Question 1

Is anything ever sent to a remote server?

Accepted Answer

No. The extension talks to exactly one thing: the reins daemon on 127.0.0.1 on your machine. There is no analytics, no telemetry, and no remote code. Nothing leaves your computer.

Question 2

Which browsers work?

Accepted Answer

Any Chromium browser that supports Manifest V3 extensions: Chrome, Brave, Edge, Arc, and Dia are all known to work. Install the extension in each browser you want agents to reach; one daemon serves them all.

Question 3

Which agents work?

Accepted Answer

Anything with a shell: Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, and plain scripts. Agents with skill support learn the commands via npx skills add karnstack/reins; everything else can read reins help.

Question 4

Why does Chrome show an "is being debugged" banner?

Accepted Answer

reins executes commands through chrome.debugger, the same Chrome DevTools Protocol that powers DevTools. Chrome shows its native banner whenever a debugger is attached. That is deliberate transparency: you always know when an agent is acting on a tab.

Question 5

Do I need to run or configure the daemon?

Accepted Answer

No. Any reins command starts the daemon on demand, and the extension finds it on its own through localhost port discovery. reins kill stops it; reins status shows what is connected.

Question 6

How is this different from an MCP browser server?

Accepted Answer

There is nothing to register per agent. reins is a plain CLI, so any tool that can run shell commands can drive the browser. And it drives your real, logged-in profile rather than a separate automation browser.

Question 7

How do I stop an agent mid-flight?

Accepted Answer

Click the reins toolbar icon and hit Disconnect; the connection is severed instantly. reins kill stops the daemon entirely.

Question 8

Can I install the extension without the Chrome Web Store?

Accepted Answer

Yes. reins extension stages the bundled extension for Chrome's Load unpacked, with no reins allow step. The npm package carries a full copy, so it works with no store access at all. The docs page Install without the store has the walkthrough.

Question 9

Does reins work with unpacked dev builds of the extension?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Load the unpacked extension, then allow its ID once with reins allow <extension-id>. Store-installed extensions are allowlisted automatically.

FAQ