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Installing

Chrome​

From the release zip (works today):

  1. Download Bartleby for Chrome and unzip it somewhere you will keep it. Chrome loads the extension from that folder every time it starts, so do not put it in Downloads and delete it later.
  2. Open chrome://extensions.
  3. Switch on Developer mode in the top-right corner.
  4. Click Load unpacked and choose the unzipped folder (the one containing manifest.json).
  5. Click the puzzle-piece icon in the toolbar, find Bartleby, and click the pin.

Chrome shows a "Disable developer mode extensions" banner on startup for unpacked extensions. Dismiss it; it comes back on the next start. The Chrome Web Store listing, once approved, removes both the banner and the manual steps.

From the Chrome Web Store (once the listing is live): open the store link, click Add to Chrome, accept the permissions, pin the icon. Updates arrive automatically.

Firefox​

Firefox builds are produced alongside Chrome builds but are not yet on addons.mozilla.org, so they install as a temporary add-on that lasts until Firefox restarts:

  1. Download Bartleby for Firefox and unzip it.
  2. Open about:debugging#/runtime/this-firefox.
  3. Click Load Temporary Add-on… and pick the manifest.json inside the unzipped folder.

In Firefox the live panel is a sidebar rather than a side panel. Everything else is the same.

Updating​

  • Zip: download the new zip from the link above, unzip it over the old folder, then on chrome://extensions click the reload arrow on the Bartleby card. Your captures are kept; they live in the browser's extension storage, not in the folder.
  • Store: nothing to do.

After updating, reload any Author Workbench tab you had open. The old copy of the extension's page script keeps running in tabs that were open during the update and cannot talk to the new one; it takes itself off the page rather than erroring, and a reload brings the new one in.

Permissions, and why​

Chrome shows "Read and change all your data on all websites" when you install. That is the recorder: it has to see clicks and typing on whatever site you are documenting, which can be any site. It does nothing until you press Record. The other permissions are storage for your captures, tabs to take the screenshot and read the page URL, downloads to save exports, and the side panel. There is no network access except the one you trigger by sending a guide to Author Workbench. See FAQ and privacy.

Uninstalling​

chrome://extensions → Remove on the Bartleby card. This deletes every capture and screenshot stored by the extension. Export anything you want to keep first.