browser syncalpha

Getting started

Install the extension, create a pool, and join it from your other browsers.

alpha

The extension is not in the Chrome Web Store while browser sync is in alpha. Install it from a GitHub release as an unpacked extension.

Install with an agent

Paste this prompt into your coding agent. The agent detects Chromium browsers on this computer and asks which ones should receive the extension.

Agent prompt

Install browser sync from paperkeel. browser sync is an end-to-end encrypted Chromium extension. It mirrors bookmarks and user-installed extensions across browser profiles. A pool is one shared profile. A join code is the pool ID plus the secret. Treat the join code as a password.

The product is in alpha. The extension is not in the Chrome Web Store. Load it unpacked from a GitHub release.

Goal
Install the extension into the Chromium browsers the user chooses. Do not open the options page. Do not create a pool. Do not join a pool.

Steps

1. Detect installed Chromium browsers on this computer.
Look for Chrome, Chromium, Brave, Edge, Vivaldi, Helium, and other Chromium browsers.
Check typical application folders, PATH, desktop files, and package lists for this OS.
List each browser you find with its name and path.
Do not include Firefox or Safari. They are not supported.

2. Ask the user which of those browsers should receive the extension.
Wait for an explicit answer. Do not install into a browser the user did not name.

3. Download the latest extension zip from https://github.com/paperkeel/browser-sync/releases
Unzip it to a folder that will stay on disk. The Load unpacked step needs that folder.

4. For each chosen browser, load the unpacked extension.
Open the extensions page for that browser.
Chrome or Chromium: chrome://extensions
Brave: brave://extensions
Edge: edge://extensions
Vivaldi: vivaldi://extensions
Helium: chrome://extensions
Turn on developer mode.
Select Load unpacked.
Choose the unzipped folder.
Confirm the extension named browser sync is present and enabled.

5. Tell the user the extension is installed in each chosen browser.
Tell the user to open the extension in one browser, select Start syncing, and create a pool.
Tell the user to open the extension in each other chosen browser and join that pool with the join code.
Do not open the options page. Do not enter a join code for the user.

Install the extension

browser sync runs as an extension in any Chromium browser: Chrome, Brave, Edge, Vivaldi, and others. Install from a GitHub release:

  1. Download the latest extension zip from GitHub releases.
  2. Unzip it to a folder.
  3. Open chrome://extensions in your browser.
  4. Turn on developer mode.
  5. Select “Load unpacked” and choose the unzipped folder.

Repeat these steps in each browser that you want to sync.

Create a pool

  1. Select the extension icon to open the options page.
  2. Select “Start syncing”.

The extension generates a pool ID and a pool secret, then derives the encryption key on your device. Copy the join code. It contains both.

The join code grants full access to the pool. Share it only with your own browsers, and treat it like a password.

Join a pool

  1. Install the extension in the other browser.
  2. Select the extension icon.
  3. Paste the join code and select “Join”.

Joining replaces the browser's bookmarks and user-installed extensions with the pool's contents. There is no merge. Export anything that you want to keep before you join.

After the join completes, the browser mirrors the pool. Changes made in any pool member sync to all the others.