Tech • IA • Crypto
Codex can now use Chrome directly on macOS and Windows
TL;DR
Cortex has launched a Chrome extension that enables the AI assistant to operate directly within users’ real browser sessions, expanding automation across everyday web workflows.
KEY POINTS
Direct integration with Chrome environments
The new extension allows Cortex to function inside a user’s actual Chrome profile, using the same tabs, cookies, and logged-in sessions. This removes the need for isolated environments and enables access to real-time, authenticated web content across tools and platforms.
Bridging gaps left by plugins
While structured plugins remain the fastest way to connect apps, they do not always cover every feature. The extension fills these gaps by interacting with full web applications when specific actions or data are only available through standard browser interfaces.
Parallel, non-intrusive automation
Cortex operates within its own Chrome tab group, allowing it to open, navigate, and analyze multiple pages simultaneously without interrupting the user’s active workflow. This enables background research, data extraction, and task execution while users continue working independently.
Advanced task execution and reasoning
The system can perform multi-step workflows such as analyzing user sentiment, identifying trends, and exporting findings into structured outputs like spreadsheets. It continuously evaluates its progress to ensure accuracy while navigating web content.
Cross-tool workflows with combined capabilities
By combining browser access with plugins, Cortex can automate complex processes. For example, it can retrieve travel-related emails, extract key details, populate expense reports, and upload missing receipts directly from local files.
Code-driven browser control
Leveraging code execution, Cortex can control Chrome without relying on slower visual interaction loops. This enables scripting of repetitive tasks and coordinated actions across multiple tabs with greater speed and precision.
Multi-agent parallel use cases
The extension supports spawning multiple agents operating in separate tabs. This capability has been demonstrated in scenarios such as collaborative gameplay, where agents interact simultaneously within the same web-based environment.
CONCLUSION
The Chrome extension significantly expands Cortex’s utility by embedding AI-driven automation directly into everyday browsing, enabling faster, more seamless interaction with real-world web applications.
Full transcript
Cortex can now help with almost everything. But only if it can work where actual work happens. And for many of us, that place is Chrome. To help with that, we just launched the Chrome extension for Cortex. It works with the Cortex app in both Windows and Mac OS. Let me show you what you can actually do with it and how it works with plugins and other ways that you can connect Cortex to the tools that you already use. If there's a plugin for the app that I need, I normally start there. Connectors are structured and fast and Cortex does not have to click through all the UI just to read a doc or check a message or create a file. Sometimes, however, there is no plugin or there is one, but the thing you need is only available in the full web app. And sometimes the context is actually the existing logged-in Chrome session. This is what the Chrome extension is for. It lets Cortex work in your real browser. Same profile, same session, same cookies, same tabs, same logged-in apps. While the in-app browser is great for local development tasks and giving detailed feedback to Cortex using annotations, the Chrome extension can work across multiple tabs in parallel and use many of the features of the real browser. For example, I can have Cortex do some research on the user sentiment of our latest launches, identify new use cases, highlight pain points, and then take all of that and output it into an actual spreadsheet. Compared to regular computer use, Cortex also won't take over my whole browser. It creates its own Chrome tab group, will work from there, and it can open multiple tabs, scroll through pages, and find content, and then reason along the way to see if it has the correct course. All in the background, so I can keep working undisturbed in my own tabs. Cortex can also combine it with other plugins. For example, to handle my expense reports, it can check my emails using a plugin, search for emails related to my latest trip, extract all the relevant information, and then fill out the expense forms. It can even upload the missing receipts directly from my computer. And because the extension can leverage code execution, Codex can control Chrome without the usual screenshot, reason, move the mouse loop. It can script repetitive work and even work in multiple tabs in parallel. For example, I've been working on this multiplayer drawing game and I can have Codex spin up individual sub agents that play the game together. In this case, each agent has their own browser tab to play in so they can play in parallel and collaborate on the game. The Chrome extension lets you do more by connecting Codex to the tools and apps that you're already using. Give it a try.