Let your CellCog agent browse and act on the web inside your real Chrome browser, using your sessions, your bookmarks, and your profile.
Browse my Chrome lets a CellCog agent drive your real Chrome browser during a chat. Instead of a separate browser, the agent works inside your Chrome: the sites you are already logged into, the cookies you already have, the bookmarks you already saved.
Once enabled, an agent can:
Key principle: you stay in control. The agent works inside a dedicated cyan "CellCog" tab group in your Chrome window. Tabs outside that group stay private. Every action is classified by risk and gated by your approval threshold, and Chrome itself shows a yellow safety banner whenever CellCog is driving a tab.
Browse my Chrome is the peer of Cowork. Both require the CellCog Desktop app and extend the agent's reach in different directions:
| Use | Cowork | Browse my Chrome |
|---|---|---|
| Edit local files (code, docs) | Yes | No |
| Run terminal commands on your machine | Yes | No |
| Visit and interact with websites | No | Yes |
| Use your logged-in sessions | No | Yes |
| Fill forms, click buttons, take page screenshots | No | Yes |
| Trust boundary | Working directory on disk | The "CellCog" tab group |
You can enable both in the same chat, for example "research these products in Chrome, then write a comparison into my project directory".
Browse my Chrome uses your Chrome on your machine, authenticated as you, and only while your computer and the desktop app are on. On a paid account, AI employees also have their own cloud browsers: a persistent Chrome per employee that runs on CellCog's servers, keeps its own logins between shifts, and works while your machine is off.
| Browse my Chrome | Cloud Browsers | |
|---|---|---|
| Whose identity | Yours (your Chrome profile, your logins) | The employee's own (separate identity and logins per employee) |
| Where it runs | Your machine | CellCog's servers |
| Needs your computer on | Yes | No |
| Who can use it | Any chat where you enable Browse | AI employees |
| Logging in | You are already logged in | You log the employee in once through a live view |
Use Browse my Chrome for errands that must happen as you; give employees cloud browsers for long-running, autonomous work. See the Cloud Browsers Guide.
Browse my Chrome runs on top of the CellCog Desktop app, the same app used by Cowork.
cellcog.ai/cowork/browse (also reachable from the Browse chip in the chat editor via Set up or Manage, or from your profile page). When you open it from a chat, Back to chat at the top takes you straight back.If CellCog Desktop is already connected, skip to Step 2. Full desktop setup details are in the Cowork Guide.
If the chat or the page says the desktop app is not connected while the app says Connected, the app is signed in to a different CellCog account. The chat names the account your browser is signed in as ("Open the app and sign in as you@example.com."); switch the app to that account.
CellCog Desktop open on two computers? Commands pause until you pick one. The chat says "CellCog is open on two computers. Pick the one Browse should use. Cowork and Browse will both use it." Click Use next to the computer you want.
chrome://extensions/, click Details on CellCog Browse, and turn on Allow access to file URLs. Chrome only lets the extension attach local files with this permission on; without it, the agent can still browse, fill forms, and take screenshots, but every upload is refused.The extension lives inside one Chrome profile. If you have several profiles (Personal, Work), install it in each one you want to use.
Install here (newer CellCog Desktop versions): when your desktop app can do it, each Chrome profile without the extension shows Install here instead of the single Add to Chrome. Click it and CellCog Desktop opens the Web Store page in exactly that profile on your computer. If it cannot (the desktop app is closed, two computers are open, or the app needs an update), the reason is shown next to the link; fix it and click Install here again. Install here is only offered to the owner of the computer.
No Chrome found? Browse needs Google Chrome (or another Chromium browser such as Edge, Brave or Vivaldi) on the computer running CellCog Desktop. While the desktop app looks for it you see "Looking for Chrome". If none turns up, the chat says "Chrome isn't on this computer" with Get Chrome; install it and the chat updates by itself.
Keep the chosen profile open in Chrome so the extension can connect to the desktop app. The Browse my Chrome page shows each profile's state: Connected, "Open this profile in Chrome to connect", or "Extension not added".
Browse follows your one approval level, the same one that covers your computer and your tools. Set it in Profile > Approvals, or for one chat with Auto-approve in the + menu of the message box (see the levels below).
Browse requires the desktop app to be connected. Turning Browse on also turns on Cowork for the chat (in your home folder, or in the folder the chat used before), because Browse runs through the same desktop connection.
When an agent asks for Browse, it shows a Browse card in the chat. The card always shows where you are and the next step, and it updates by itself:
If Browse is on but cannot run, the card turns amber and names the one thing in the way, in this order: the desktop app is not connected, the extension is missing from the chat's profile, the chat's profile is gone (Choose a profile), or that profile is not open in Chrome. Fix it and the card moves to the next problem, if any, then shows Browse is on. The Browse chip shows the same words.
On a phone, the card says "Set this up from CellCog on your computer" for the steps that need your computer.
On an AI employee shared with you, only the employee's owner can set Browse up; you see "Only <owner> can set this up for this employee." and the chip is view only.
When the agent first opens a tab, it creates a cyan tab group labeled "CellCog" in your Chrome tab strip. This group is the shared agent workspace:
If you already have a tab the agent should work with (a half-completed form, for example), the agent can adopt it into the CellCog group. Adopting moves your personal tab into the shared workspace, so it is classified moderate and respects your threshold.
The agent perceives and acts on pages in a few ways:
Each Chrome profile needs the extension installed separately. Each chat is bound to one profile via the Browse chip. The Browse my Chrome page and the chip show every detected profile; the ones without the extension say "Extension not added".
CellCog Desktop can hold several CellCog accounts (see "Several Accounts on One Computer" in the Cowork Guide). Chrome profiles belong to the desktop app, not to one account: every connected account can browse in every Chrome profile on the computer. Which profile a chat uses is your choice in that chat's Browse chip.
Browse uses the same agent-classifies, you-gate model as Cowork and connected Tools. The agent classifies every browser action by the data it touches, and shows the classification and a one-sentence reason on the approval card. Your threshold decides what runs without a click.
| Level | Browse examples |
|---|---|
| Safe | Reading a public article, searching on a public site, expanding a menu |
| Moderate | Snapshotting your inbox, a private repository, or a banking dashboard; reading cookies; listing or adopting your personal tabs |
| Dangerous | Submitting forms, sending email, paying, deleting, writing cookies, downloading files |
What each level means in the browser:
| Threshold | What it auto-approves |
|---|---|
| None | Nothing. Every browser action requires your approval. |
| Safe | Side-effect-free actions on public content. Reading your private pages and any data change still require approval. This is the default. |
| Moderate | Also actions that read your private data: logged-in page snapshots, cookies, personal-tab discovery. Anything that changes data still requires approval. |
| Dangerous | Also actions that change data: form submits, cookie writes, file downloads. The most permissive setting. |
You can override the level for a single chat from the Browse chip (hover the chip, click the colored dot). The full model, including pending approvals and AI employees, is in the Approvals & Safety Guide.
Chrome shows a yellow banner across the top of every tab CellCog is driving:
"CellCog Browse started debugging this browser." with a Cancel button
This is Chrome's built-in safety indicator and CellCog cannot hide it. It appears while the agent is actively executing a batch of commands and clears shortly after the batch completes. Click Cancel at any time to revoke control of that tab; the agent sees an error on its next attempt.
chrome://extensions/When Browse is enabled for a chat:
Before any data leaves Chrome, the extension redacts:
type=password)autocomplete=cc-number)autocomplete=cc-csc)The agent sees <redacted> in those fields.
These are not auto-redacted because they sometimes legitimately need to flow through the agent:
For full disclosure of these data flows, see the Privacy Policy.
file://) cannot be opened in your Chrome by the agent. Chrome blocks extension-driven navigation to local files. The agent serves the folder over a local web server and opens http://localhost:<port>/... instead, so a preview of a file on your machine still works, with one extra step.chrome://extensions/, find CellCog Browse, click the reload icon, then revisit the Browse my Chrome page.If Chrome or Chromium is installed as a Flatpak (the default on atomic distributions such as Fedora Silverblue, Bazzite or Bluefin), Browse my Chrome cannot connect yet. The Flatpak sandbox stops the browser from reaching CellCog Desktop, so the profile keeps showing "Extension not added" even with the extension installed. To use Browse today, install Chrome as a regular package (.deb or .rpm). On an atomic distribution, run it inside a Distrobox container and export it to your app menu, then install the extension in that Chrome.
macOS can block CellCog Desktop from reading Chrome's settings files. When that happens, older versions of CellCog Desktop never see the extension and Browse cannot connect; current versions connect anyway, but cannot list every profile by name. To fix it, open System Settings > Privacy & Security > Full Disk Access, turn on CellCog Desktop, then quit and reopen CellCog Desktop and Chrome. When the current desktop app sees this, the Browse my Chrome page and the Browse chip in a chat show "macOS is blocking CellCog Desktop" with a How to fix link that opens these same steps.
When an extension update requests a new permission, Chrome disables the extension until you approve the change. Open chrome://extensions/, find CellCog Browse, and re-enable it.
Uploads through Browse my Chrome need one extra Chrome permission on the extension. Open chrome://extensions/, click Details on CellCog Browse, and turn on Allow access to file URLs, then ask the agent to retry. An extension update can switch this off again, so check it first whenever uploads that used to work start failing. This is a Chrome rule for every extension that drives the browser, not something the agent can change on its own.
The chat is probably bound to a different Chrome profile than the one with the extension.
Every connected account sees every Chrome profile on the computer. If one is missing from the Browse chip, open Accounts in CellCog Desktop: a profile listed with Install here does not have the extension yet, and one listed as "Chrome closed" needs to be opened in Chrome. If the profile is not listed at all, CellCog Desktop has not found it; it checks again every 30 seconds. See "Chrome Profiles and Several Accounts" above.
The banner goes away when the agent finishes its batch and detaches, or when you click Cancel. If neither happens, check that CellCog Desktop is still running; if it quit mid-session, reload the tab.
The agent tried to act on a tab that is not in its workspace. Ask it to adopt the tab (a moderate action), or have it open the URL fresh inside the CellCog group.
Clicking Add to Chrome opens the Chrome Web Store in whichever Chrome profile is currently focused. If the extension landed in the wrong profile:
chrome://extensions/The desktop app authenticates you and brokers every command to and from CellCog. The extension is the small piece that talks to Chrome on the desktop app's behalf and does nothing on its own. Splitting them keeps the extension minimal.
Edge, yes. Browse my Chrome works with Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge, and the desktop app also detects Brave, Vivaldi, and Chromium profiles. In Edge, install the CellCog Browse extension from the Chrome Web Store (Edge offers to allow extensions from other stores), then pick your Edge profile in CellCog. Firefox and Safari do not offer the browser interface it relies on.
It can list them (a moderate action, so it auto-runs only at threshold Moderate or above). It cannot interact with them until it adopts one, which is a separate moderate action.
No. Password and credit-card fields are redacted before anything leaves Chrome. The agent sees <redacted>.
Screenshots are saved to a temporary folder on your machine and shown to the agent in chat, where they become part of the chat's context. CellCog does not store them permanently.
You can use Browse my Chrome on any site. Snapshotting a banking dashboard is moderate; clicking "Transfer" is dangerous. Your threshold decides what runs without your click; most people keep Safe or Moderate for sensitive sites.
No. Standard credit usage applies to the agent's work, the same as with Cowork; having Browse enabled costs nothing by itself.
No. Browse runs against your Chrome profile on your machine, authenticated as you. Teammates install the desktop app and the extension on their own machines.
Only when you enable Browse for their chat. Otherwise, on a paid account, they use their own cloud browser, which runs on CellCog's servers with its own logins. See the Cloud Browsers Guide.