Chrome policies

Customize Chrome behavior on Kernel browsers using Chrome enterprise policies

Kernel browsers accept an optional chrome_policy object that lets you apply Chrome enterprise policies to the browser at launch. Use this to control startup behavior, default homepages, bookmarks, download UI, notifications, and other browser-level settings.

chrome_policy is supported on:

• browsers.create() — on-demand browser sessions
• browserPools.create() and browserPools.update() — reserved browser pools

Keys are Chrome policy names and values are the corresponding settings.

On-demand browsers

Pass chrome_policy when creating an on-demand browser. The policy is applied at session creation time.

Typescript/Javascript

import Kernel from '@onkernel/sdk';

const kernel = new Kernel();

const kernelBrowser = await kernel.browsers.create({
  chrome_policy: {
    HomepageLocation: "https://kernel.sh",
    HomepageIsNewTabPage: false,
    ShowHomeButton: true,
    DownloadBubbleEnabled: false,
  },
});

The policy is echoed on GET /browsers/{id} and GET /browsers responses so you can verify what was applied.

Reserved browser pools

Pass chrome_policy when creating or updating a pool. Every browser in the pool launches with the policy applied. See Custom chrome policies on pools for the pool-specific update flow (including discard_all_idle).

Typescript/Javascript

import Kernel from '@onkernel/sdk';

const kernel = new Kernel();

const pool = await kernel.browserPools.create({
  name: "my-pool",
  size: 5,
  chrome_policy: {
    DownloadBubbleEnabled: false,
    HomepageLocation: "https://example.com",
  },
});

Example policies

Policy	Type	Description
HomepageLocation	string	URL loaded when clicking the home button
HomepageIsNewTabPage	boolean	When false, the home button navigates to HomepageLocation instead of the new tab page
ShowHomeButton	boolean	Shows the home button in the toolbar
NewTabPageLocation	string	URL shown when opening a new tab
RestoreOnStartup	integer	Set to 4 to open a specific list of URLs on browser startup
RestoreOnStartupURLs	string[]	URLs to open when the browser starts. Requires RestoreOnStartup set to 4
BookmarkBarEnabled	boolean	Shows the bookmark bar
ManagedBookmarks	array	Pre-configured bookmarks. Supports folders via nested children arrays
DownloadBubbleEnabled	boolean	Controls the download bubble UI. Set to false to fall back to the classic download shelf

Available policies

Any policy listed in the Chrome Enterprise policy documentation can be used in the chrome_policy object. Refer to the official docs for the full list of supported policy names, types, and values.