How do I set up the agent browser?

Open Settings, go to Agent browser, click Set up agent browser, then follow the four steps it shows you in the Chrome window that opens. It ends with clicking Recheck back in codus, which is the step people skip and the one that actually confirms it worked. You only ever do this once.

This is optional. codus already has a browser built in and it needs no setup. The agent browser exists only for sites that refuse the built-in one, which is mostly sites with a "prove you are human" check.

Before you start

You need Google Chrome itself, installed on your Mac. Brave, Arc and Edge will not do, even though they are built on the same foundation. If Chrome is not installed, the set-up button is greyed out.

Steps

1. Click the ⚙ icon at the far right of the bar along the very top of codus. It has no text label.
2. At the bottom of the small panel that opens, click See all settings →.
3. In the list on the left, click Agent browser. It is fourth from the bottom, described as "Real Chrome for bot-walled sites".
4. Click Set up agent browser. A Chrome window opens on its own, and only now do the instructions appear in codus. Keep both windows where you can see them.
5. In Chrome's address bar, type chrome://extensions and press return. There is no copy button for this one, so you do have to type it.
6. Turn on Developer mode, using the switch in the top-right corner of that Chrome page.
7. Click Load unpacked, which appears once Developer mode is on.
8. Back in codus, click Copy path next to ~/.codus/agent-chrome-ext.
9. In Chrome's file chooser, press Cmd-Shift-G, paste the path, press return, then confirm.
10. Back in codus, click Recheck. Nothing confirms the set-up until you do.

How do I know it worked?

The instructions disappear and the button changes from Set up agent browser to Reopen agent browser. If the instructions are still on screen, it has not connected yet, and Recheck is almost always the reason.

Do I have to do this again?

No. The extension stays in that Chrome profile and reconnects by itself every time, including after you quit and reopen either app.

What it is for

Some websites block automated browsers. When your agent hits one of those, it can use this real Chrome instead, which those sites accept. Everything else continues to use the browser built into codus, which needs no setup at all.

If you never work with sites like that, you can skip this page entirely.

Common problems

The set-up button is greyed out. Google Chrome is not installed on this Mac. Install Chrome itself, not another browser built on the same technology.

I finished the Chrome steps but codus still shows the instructions. Click Recheck, next to the set-up button. This is the most common one, because the Chrome steps feel like the end of the job.

The Chrome window did not open. Click Set up agent browser again. The instructions only appear after Chrome has actually launched, so if you cannot see them, it did not start.

I cannot find the path to paste. The Copy path button in codus sits directly beside ~/.codus/agent-chrome-ext, and confirms with Copied for a moment after you click it.