Install cattracks

Installing by hand instead

Five steps, about a minute. Worth knowing before you start: a hand-loaded copy doesn't auto-update, Chrome will periodically ask you to turn it off, and it's a separate extension from the Web Store one — see moving between them below. Pick this route if you want to read the code you're running, or you'd simply rather not go through Google.

Download cattracks-extension.zip first, then:

1. Unzip the download. You'll get a folder named cattracks-extension. Move it somewhere you won't delete it — Chrome loads the extension straight from this folder, so if you move or trash it, cattracks stops working.
2. Open the extensions page. In Chrome, copy chrome://extensions into the address bar and press Enter. (You can't click a link to it — Chrome blocks that.)
3. Turn on Developer mode. Flip the Developer mode toggle in the top-right corner of that page.
4. Load unpacked. Click Load unpacked (top-left), then select the cattracks-extension folder you unzipped. cattracks appears in your list.
5. Pin it and you're set. Click the puzzle-piece icon in Chrome's toolbar and pin cattracks. It starts recording your tabs right away — no account required. Want to sync across devices? See creating an account below.

Already installed by hand? Moving to the Web Store copy

You don't have to move. A hand-installed cattracks keeps working exactly as it does today, and we'll keep publishing the zip. But if you'd like Chrome to handle updates from now on, here's the honest version of what's involved — because the two are separate extensions as far as Chrome is concerned, and that has real consequences.

Chrome gives every extension its own private storage, keyed to the extension's identity. The Web Store copy has a different identity from the hand-loaded one, so it starts empty — it cannot read the other copy's recorded history. What brings your history across is sync, not the install:

1. Make sure your history is synced. In your current copy's options page, check the Account & Sync panel — it tells you when it last synced and whether anything is still waiting. Push anything outstanding before you go further. Only synced history can come back. If you never made an account, there's nothing on the server to restore, and moving means starting your timeline fresh.
2. Install from the Web Store using the button at the top of this page.
3. Sign in on the new copy with the same email and password. Your history is stored encrypted, so it's your password that decrypts it — you'll need it, or your recovery code. There's no way for us to recover either.
4. Remove the hand-installed copy in chrome://extensions. Do this once you're satisfied the new one has your history. If you leave both installed, both keep recording, and you'll see the same browsing twice under two device names.

Two smaller things to expect. The Web Store copy shows up as a new device in your timeline, with a fresh name you can change — your old device and its name stay in the list, so nothing you named is lost. And anything that was only ever on the old copy — never synced, or already aged out of the 90-day local window — stays with that copy's storage and is gone when you remove it. If any of that gives you pause, get in touch before you remove anything; nothing here is on a deadline.

Creating an account

There's no sign-up form on this site. cattracks encrypts your history with a key derived on your own device, so an account is created inside the extension — where that key exists — not by a web form that would have to see more than a server should.

1. Install the extension if you haven't yet — from the Chrome Web Store, or by hand. Either works the same from here on.
2. Open its options page. A left-click on the toolbar icon opens your timeline, not this — instead, right-click the cattracks icon in Chrome's toolbar and choose Options, or open chrome://extensions, find cattracks, and click Details, then Extension options.
3. Create your account. In the Account & Sync panel, choose Create account. Enter your email and a username — an invite code is optional, open registration is on — then get a 6-digit code by email and enter it along with a password to finish.
4. Save your recovery code. Right after you register, cattracks shows you a recovery code once. Write it down somewhere safe immediately — it's the only way back into your data if you ever forget your password.

No account, no problem: cattracks still records and lets you scrub back through your timeline entirely on this device. An account only adds sync.

What's new

cattracks is moving fast. See the full, dated list of every release — newest first — in the changelog.

Updating to a new version

Installed from the Web Store? Nothing to do — Chrome updates cattracks in the background, usually within a day of a release. The rest of this section is only for hand-loaded copies.

Hand-loaded extensions don't auto-update, so when a new build ships you update it yourself — about twenty seconds. Your history is safe: it lives in Chrome's storage, not the folder; cattracks keeps the same identity across updates; and each new version upgrades your local database automatically the first time it loads. Your account, synced history, and settings all carry over untouched.

1. Download the latest zip. Grab cattracks-extension.zip again — the download is always the newest version.
2. Replace your folder. Unzip it over your existing cattracks-extension folder — same name, same place, so the new files overwrite the old ones.
3. Reload the extension. Open chrome://extensions and click the circular reload ↻ icon on the cattracks card. The version number under its name ticks up.
4. That's everything. Keep browsing — your recorded timeline is right where you left it.

Prefer to unzip somewhere new instead of overwriting? First Remove the old cattracks in chrome://extensions, then Load unpacked the new folder — Chrome won't run two copies with the same identity at once. Your history still carries over.

A few things to expect

All of these are about the hand-loaded copy. A Web Store install has none of them — that's most of why it's the recommended route now.

• Chrome will nag you. Because it's a hand-loaded extension, Chrome shows a "Disable developer-mode extensions" bubble now and then. That's normal — just close it; leaving cattracks on is fine.
• Updates are manual. Hand-loaded extensions don't auto-update — see Updating to a new version above for the twenty-second steps (your history carries over). The Web Store copy updates itself.
• Keep the folder. Deleting or moving the cattracks-extension folder removes the extension. Your recorded history lives in Chrome's storage, not the folder, and a hand-loaded cattracks keeps the same identity everywhere it's loaded from — so if you do need to relocate it, follow the Remove, then Load unpacked the new location steps above and your history carries over. Moving to the Web Store copy is a different matter — see moving to the Web Store copy.
• Why isn't the zip a one-click install? Chrome blocks self-hosted one-click .crx installs on Mac and Windows entirely, so "Load unpacked" is the only self-hosted route that works everywhere. One-click is exactly what the Web Store listing buys you.

Questions or trouble? [email protected], or see support.