Chrome background automation

Chrome background automation is experimental and disabled by default. It is available only to accounts enabled for the experiment, on Apple Silicon Macs with macOS 14 or newer. It runs website habits locally in a temporary headless browser. Your ordinary Chrome window stays available for your work.

Set up Chrome access

1. Sign in to a signed Plainwork build on a supported Mac.
2. Open Debug → Chrome background automation.
3. Choose your Chrome profile folder: Default or, for example, Profile 1.
4. Choose Set up Chrome access. If macOS asks for Chrome Safe Storage access, choose Always Allow to remember the signed helper.

Setup grants access to the selected profile. Each habit separately limits the websites and actions it can use. Background runs cannot open a Keychain prompt; if access is denied, revoked or locked, return to setup.

Teach or automate a pattern

Teach a habit by demonstrating the workflow in Chrome, including the text to enter and the final action. There is no need to click the success message before stopping. Chrome workflows compile into background browser steps. Choosing Automate on a detected Chrome pattern uses the same compiler.

Teaching and real website execution require experimental access. Debug users can still set up Chrome access and run built-in tests while the experiment is disabled. Automatic detection has its own availability and recording consent; enabling browser automation does not start recording or turn detection on.

Review the websites, steps and imported storage before saving. Compilation builds a draft from your example without replaying the task. A run checks the actual page and stops if it cannot confirm the result. During compilation the AI can revise rejected proposals up to five times within one minute, using feedback from the compiler. When an action does not match the recording, the feedback identifies its capture number, proposed target and exact recorded labels so the AI can correct the action. It may propose an unclicked confirmation message or check a completed field's contents. A field check confirms the edit is present; for a save workflow, prefer a save confirmation that indicates it persisted.

These proposals are not live browser tests: the first approved run must satisfy the chosen check. If no valid draft is found, Plainwork explains the remaining problem. Missing action targets or completed values may still need a clearer demonstration.

Manual runs need one approval for the complete recorded workflow, including clicks, edits and enabled AI recovery. Plainwork does not ask again for each browser step. A schedule can use your device's approval for that exact habit version; changed steps or permissions need review again.

Compatibility and cleanup

No per-website integration is required. The current capability set supports HTTPS pages with ordinary semantic controls in the primary tab. Cookies can be borrowed for approved websites. Required localStorage, sessionStorage and IndexedDB, untrusted HTTP, unsupported frames or authentication mechanisms stop the run; there is no bypass to send cookies to an unverified server.

The temporary browser uses encrypted storage, removed after completion or cancellation. Cleanup failure blocks another run until Retry cleanup succeeds. Remove Chrome access stops imports and removes Plainwork's consent; it does not change Chrome's Keychain permissions or sign you out of a website.

Built-in tests remain available in Settings without reading Chrome data. AI recovery is on by default for browser habits. You can turn it off in each habit's details.