Browser Extension

Installation and deployment guides for the Pyze browser extension on Chrome and Edge

Overview

The Pyze browser extension enables analytics tracking directly in your web browser, with no changes to the web applications being tracked. It ships in two deployment models:

Component What it does Required
Pyze extension Runs in Chrome or Edge and sends analytics events from the approved sites Always
Native host A small local helper that reads the signed-in OS username and hands the extension a hashed identifier (see Privacy note) Only when you need users identified across machines. Without it, Pyze reports activity per browser install.
Browser Minimum Version Platform
Google Chrome 111+ Windows, macOS, Linux (native host: Windows, macOS)
Microsoft Edge 111+ Windows 10+, macOS (native host: Windows, macOS)

Before deploying, your security team may want the IT & Security Review. It lists the extension’s permissions, the data it collects and never collects, and what it needs on the endpoint.

Choose a Deployment Path

Guide Use when
Manual Install You are testing on a single machine, or installing on a personal or unmanaged device. No admin rights are needed.
IT Mass Deployment (Store) You are rolling out to all managed machines with the native host, and the extension is force-installed from the Chrome Web Store, or from Edge Add-ons where Pyze has an Edge listing.
IT Mass Deployment (Non-Store) You are rolling out to all managed machines with the native host but cannot install from the store. Pyze supplies a signed package that you host internally and force-install by policy.
IT Mass Deployment (Extension Only) You are rolling out to all managed machines and want nothing installed outside the browser. The extension is force-installed from the store by policy and users are identified per installation.

The manual and the two native host IT guides install the same two components. The manual guide uses the installer scripts shipped in the native host package; the IT guides place the native host at a fixed machine-wide path with your packaging tool. The extension-only guide installs the extension alone.

If the extension is installed with the native host but users are not identified, see Native Host Troubleshooting. It decodes the three native messaging host console errors and covers the launch block seen on Citrix, VDI, and other locked-down Windows images.

Identity Fields

Every event the extension sends can carry one identity field. Whether it is present depends on whether the native host is installed and working.

Field Source Present when
userId SHA-256 hash of the signed-in OS username, supplied by the native host The native host is installed, registered, and launches successfully

In an extension-only deployment there is no native host, so events carry no userId and Pyze reports activity per installation. The extension never reads a username, email, employee id, or any OS or hardware identifier.

Privacy Note

The native host reads the OS username and sends only a SHA-256 hash of it. The username itself is never sent. The hash is a stable pseudonymous identifier, so the same user gets the same ID on every machine.

Manual Install

Install the Pyze extension and native host helper on a single machine for testing or personal use

IT Mass Deployment (Store)

Deploy the Pyze native host and force-install the extension from the store on all managed machines

IT Mass Deployment (Non-Store)

Host the signed Pyze extension package internally and force-install it by policy, without the Chrome Web Store

IT Mass Deployment (Extension Only)

Force-install the Pyze extension from the store on all managed machines without the native host

Native Host Troubleshooting

Read the extension’s console, decode the three native messaging host errors, and fix the launch block seen on Citrix, VDI, and other locked-down Windows images

IT & Security Review

What the Pyze browser extension can access, what it collects, and what it needs on the endpoint, for IT and security approval

Last modified 0001-01-01