention, or I need to open a site just to get a piece of information and failing (lol, login walls), or I end up somewhere I didn’t intend to be. Containers stop that one slip from bleeding into the rest of my tabs. Firefox holds each site in its own space so nothing spills into the rest of my browsing.

Container layout

Here’s how I’ve split things up. Nothing fancy. Just tidy and logical.

Nothing here is about avoiding these sites forever. It’s about containing them so they can’t follow me around.

How it works

I use two extensions together:

• Firefox Multi Account Containers (MAC) for creating and customising the containers (names, colours, icons).
• Containerise for all the routing logic using regex rules.

MAC handles the visuals. Containerise handles the rules. You can skip MAC and let Containerise auto create containers, but you lose control over colours and icons, so everything ends up looking the same.

I leave MAC’s site lists empty so it doesn’t clash with Containerise. Containerise becomes the single source of truth. If I need to open something in a specific container, I just right click and choose Open in Container.

Why though?

Containers don’t fix the surveillance web, but they do reduce the blast radius. One random visit to Google, Meta, Reddit or Amazon won’t bleed into my other tabs. Cookies stay contained. Identity stays isolated. Tracking systems get far less to work with. Well, that’s my understanding of it anyway.

It feels like one of the last features in modern browsers that still puts control back in the user’s hands, without having to give up the open web.

The rules

The rules

# Paste this into the Containerise config and save. All comments and formatting will be stripped when saved.
#
# ------------------------------------------------------------
# Personal
# ------------------------------------------------------------
# (No automatic rules — use this as a default container)
# ------------------------------------------------------------
# Banking  (These are the main reatil banks in NZ - add your own)
# ------------------------------------------------------------
@(.+)?anz.co.nz , Banking
@(.+)?asb.co.nz , Banking
@(.+)?bnz.co.nz , Banking
@(.+)?co-operativebank.co.nz , Banking
@(.+)?heartland.co.nz , Banking
@(.+)?kiwibank.co.nz , Banking
@(.+)?rabobank.co.nz , Banking
@(.+)?sbsbank.co.nz , Banking
@(.+)?tsb.co.nz , Banking
@(.+)?westpac.co.nz , Banking
# ------------------------------------------------------------
# Finance  (Payment processors & fintech)
# ------------------------------------------------------------
@(.+)?paypal.com , Finance
@(.+)?stripe.com , Finance
@(.+)?wise.com , Finance
@(.+)?revolut.com , Finance
# ------------------------------------------------------------
# Google
# ------------------------------------------------------------
@(.+)?google.com , Google
@(.+)?gmail.com , Google
@(.+)?youtube.com , Google
@(.+)?ytimg.com , Google
# Optional & noisy (S3-like CDNs):
# @(.+)?gstatic.com , Google
# @(.+)?googleapis.com , Google
# @(.+)?googleusercontent.com , Google
# ------------------------------------------------------------
# Microsoft
# ------------------------------------------------------------
@(.+)?azure.com , Microsoft
@(.+)?bing.com , Microsoft
@(.+)?github.com , Microsoft
@(.+)?github.io , Microsoft
@(.+)?linkedin.com , Microsoft
@(.+)?microsoft.com , Microsoft
@(.+)?office.com , Microsoft
@(.+)?visualstudio.com , Microsoft
@(.+)?windows.com , Microsoft
# ------------------------------------------------------------
# Meta / Facebook
# ------------------------------------------------------------
@(.+)?facebook.com , Meta
@(.+)?fb.com , Meta
@(.+)?messenger.com , Meta
@(.+)?instagram.com , Meta
@(.+)?threads.net , Meta
@(.+)?meta.com , Meta
@(.+)?oculus.com , Meta
@(.+)?whatsapp.com , Meta
# ------------------------------------------------------------
# Amazon
# ------------------------------------------------------------
@(.+)?amazon.(com|co.uk|co.jp|de|ca|com.au) , Amazon
@(.+)?primevideo.com , Amazon
@aws.amazon.com , Amazon
# Optional & noisy (CDNs used by third-party sites):
# @(.+)?amazonaws.com , Amazon
@(.+)?amazon.work , Amazon
# ------------------------------------------------------------
# Twitch
# ------------------------------------------------------------
@(.+)?twitch.tv , Twitch
@(.+)?twitchcdn.net , Twitch
@(.+)?ttvnw.net , Twitch
# ------------------------------------------------------------
# Twitter/X
# ------------------------------------------------------------
@(.+)?twitter.com , Twitter/X
@(.+)?x.com , Twitter/X
@(.+)?twimg.com , Twitter/X
# ------------------------------------------------------------
# Reddit
# ------------------------------------------------------------
@(.+)?reddit.com , Reddit
@(.+)?redd.it , Reddit
@(.+)?redditstatic.com , Reddit
# ------------------------------------------------------------
# Shopping
# ------------------------------------------------------------
@(.+)?ebay.com , Shopping
@(.+)?aliexpress.com , Shopping
@(.+)?etsy.com , Shopping
@(.+)?shop.app , Shopping
# ------------------------------------------------------------
# Streaming
# ------------------------------------------------------------
@(.+)?netflix.com , Streaming
@(.+)?disneyplus.com , Streaming
@(.+)?hulu.com , Streaming
@(.+)?max.com , Streaming
# ------------------------------------------------------------
# AI Tools
# ------------------------------------------------------------
@(.+)?openai.com , AI Tools
@(.+)?chatgpt.com , AI Tools
@(.+)?anthropic.com , AI Tools
@(.+)?claude.ai , AI Tools
@(.+)?midjourney.com , AI Tools
@(.+)?runwayml.com , AI Tools
@(.+)?stability.ai , AI Tools
# ------------------------------------------------------------
# Social (non-Meta social media)
# ------------------------------------------------------------
@(.+)?pinterest.com , Social
@(.+)?tiktok.com , Social
@(.+)?snapchat.com , Social

So while Firefox keeps pandering to the industry with AI features nobody asked for (lol), there’s still a lot to like about the browser. Containers, uBlock Origin, and the general flexibility of Firefox still give you real control over your internet experience.

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