Manual

Documentation

NetTrace is free to use locally with no signup. Create an account only when you want premium IDE tooling and device management.

01 · Install the extension

Most people install from the official listings — same as any other extension. Free capture does not require an account.

Chrome Web Store

  1. Open the NetTrace AI listing in the Chrome Web Store (from nettrace.ai or by searching the store).
  2. Click Add to Chrome and confirm the permissions.
  3. Optional: pin the extension from the puzzle menu.

Firefox Browser Add-ons (AMO)

  1. Open the NetTrace AI listing on addons.mozilla.org.
  2. Click Add to Firefox and confirm.
  3. Optional: pin from the extensions menu.

Developer install (unpacked / temporary)

Use this when you are building from source, testing a branch, or need a load that is not the store build. Paths are relative to the repository root; see web/docs/SETUP.md for the full stack.

Chrome · load unpacked

  1. Open chrome://extensions
  2. Enable "Developer mode"
  3. Click "Load unpacked"
  4. Select extension/chrome/dist

Firefox · temporary add-on

  1. Open about:debugging#/runtime/this-firefox
  2. Click "Load Temporary Add-on"
  3. Select extension/firefox/dist/manifest.json

Temporary loads clear when Firefox restarts — use a dedicated profile for longer local testing.

02 · Free usage

No account required. Open the NetTrace popup, grant capture consent once, then browse — requests accumulate locally.

  • Select rows with checkboxes
  • Copy exports AI-ready markdown
  • Failed selects 4xx/5xx automatically
  • Paste into ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor chat, or tickets

03 · Premium · Cursor & VS Code

Premium adds the NetTrace IDE Companion — a VS Code–compatible extension that runs a localhost receiver, registers native language-model tools, and can expose MCP definitions for clients that need them. Debug payloads stay on your machine; the SaaS validates your device token only.

  1. Sign in and open Devices & keys to create a device token.
  2. Install / run the IDE companion from the ide/ package (dev loop below).
  3. In the IDE: NetTrace: Connect Account, then Start Local Receiver, then Pair Browser Extension and paste the token into the browser extension.
  4. Use NetTrace: Show MCP Setup inside the companion for client-specific wiring.
cd ide
npm install
npm run watch
# In VS Code / Cursor: Run Extension (F5) from the ide/ workspace

Authenticated dashboard: IDE setup (premium).

04 · Agent tools (IDE companion)

When the receiver is running, agents can call tools such as:

  • nettrace_get_reproduction_context
  • nettrace_get_latest_failure
  • nettrace_list_sessions / nettrace_list_failures
  • nettrace_get_request_detail