The consent modal only appears on a raw remote-debugging attach or a browser we
launched with a debug port — never on the ab-connect extension relay. Append one
line per connection to ~/.chrome-use/connect-mode.log (relay | raw-port-attach |
launched | remote-ws), flagging 'CONSENT-MODAL-RISK' when a raw-port/launch path
runs while the relay was available. Lets us tell a code regression from Chrome's
own extension-debugger consent UX when the modal reappears. Best-effort, never
fails a connection. Verified: normal 'open' logs mode=relay (consent-free).
The upgrade story spanned four parts (CLI, daemon, extension, skill) with no
single view and — worst — the extension was a total black box: nothing reported
which build was live, so a user could sit on a stale extension with zero signal.
- ext (0.4.7): on connect the extension sends a `hello` with
chrome.runtime.getManifest().version; the native-messaging host records it to a
`relay-ext-version` sidecar (next to relay-cdp-url, removed on exit).
- build.rs embeds the shipped extension version (AB_CONNECT_VERSION, read from the
ext manifest at compile time) so the CLI knows what extension it expects.
- `chrome-use doctor` gains a Versions section: CLI (vs the cached latest from the
background update check), extension (connected version vs the bundled expected —
warns + tells you to reload it in Chrome if behind), and skill (bundled, version-
locked; `skills add` copies may be stale). Daemon coherence was already covered.
So 'which of the four parts is on what version, and what needs upgrading' is now
one command. Verified: doctor warns on a simulated old extension and passes on a
current one; gracefully shows 'not connected / predates reporting' when the host
hasn't learned a version yet.
Stage 1 of the agent-browser → chrome-use extension migration: the CLI now
writes a host manifest under both com.agent_browser.connect (extension ≤0.4.2)
AND com.leeguoo.chrome_use (the rebrand 0.5.0+), both pointing at the same
launcher, and host_installed()/uninstall recognize both. So the relay works no
matter which extension version a user has, with no forced re-install — which
lets the store roll 0.4.3 (cosmetic name only, host unchanged) and later 0.5.0
(new host) without ever breaking the relay or re-popping the consent dialog.
After the agent-browser → chrome-use rename, the new binary used ~/.chrome-use
+ host com.leeguoo.chrome_use and couldn't find the relay that the still-old
native-messaging host wrote to ~/.agent-browser → it fell back to raw
--remote-debugging-port and re-popped 'Allow remote debugging?'.
- config_home()/config_dir_basename(): decide once per run — prefer the new
.chrome-use, but keep using an existing .agent-browser install if that's the
only one present; fresh installs get .chrome-use. get_socket_dir() routes
through it so sockets/state are consistent within a run.
- relay_url_path(): the relay-cdp-url is a cross-binary handoff (host writes,
CLI reads), so read from whichever brand dir actually has the file
(~/.chrome-use OR ~/.agent-browser).
Combined with keeping HOST_NAME=com.agent_browser.connect (b6febbe), the renamed
chrome-use binary now relays through the existing ab-connect 0.4.2 extension
with zero dialog. Verified live: chrome-use found ~/.agent-browser/relay-cdp-url
and listed the user's real tabs, no consent dialog.
Reverting the host-name rename from the chrome-use rebrand. The host name is
invisible internal plumbing (lives only in NativeMessagingHosts/*.json and the
extension), so renaming it to com.leeguoo.chrome_use bought nothing user-facing
but broke the relay for every existing user: the new chrome-use binary couldn't
find a matching host/extension, silently fell back to raw --remote-debugging-port,
and re-popped the 'Allow remote debugging?' consent dialog.
Keeping com.agent_browser.connect means the renamed chrome-use binary keeps
working with the already-installed host json and the live ab-connect 0.4.2
extension — zero relay break, no dialog, and the store republish becomes an
OPTIONAL cosmetic display-name update (manifest bumped 0.5.0 → 0.4.3, name stays
chrome-use). Only the binary/command name changed for users.
Release binaries / Build macOS ARM64 (push) Has been cancelled
Release binaries / Build macOS x64 (push) Has been cancelled
Release binaries / Build Linux ARM64 (push) Has been cancelled
Release binaries / Build Linux musl ARM64 (push) Has been cancelled
Release binaries / Build Linux musl x64 (push) Has been cancelled
Release binaries / Build Linux x64 (push) Has been cancelled
Release binaries / Build Windows x64 (push) Has been cancelled
Release binaries / Attach binaries to GitHub Release (push) Has been cancelled
Standalone product rename across the whole repo (issue: project identity):
- Binary/package/repo/skill/docs: agent-browser[-stealth] → chrome-use
(single binary name `chrome-use`; old aliases agent-browser/abs dropped).
- Version: 0.27.0-fork.51 → 1.0.0 (drop the upstream-fork counter).
- Native-messaging host: com.agent_browser.connect → com.leeguoo.chrome_use
(CLI + ab-connect extension in lockstep — this is a breaking handshake change,
extension bumped 0.4.2 → 0.5.0, needs a Web Store republish).
- Config dir: ~/.agent-browser → ~/.chrome-use.
- README/zh: reframed from "stealth fork of agent-browser" to a standalone
product with a small `originally based on vercel-labs/agent-browser` credit.
- Kept AGENT_BROWSER_* env vars working (63 vars across the codebase; renaming
them would break every existing script/skill for no user-facing gain).
Build green, 802 unit tests pass, fmt + clippy clean. Upstream attribution to
vercel-labs/agent-browser preserved.
Root cause of the recurring "Allow remote debugging?" dialog: when the ab-connect
relay was momentarily down (MV3 service worker drops the relay-url file across a
Chrome restart / idle wake), auto_connect_cdp silently fell through to the raw
:9222 DevToolsActivePort path — which pops Chrome 136+'s consent modal, the exact
thing the extension exists to avoid. Even a relay-aware build hit this if it
connected during the blip.
Fix: if the native-messaging host is installed (connect::host_installed() — the
durable signal that the user chose the extension path), auto_connect retries the
relay for ~5s while the SW reconnects, and then ERRORS with an actionable message
instead of attaching to a raw debug port. The raw :9222 path now runs only when
no extension is set up (where the dialog is expected). `--cdp <port>` still forces
the raw path explicitly.
agent-browser-stealth is now published (id knfcmbamhjmaonkfnjhldjedeobeafmk). The
.mobileconfig force-install pulls from the Web Store update server, which serves
the extension under its STORE id — so the forcelist must use STORE_EXTENSION_ID,
not the local Load-unpacked id. (The native-messaging host already allows both
ids.)
Store upload strips manifest 'key', so the published build gets id
knfcmbamhjmaonkfnjhldjedeobeafmk (not the local ciiljdlhd). Add a
STORE_EXTENSION_ID const and list both origins in allowed_origins so either the
local Load-unpacked build or the store build can reach the native host.
The fork's CI had never been green. Pre-existing failures:
- version-sync: check-version-sync.js read packages/dashboard/package.json,
which doesn't exist in this fork (workspace is just "."). Drop the dashboard
comparison; check package.json vs cli/Cargo.toml only.
- Dashboard job: `pnpm install --filter dashboard` for a non-existent package.
Remove the job.
- Format check: repo was never `cargo fmt`-clean. Ran cargo fmt (mechanical).
- Clippy -D warnings (newly enforced on Rust 1.94 stable): manual_contains in
commands.rs (.iter().any()->.contains()), question_mark in element.rs
(if-let-Err -> ?), result_large_err on the tungstenite handshake callback in
connect.rs (allow — the Result type is fixed by the accept_hdr_async contract).
- rust-cross: lightpanda::waits_for_ready_without_logs spawns a real process +
binds a socket with timing assumptions; flaky in CI. Marked #[ignore].
Also: skill docs note fork.30's relay-preferred auto-connect (plain
`agent-browser open` is dialog-free once the ab-connect extension is loaded) and
the extension's new "agent-browser-stealth" display name.
The nm-host fanned extension→client messages over a broadcast channel and
forwarded commands under the client's own id, so two sessions connected to one
relay collided: command replies went to every client and ids overlapped → the
2nd session's connect hung (EAGAIN after 30s×5) and responses cross-talked.
Now the relay demultiplexes:
- each forwarded command is re-keyed to a relay-global id mapped to (client,
original_id); the extension's reply routes back to ONLY that client with its
original id restored (relay.rs: pending map + ClientId)
- CDP events fan out to all clients (they ignore unknown sessions)
- nm-host keeps a client_id -> sender registry instead of a broadcast; clients
are unregistered + their pending dropped on disconnect
Unblocks concurrent multi-agent on one shared Chrome (each --session its own tab
group from fork.20). relay.rs: 9 unit tests incl. cross-client id isolation.
Verified on Chrome 149 (unmanaged macOS): a force-install policy pointing at a
SELF-HOSTED crx is tagged [BLOCKED] in chrome://policy ("Error, Warning") — Chrome
refuses off-Web-Store force-installs on non-cloud-managed browsers. So the
self-hosted-crx approach cannot work on consumer Chrome; the extension must ship
via the Chrome Web Store (same reason codex/claude do).
- UPDATE_URL -> Chrome Web Store update endpoint; add STORE_URL (one-click Add to
Chrome) as the guaranteed path + headless fallback
- install instructions now offer: A) one-click store link, B) silent profile
force-install (works once published), with Load-unpacked as the pre-publish stopgap
- build extensions/ab-connect.zip (CWS upload package; manifest "key" kept so the
published id stays ciiljdlhdpfckdcfkphgmfalanpdejep)
- extensions/store/{SUBMISSION.html,privacy.html}: full listing copy, permission
justifications (debugger is the review-sensitive one), privacy policy
- drop dead self-hosted extensions/updates.xml; pack-extension.sh now builds the zip
Not released yet — force-install only works after the store listing is Published.
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
Completes the zero-confirmation real-Chrome feature.
- Drive the user's EXISTING logged-in tabs (not just newly-created ones):
extension attachTab now treats "already attached" (a lingering chrome.debugger
binding after a service-worker restart) as success and announces the tab
anyway, instead of skipping it. The nm-host also sends {method:"attachAll"}
when an agent-browser CDP client connects, so the daemon doesn't race an empty
target list.
- `agent-browser extension connect` auto-discovers the relay's CDP url
(~/.agent-browser/relay-cdp-url) and attaches — no copying a ws URL. Rewrites
into the normal `connect <url>` flow; `extension install/status/uninstall`
unchanged.
- Skill docs: a "drive your real, logged-in Chrome (extension)" section.
Verified end-to-end: `extension connect` listed the user's real tabs (Lark,
LINUX DO, Rakuten, Discord) and read a logged-in Lark doc's title — zero token,
zero confirmation. Full suite 768 passed.
The __nm-host now exposes a Chrome-compatible CDP WebSocket endpoint and bridges
it to the extension over native messaging via the relay translation core
(relay.rs): incoming raw CDP commands are answered locally for browser-level
Target discovery or forwarded to the extension as forwardCDPCommand; the
extension's forwardCDPEvent/results are relayed back as raw CDP.
Security without a token or user interaction: the ws URL carries an unguessable
guid and is written to ~/.agent-browser/relay-cdp-url (perms 600), so only this
user's agent-browser can drive the browser — mirroring how Chrome guards its own
remote-debugging URL.
Verified end-to-end on real Chrome: `agent-browser connect <relay-url>` then an
eval navigated a tab and read back "Example Domain | https://example.com/" —
abs → CDP → relay → native messaging → extension → chrome.debugger → real tab,
zero token, zero confirmation. Adds the tokio io-std feature for the host's
stdio.
Remaining polish: re-attach the user's EXISTING tabs after a service-worker
restart (currently attaches new tabs cleanly; existing ones need detach+reattach
since chrome.debugger may still be bound), and an `open --extension` UX that
reads relay-cdp-url so the URL isn't passed by hand.
Optimal architecture (chosen over the WS+token copy): the ab-connect extension
talks to a local agent-browser native-messaging host. No localhost port, no
token — Chrome authenticates the extension to the host by id. This is the
codex/claude-style "install once, no per-use confirmation" model.
- extensions/ab-connect: rewritten transport WebSocket+token → native messaging
(chrome.runtime.connectNative). Pinned the extension id via a manifest `key`
(→ bdoiejojpjogcjojeladhioioijhgade) so the host manifest can authorize it.
Kept the proven chrome.debugger attach + Target.attachedToTarget emulation;
dropped WS/token/options. Rebranded to "agent-browser connect".
- cli connect.rs: `agent-browser extension install` writes the native-messaging
host manifest (Chrome/Chromium/Edge/Brave) + a launcher; hidden `__nm-host`
speaks the 4-byte-length native-messaging framing.
Validated end-to-end on real Chrome: Chrome spawned the host (origin matched the
pinned id) and the extension attached the user's real logged-in tabs, streaming
Target.attachedToTarget over native messaging — zero token, zero port.
Next: bridge the host to the daemon relay (relay.rs) + CdpClient so
`agent-browser click/eval/...` drives those tabs.
leeguooooo