# Browse my Chrome Guide

Let your CellCog agent browse and act on the web inside your real Chrome browser, using your sessions, your bookmarks, and your profile.

---

## What is Browse my Chrome?

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:

- Open and navigate websites in your authenticated Chrome session
- Read page content, forms, and the accessibility structure of a page
- Click buttons, fill forms, upload files, and download files
- Take screenshots and capture page state
- Adopt tabs you already have open and act on them
- Work across multiple sites in the same chat

**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 vs Cowork on my PC

Browse my Chrome is the peer of [Cowork on my PC](./CellCog_Cowork_Guide.md). Both require the CellCog Desktop app and extend the agent's reach in different directions:

| Use | Cowork on my PC | 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 vs Cloud Browsers

Browse my Chrome uses **your** Chrome on **your** machine, authenticated as you, and only while your computer and the desktop app are on. 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](./CellCog_Cloud_Browsers_Guide.md).

---

## Getting Started

### Step 1: Install the CellCog Desktop App

Browse my Chrome runs on top of the CellCog Desktop app, the same app used by Cowork on my PC.

1. Open the Browse my Chrome page at `cellcog.ai/cowork/browse` (also reachable from the Browse chip in the chat editor via "Browse settings", or from your profile page)
2. If the desktop app is not installed yet, download it from there for macOS, Windows, or Linux, then install, open, and sign in

If CellCog Desktop is already connected, skip to Step 2. Full desktop setup details are in the [Cowork on my PC Guide](./CellCog_Cowork_Guide.md).

### Step 2: Install the CellCog Browse Chrome Extension

1. On the Browse my Chrome page, find the Chrome profile you want to use
2. Click **Install** next to it. This opens the CellCog Browse listing on the Chrome Web Store.
3. Add the extension to Chrome
4. If you want the agent to attach files from your computer to web forms (uploads), open `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.

### Step 3: Open Chrome with That Profile

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 installed in this profile".

### Step 4: Set Your Approval Threshold

On the Browse my Chrome page, find **Auto-approve threshold** and pick a level (see below). The default is **Safe**: public browsing auto-runs, reading your private pages and any data change still require approval.

### Step 5: Enable Browse for a Chat

1. Start a new chat or open an existing one
2. In the editor toolbar, click the **Browse** chip
3. Pick the Chrome profile this chat should use
4. Send your message

Browse requires the desktop app to be connected.

---

## Using Browse my Chrome in Chats

### The CellCog Tab Group

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:

- Every Browse-enabled chat using the same Chrome profile sees the tabs inside this group
- Tabs **outside** the group are private to you; the agent cannot read or act on them on its own
- It is a standard Chrome tab group: collapse it, move it, close tabs in it, and it survives Chrome restarts

### Adopting Tabs You Already Have Open

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.

### Snapshots, Screenshots, Forms, Files

The agent perceives and acts on pages in a few ways:

- **Snapshot**: an accessibility-tree view of the page (headings, links, form fields, button states). This is the primary way the agent understands a page.
- **Screenshot**: a visual capture, saved to a temporary folder on your machine and shown in chat
- **Form fills, clicks, navigation**: including logged-in flows
- **File uploads**: the agent can attach files from your machine to a form's file picker
- **Downloads**: files the agent downloads land in your normal Chrome download location
- **Mobile view**: the agent can switch a tab to a phone or tablet emulation to check a mobile layout

### Multiple Profiles

Each Chrome profile needs the extension installed separately. Each chat is bound to one profile via the Browse chip. The Browse my Chrome page shows the state of every detected profile, so you can see which one is missing the extension.

---

## Approvals and Auto-Approval

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 |

Thresholds on the Browse my Chrome page:

| 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](./CellCog_Approvals_and_Safety_Guide.md).

### The Yellow Banner

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.

### Revoking Access

- **Single tab**: click Cancel on the yellow banner
- **Single chat**: turn the Browse chip off in the editor toolbar
- **All chats in this Chrome profile**: disable the extension at `chrome://extensions/`
- **All of CellCog on this machine**: quit the CellCog Desktop app

---

## Privacy and Safety

### What the Extension Can See

When Browse is enabled for a chat:

- Page content (text, URLs, accessibility tree) of tabs **inside** the CellCog tab group
- Form values on those tabs, excluding passwords and credit-card fields, which are redacted
- Screenshots of those tabs when the agent captures them
- The list of open tabs in the Chrome profile, only when the agent lists tabs (a moderate action)

### What the Extension Cannot See on Its Own

- Tabs outside the CellCog tab group
- Browsing history
- Bookmarks
- Saved passwords in Chrome's password manager
- Tabs in a different Chrome profile
- Anything when Browse is not enabled for a chat

### Sensitive-Data Redaction

Before any data leaves Chrome, the extension redacts:

- **Password fields** (`type=password`)
- **Credit-card number fields** (`autocomplete=cc-number`)
- **Credit-card security code fields** (`autocomplete=cc-csc`)

The agent sees `<redacted>` in those fields.

### Cookies, localStorage, Screenshots

These are not auto-redacted because they sometimes legitimately need to flow through the agent:

- **Cookies and localStorage**: only read when the agent's script explicitly requests them. Reads are **moderate**, writes are **dangerous**.
- **Screenshots**: capture whatever is visible. A logged-in page is classified moderate by the agent.

For full disclosure of these data flows, see the [Privacy Policy](./CellCog_Privacy_Policy.md).

### Where the Data Flows

- Between Chrome and CellCog Desktop: locally on your machine, via Chrome's Native Messaging
- From CellCog Desktop to CellCog's servers: encrypted in transit (TLS), as part of your authenticated chat session
- Page content the agent reads and screenshots it takes become part of the chat's context so the agent can reason about them

---

## Troubleshooting

- **Local files (`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.

### Extension installed but the profile is not connected

1. **Make sure the matching Chrome profile is actually open in Chrome.** The extension only connects when its profile is running.
2. **Make sure CellCog Desktop is connected.** Check the Cowork page for **Connected**.
3. **Reload the extension.** Go to `chrome://extensions/`, find CellCog Browse, click the reload icon, then revisit the Browse my Chrome page.
4. **Open any cellcog.ai tab** in that profile. A CellCog tab in the foreground helps wake the extension faster.

### The extension turned itself off after an update

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.

### The agent says Chrome refused to attach files ("Not allowed")

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 page says Connected but my chat says Browse is not connected

The chat is probably bound to a different Chrome profile than the one with the extension.

1. Open the Browse chip in the editor toolbar
2. Check which profile is selected for this chat
3. Install the extension into that profile, or switch the chat to a profile that has it

### Yellow banner won't dismiss

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.

### Agent says "Tab not in CellCog group"

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.

### Wrong Chrome profile keeps getting picked

Clicking **Install** opens the Chrome Web Store in whichever Chrome profile is currently focused. If the extension landed in the wrong profile:

1. Remove it from that profile via `chrome://extensions/`
2. Switch to the intended profile in Chrome
3. Click **Install** again from the Browse my Chrome page

---

## Frequently Asked Questions

### Why do I need both the Desktop app AND the Chrome extension?
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.

### Does this work on Firefox, Safari, or Edge?
No. Browse my Chrome works with Google Chrome. The desktop app also detects Brave, Vivaldi, and Chromium profiles. Microsoft Edge is not supported, and Firefox and Safari do not offer the browser interface it relies on.

### Can the agent see tabs I have open outside the CellCog group?
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.

### Will my passwords or credit card numbers be sent to CellCog?
No. Password and credit-card fields are redacted before anything leaves Chrome. The agent sees `<redacted>`.

### What happens to screenshots?
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.

### What about banking pages or email?
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.

### Does Browse my Chrome cost extra?
No. Standard credit usage applies to the agent's work, the same as with Cowork; having Browse enabled costs nothing by itself.

### Can teammates in my organization use my Browse session?
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.

### Do AI employees use my Chrome?
Only when you enable Browse for their chat. Otherwise they use their own cloud browser, which runs on CellCog's servers with its own logins. See the [Cloud Browsers Guide](./CellCog_Cloud_Browsers_Guide.md).

---

## Related Guides

- [Cowork on my PC Guide](./CellCog_Cowork_Guide.md)
- [Cloud Browsers Guide](./CellCog_Cloud_Browsers_Guide.md)
- [Approvals & Safety Guide](./CellCog_Approvals_and_Safety_Guide.md)
- [Chat Guide](./CellCog_Chat_Guide.md)
- [Privacy Policy](./CellCog_Privacy_Policy.md)
- [Getting Started Guide](./CellCog_Getting_Started.md)

---

Markdown alternate of https://cellcog.ai/support/browse-my-chrome-guide (CellCog support guide, category: Features). All guides for agents: https://cellcog.ai/support/llms.txt. Site index: https://cellcog.ai/llms.txt. Try CellCog free, no credit card needed: https://cellcog.ai/signup