Panerelay 0.4.0: use Browser Use with an existing Chrome session

[F-loat]

Panerelay 0.4.0 is now available: https://github.com/F-loat/panerelay/releases/tag/v0.4.0

The short version: Panerelay lets the official Browser Use CLI use an existing Chrome or Edge session through a stable virtual CDP endpoint.

Extension-mediated connection vs direct Chrome CDP

This is not a fork of Browser Use and not another Browser Use launcher. Browser Use still owns the automation semantics and talks standard CDP. The difference is how that CDP connection reaches the browser.

With direct CDP, Browser Use or Browser Harness connects to a Chrome DevTools endpoint exposed by the browser process. In practice, this usually means launching Chrome with remote debugging enabled or using a separate browser profile. The connection has the authority exposed by that endpoint, but it does not by itself provide a user-facing tab authorization or revocation workflow.

With Panerelay, the path is:

Browser Use -> fixed BU_CDP_URL -> Panerelay loopback gateway -> Native Host/Bridge -> Panerelay Chrome extension -> user-authorized tab

This allows:

• Reuse the current logged-in browser profile, cookies, extensions, and tabs.
• No browser restart or remote-debugging port is required.
• No repeated Chrome authorization prompt after the extension is installed and the tab is authorized.
• Explicit site permission and tab-control checks, with leases and revocation.
• Fail-closed behavior when a tab is not authorized or the connection is revoked.
• Browser Use continues to use the official CLI and standard CDP discovery.

Install the Panerelay Extension from the Chrome Web Store before running the setup command. Microsoft Edge may ask you to allow extensions from other stores.

Try it

npx --yes @panerelay/setup --browser-use --global-default
BU_CDP_URL=http://127.0.0.1:43827/cdp/browser-use browser-use <<'PY'
print(list_tabs())
PY

After saving Browser Use Extension mode, BU_CDP_URL is managed in the Browser Harness workspace .env, so new Browser Use processes can use the same configuration without a wrapper command.

BU_CDP_URL is fixed for configuration, but the gateway still applies Panerelay routing and authorization for each connection.

Release: https://github.com/F-loat/panerelay/releases/tag/v0.4.0

Would love feedback from anyone using Browser Harness with an already-running browser session, especially around authorization, revocation, and multi-tab workflows.