Chrome extension + local bridge for chatting with zot from a Chrome side panel and letting zot operate browser tabs through a browser_action tool.

Install

Install directly as a zot extension, then install the zot-chrome command shim:

zot ext install https://github.com/patriceckhart/zot-chrome-operator
node "$HOME/Library/Application Support/zot/extensions/zot-chrome-operator/bin/install-cli.js"

This does not require any changes to zot. The second command creates a global zot-chrome shim at:

~/.local/bin/zot-chrome

Make sure ~/.local/bin is on your PATH. For example, add this to your shell profile if needed:

export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

Why the second command? zot ext install only clones/copies extension files; it does not execute install hooks. The shim is also refreshed automatically the next time zot starts normally, but running install-cli.js makes zot-chrome available immediately.

After installation, zot-chrome should be available from any directory:

zot-chrome status

Install the Chrome extension

Build the unpacked Chrome extension and print its path:

zot-chrome ext

The first run installs npm dependencies and builds the unpacked extension if needed. The command prints a path ending in dist, for example:

/Users/you/Library/Application Support/zot/extensions/zot-chrome-operator/dist

Then install it in Chrome:

1. Open chrome://extensions.
2. Enable Developer mode in the top-right corner.
3. Click Load unpacked.
4. Select the printed dist directory.
5. Pin the zot extension if you want quick access.
6. Click the extension icon to open the side panel.

After updates, run zot-chrome ext again if needed, then click the reload button for the unpacked extension on chrome://extensions.

Run the bridge

zot-chrome start
zot-chrome status
zot-chrome logs
zot-chrome stop

zot-chrome start ensures the Chrome extension is built, then starts the local bridge in the background. The bridge starts zot rpc --no-session with the bundled zot extension. The Chrome side panel connects to ws://localhost:9224 and executes browser actions requested by zot.

Optional environment:

ZOT_PROVIDER=anthropic ZOT_MODEL=claude-sonnet-4-5 zot-chrome start
PORT=9225 zot-chrome start

Commands

zot-chrome start    # start the bridge server in the background
zot-chrome stop     # stop the bridge server
zot-chrome status   # check bridge state
zot-chrome logs     # tail bridge logs
zot-chrome ext      # print/build the unpacked Chrome extension path

Browser capabilities

The registered zot tool can:

• list, create, switch, and close tabs
• inspect page context
• navigate
• click
• type into native and rich editors
• select options
• scroll
• extract page text
• wait

No chat session is persisted; the bridge uses zot --no-session.

License

MIT