Chrome Ask Gemini Launcher

Create a macOS launcher for Google Chrome that starts Chrome with Gemini in Chrome / Ask Gemini feature flags.

This helps when Chrome's Ask Gemini button disappears after restart or is hidden behind rollout, locale, or country-filtering gates. The launcher starts the real /Applications/Google Chrome.app with the required flags and can add a distinct Chrome Ask Gemini app to your Dock.

What It Does

• Creates ~/bin/chrome-ask-gemini.
• Creates ~/Applications/Chrome Ask Gemini.app.
• Generates a Chrome-based icon with an AI badge.
• Optionally adds the launcher to the macOS Dock.
• Preserves Chrome vertical tabs when already enabled.
• Avoids modifying the official Google Chrome.app bundle.

Install as a Codex Skill

mkdir -p ~/.codex/skills
git clone https://github.com/barry166/chrome-ask-gemini-launcher.git
cp -R chrome-ask-gemini-launcher/skills/chrome-ask-gemini-launcher ~/.codex/skills/

Restart Codex, then ask:

Use $chrome-ask-gemini-launcher to create a Dock launcher for Ask Gemini in Chrome.

Install as a Codex Plugin

If your Codex build supports plugin marketplaces:

codex plugin marketplace add https://github.com/barry166/chrome-ask-gemini-launcher

Then install Chrome Ask Gemini Launcher from the plugin UI.

Run the Installer Directly

python3 ~/.codex/skills/chrome-ask-gemini-launcher/scripts/install_macos_launcher.py install --dock

Useful options:

# Preserve vertical tabs if already enabled.
python3 ~/.codex/skills/chrome-ask-gemini-launcher/scripts/install_macos_launcher.py install --dock --vertical-tabs auto

# Force vertical tabs on.
python3 ~/.codex/skills/chrome-ask-gemini-launcher/scripts/install_macos_launcher.py install --dock --vertical-tabs on

# Diagnose current Chrome state.
python3 ~/.codex/skills/chrome-ask-gemini-launcher/scripts/install_macos_launcher.py diagnose

Requirements

• macOS
• Google Chrome at /Applications/Google Chrome.app
• Python 3
• Optional: Pillow for generating the badged icon. If Pillow is missing, the installer falls back to Chrome's original icon.

Important Notes

This is a feature-flag workaround. It does not bypass Google account verification, age checks, CAPTCHA, server-side rollout, or unsupported-account restrictions.

The launcher intentionally does not patch /Applications/Google Chrome.app. Modifying the official app bundle can trigger "Verify it's you" prompts and may break after Chrome updates.

License

MIT