# External Beta Onboarding

Status: BETA3 external tester path.

## What BrowserBridge Is

BrowserBridge is a local-first MCP browser control plane. It lets approved
agents interact with a user-selected Chrome tab under explicit policy,
approval, audit, and panic controls.

## What We Are Testing In BETA3

BETA3 is focused on whether BrowserBridge is understandable, installable,
recoverable, and trustworthy for external testers. The primary test areas are:

- Download, checksum verification, install/update, extension reload, and native
  helper setup.
- First-run guidance for helper, MCP, token, target-tab lease, and origin-grant
  readiness.
- Helper Health states, **Fix Now**, troubleshooting, and safe recovery.
- Target-tab lease stability in normal multi-window Chrome usage.
- Approval-gated navigation, redacted DOM summary, panic, and audit
  verification.
- Limited experimental beta checks for governed low-risk click and safe
  field fill/type. These are not general click or type automation.
- Safe test submit validation only. General submit remains unsupported.
- Redacted diagnostics export and issue reporting.

Use safe HTTP/HTTPS test pages only. Do not test BrowserBridge on production
accounts, auth, MFA, payment, workplace admin, account-security, destructive,
or sensitive-data workflows.

## Install

1. Download the latest release:
   <https://pub-94e17e3158894cbba8864e5d1eab3045.r2.dev/downloads/latest.tar.gz>
2. Verify the SHA-256 from the public manifest or smoke target:
   `npx pnpm@9.15.0 smoke:target -- --json`
3. Run:
   `scripts/install-or-update.sh update --from-latest`
4. Run:
   `scripts/install-or-update.sh doctor --from-latest`

## Chrome Extension

1. Open `chrome://extensions`.
2. Enable Developer Mode.
3. Load unpacked from `packages/extension/dist`.
4. Confirm permissions:
   - `nativeMessaging`
   - `activeTab`
   - `scripting`
5. Confirm no `host_permissions` and no `content_scripts`.

## First Run

1. Start BrowserBridge MCP on loopback.
2. Open a safe HTTP/HTTPS tab.
3. Open BrowserBridge Control Tower from that same Chrome window.
4. Check **Helper Health**.
5. Click **Set Target Tab**.
6. Grant the current origin before DOM summary or governed actions.
7. Use **Export Diagnostics** if anything looks wrong.

## Safe Workflow

- Navigation is approval-gated.
- DOM summary is redacted and origin-scoped.
- Click and fill/type are limited experimental beta checks using opaque
  handles and one approval per action.
- Submit is limited to safe test validation and is not generally supported.
- Panic blocks pending and future actions.

## Feedback We Want

Report anything that makes BrowserBridge feel hard to trust or hard to recover:

- Install steps that are unclear or fail without a useful next step.
- Helper Health or Troubleshooting states that do not match what you see.
- Approval cards that do not clearly explain what will happen.
- Origin grant, target-tab lease, or managed-tab wording that feels ambiguous.
- Diagnostics bundles that are missing useful non-secret context.
- Any place where panic, audit, policy, or blocked capabilities are unclear.

Use [Beta Feedback Process](beta-feedback-process.md) and attach a redacted
diagnostics bundle when possible.

## Beta Rule

Do not test BrowserBridge on auth, payment, MFA, account-security, destructive,
or sensitive-data workflows.