Use Brief in Chrome

Chat with Brief beside a webpage and attach page selections or Brief documents.

Last updated: October 20, 2026

The Brief Chrome extension puts chat beside the page you are reading. Use it to ask about a page, send highlighted text, or include documents from your Brief workspace.

Install and sign in

  1. Install the Brief Chrome extension from the Chrome Web Store.
  2. Click the Brief icon to open the side panel. If the extension popup appears, select Open Side Panel. You can also open the panel with ⌘⇧B on Mac or Ctrl+Shift+B on Windows and Linux.
  3. Select Sign in with Brief. If a browser tab opens, finish signing in there; the panel continues when it detects your session. Chat requires an authenticated Brief account.

The popup also offers Open in New Tab for the Brief web app.

Chat with page context

On a regular HTTP or HTTPS page, the extension passes the current page URL into chat. Type a question and send it. To include specific text, highlight it on the page, right-click, and select Send selection to Brief. The captured page appears in the panel for the next message; you can remove it before sending. The selection shortcut is ⌘⇧E on Mac or Ctrl+Shift+E on Windows and Linux.

The extension cannot capture Chrome internal pages or local files. If a page cannot be read, copy the relevant text into chat. A captured selection is used for one successful message; capture it again if you need it in a later message.

Attach documents or files

To include a Brief document, open Attach Brief Docs… in the chat composer. Browse Recent or Folders, or use Search. Select documents you can access, then choose Attach. The dialog shows how many documents are selected and offers Clear All and Cancel. You can also type @ in the composer to find a document.

You can attach files from your computer through the composer, by pasting, or by dropping them into the panel. Supported formats are text and data files (.txt, .md, .markdown, .csv, .json, .py, .jsonld), PDF, Office files (.docx, .xlsx, .pptx), and images (.jpg, .jpeg, .png, .gif, .webp, .heic, .heif). The extension accepts up to 10 local files, with a 512 KB limit per file and 1 MB total. If a file is too large or its type is unsupported, the panel reports the validation error.

In a new chat, select a starter prompt card to send its question, or type your own. On a completed reply, hover over the message and use Good response or Bad response when those controls appear to rate it. Use Select model in the composer to choose the model for your chat. Use New Chat to start over or History to open earlier conversations. In History, use Delete conversation beside a conversation and confirm Delete this conversation? to remove it. Use Sign out to disconnect the account.

Troubleshooting

  • If the panel says Waiting for sign in..., finish in the browser tab. Use Open sign-in page again if you closed it, or Cancel to restart.
  • If it says Session expired, select Sign in again. For other sign-in failures, select Try again and check that the Brief app opens in your browser.
  • If page capture fails on a restricted page, use a regular HTTPS page or paste the relevant text into chat.

For chat in the web app, see Brief Chat. For workspace documents, see documents.