go-chrome-ai

go-chrome-ai is a cross-platform Chrome profile patcher written in Go, with both CLI and GUI modes. It helps enable Chrome AI-related features (including Ask Gemini) without reinstalling Chrome or recreating your profile, and can also block Chrome from silently downloading the on-device Gemini Nano model (~2–4 GB) by flipping the relevant chrome://flags and applying Google's GenAILocalFoundationalModelSettings Enterprise policy.

Support

Quickstart

Install

brew install --cask itamaker/tap/go-chrome-ai

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/itamaker/go-chrome-ai/main/scripts/install.sh | sh

You can also download binaries from GitHub Releases.

Each archive contains a single executable: go-chrome-ai. The macOS archives include the GUI-capable binary. Linux and Windows releases ship the CLI binary for portable installs.

First Run

Run:

go-chrome-ai        # CLI mode on every release
go-chrome-ai gui    # GUI mode on macOS release builds or source builds

On some macOS systems, Gatekeeper may block first launch for downloaded binaries. If that happens, run:

xattr -d com.apple.quarantine $(which go-chrome-ai)

Typical warning:

Apple could not verify “go-chrome-ai” is free of malware that may harm your Mac or compromise your privacy.

It enables Chrome AI-related features (such as Ask Gemini) by patching local profile state:

• is_glic_eligible (recursive) -> true
• variations_country -> "us"
• variations_permanent_consistency_country -> ["<last_version>", "us"] (if field exists and is patchable)

It can also block on-device AI model downloads (Gemini Nano), which is the default in both CLI and GUI. The block applies three changes:

• chrome://flags/#optimization-guide-on-device-model -> Disabled
• chrome://flags/#prompt-api-for-gemini-nano -> Disabled
• GenAILocalFoundationalModelSettings = 1 written to the OS managed-policy store
  • macOS: defaults write com.google.Chrome GenAILocalFoundationalModelSettings -int 1
  • Linux: /etc/opt/chrome/policies/managed/go-chrome-ai.json (needs sudo)
  • Windows: HKLM\Software\Policies\Google\Chrome REG_DWORD

Because the third change is an Enterprise policy, Chrome will display the "managed by your organization" banner afterwards. All three are independently selectable options — the two chrome://flags entries (CLI: -disable-flag, GUI: per-flag checkboxes) and the chrome://policy write (CLI: -disable-ai-policy, GUI: policy checkbox) — or all three at once via the "select all" option (CLI: -disable-ai-download, GUI: "Select all" checkbox, both default on). Turn off -disable-ai-download (CLI) or "Select all" (GUI) to pick and choose, e.g. to disable the flags without triggering the Enterprise-policy banner, or vice versa.

Every run fully syncs Chrome to the current selection, in both directions: a selected item is applied (flag forced to Disabled / policy written), and a deselected item is actively reverted — its chrome://flags override is removed (back to Chrome's default) and the chrome://policy entry is deleted from the OS managed-policy store, if either was previously set by this tool. Unchecking an option is not a no-op; it undoes that option's effect on the next run.

Screenshot

Requirements

• Go 1.26+
• Google Chrome installed (Stable / Canary / Dev / Beta)

Run CLI

go run ./cmd/go-chrome-ai

Flags:

• -dry-run: show changes without writing files or killing Chrome
• -no-restart: patch but do not restart Chrome
• -disable-ai-download (default true): "select all" — block on-device AI model downloads by disabling every known chrome://flags entry and writing GenAILocalFoundationalModelSettings=1 to the OS managed-policy store. Use -disable-ai-download=false to pick individually with -disable-flag and/or -disable-ai-policy instead.
• -disable-flag <name> (repeatable): disable one specific chrome://flags entry by name (e.g. optimization-guide-on-device-model, prompt-api-for-gemini-nano). Only takes effect when -disable-ai-download=false.
• -disable-ai-policy (default true): write the GenAILocalFoundationalModelSettings Enterprise policy, independent of which flags are selected. Only takes effect when -disable-ai-download=false.

Run GUI

go run ./cmd/go-chrome-ai gui

Prebuilt Linux and Windows releases are CLI-only. Build from source if you want the Fyne GUI on those platforms.

The GUI includes:

• auto-detection of installed Chrome channels
• left/right split layout (configuration on the left, run controls + logs on the right)
• one-click patch flow
• progress bar
• real-time logs
• a checkbox per chrome://flags entry, a checkbox for the chrome://policy write, and a "Select all" master switch over both (checking it selects and locks everything; uncheck it to pick items individually), with a live preview of the exact changes before you press Run

Build From Source

make build

go build -o output/go-chrome-ai ./cmd/go-chrome-ai

Makefile:

• make build
• make release-check to validate .goreleaser.yaml
• make snapshot to build GoReleaser release assets into dist/

Local build output is written to output/. GoReleaser packaging output is written to dist/.

Installed binary usage:

go-chrome-ai        # CLI mode on every release
go-chrome-ai gui    # GUI mode on macOS release builds or source builds

What It Does

1. Detects Chrome user-data directories per OS/channel.
2. Stops running Chrome processes to avoid file locks.
3. Patches Local State.
4. Restarts previously running Chrome executables (unless disabled).

Notes

• Back up Chrome User Data if you want a safety net.
• Run with the same OS user that owns the Chrome profile.
• Not affiliated with Google. Use at your own risk.

Contributors ✨

Zhaoyang Jia

License

MIT