The biggest Web Store rejection risk for a CLI-bridge extension is "non-functional
without external software." Give ab-connect a visible standalone UI: a branded
popup that shows whether the native-messaging link to the local agent-browser CLI
is live (Connected + attached tab count, or Not paired with the install hint),
plus a one-line privacy statement (no tracking, no remote server) and a repo link.
- manifest: action.default_popup = popup.html; bump 0.4.0 -> 0.4.1
- background.js: track hostConnected; respond to {type:'ab-status'} from the popup
and nudge a reconnect on open
- popup.html/popup.js: dark/cyan branded status page (MV3-CSP-safe: external JS,
no inline handlers), with a safety timeout so it never hangs on "Checking…"
- repacked ab-connect.zip/.crx
Shared browser, separate tab groups: when an agent drives the user's real Chrome
via ab-connect, every tab it opens lands in a Chrome tab group named after its
--session (stable color per name). Each agent's tabs stay visually separated from
other agents' and from the user's own (ungrouped) tabs. Visibility is NOT
restricted — all agents still see all tabs (per design).
- CreateTargetParams gains an optional non-CDP `agentGroup` hint (skip-if-none),
so a strict real-Chrome endpoint never receives it
- BrowserManager.agent_group(): Some(session) only when ws_url == the live
ab-connect relay URL (never on launched/direct CDP); DAEMON_SESSION set at
daemon start supplies the name; emitted at all createTarget sites (transient
storage target stays None)
- ab-connect: +tabGroups permission; Target.createTarget reads agentGroup and
groups the new tab (create/reuse by title, deterministic color), best-effort
- extension 0.3.0 -> 0.4.0; re-signed crx + zip (id unchanged)
Needs the v0.4.0 extension reloaded + a build with this change to take effect.
Chrome 149 killed every GUI-free way to load an *unpacked* extension into the
real profile: --load-extension removed in Chrome 142 (incl. the
--disable-features workaround), local-.crx external install blocked on macOS
since Chrome 44, remote-debugging-port killed in Chrome 136. So agents were
stuck automating the chrome://extensions Load-unpacked native file dialog —
unworkable.
`extension install` now writes a macOS configuration profile that force-installs
the signed .crx from a hosted update_url (ExtensionInstallForcelist policy). One
approval in System Settings (a single fixed Install button — cua-driver-friendly,
unlike a file dialog) → Chrome force-installs + auto-updates the extension on next
launch. No token, no per-use confirmation, and binary-install users no longer
need the extensions/ folder (crx is fetched from the URL).
- pin a stable signing key; new extension id ciiljdlhdpfckdcfkphgmfalanpdejep
- ship signed extensions/ab-connect.crx + extensions/updates.xml (raw GH host)
- scripts/pack-extension.sh re-signs with the stable key; .secrets/*.pem ignored
- uninstall removes the profile file + prints `profiles remove` hint