How to Use the Knolo Browser Extension: Install, Connect a Tab, and Put Your Knowledge to Work (2026)

Most AI browser extensions work the same way: open a sidebar, paste a question, get an answer from the internet. Your knowledge base stays somewhere else. The page you're on stays somewhere else. You're still the one connecting the dots.

Knolo's Chrome extension works differently. It puts your Space's knowledge base into a side panel that stays open while you browse. Connect a tab and your assistant can read the page you're on. Ask it to fill a form from your CRM data, summarize a competitor's pricing page through the lens of your own product positioning, or research a company using context stored in your Space. Every action it takes on the page requires your explicit approval. Nothing happens without you saying yes.

This guide walks you through the full setup, from installing the extension to completing your first real task.

What the Knolo Extension Does

Before you install, it's worth knowing what you're getting. Knolo's extension is a Chrome side panel. It sits on the right side of your browser without opening a new tab or taking over your screen. You pick which Space, assistant, and thread to use. Then you browse normally.

When you click "Connect this tab" on any https page, your assistant gets access to that page's content: a structured snapshot of the page layout and annotated screenshots. It can answer questions that pull from what's on the page and what's in your Space's knowledge base. Your knowledge and the page you're looking at, in one conversation.

The extension can also take actions on the page: fill form fields, click elements, make selections, upload files from your Space. But every one of those actions requires your explicit approval before it runs. You'll see a prompt describing exactly what the assistant wants to do. You approve or reject it. The extension can't act on a page without your confirmation.

Threads you start in the extension sync in real time with app.knolo.io. Close the browser, pick up the conversation on your desktop.

Step 1: Install from the Chrome Web Store

Open the Chrome Web Store and search for "Knolo", or go directly to the Knolo extension listing. Click "Add to Chrome" and confirm the permissions prompt.

Once installed, pin the extension to your Chrome toolbar. Click the puzzle piece icon in the top-right corner of Chrome, find Knolo in the list, and click the pin icon. This keeps the Knolo button visible so you can open the side panel with one click from any tab.

What you'll see: A small Knolo icon in your Chrome toolbar. Clicking it opens the side panel.

Step 2: Sign In with Your Knolo Account

Click the Knolo icon to open the side panel. You'll see a sign-in screen. Use your existing Knolo account credentials, the same email and password you use at app.knolo.io. There's no separate extension account or extra authentication step.

If you don't have a Knolo account yet, create one at app.knolo.io before installing the extension.

What you'll see: After signing in, the side panel shows your Space selector.

Step 3: Pick a Space, Assistant, and Thread

Knolo organizes your work into Spaces. A Space is your AI workspace. It contains your knowledge bases, your assistants, and your conversation threads. When you open the extension, you choose which Space to work in, which assistant to use, and which thread to continue (or start fresh).

The hierarchy goes: Space contains assistants, which have threads.

• Space -- your workspace (e.g. "Marketing", "Client Research", "Sales")
• Assistant -- a configured AI agent within that Space (e.g. "Content Researcher", "CRM Helper")
• Thread -- a conversation with that assistant

If you're new to Knolo and haven't set up a Space yet, the What Is an AI Workspace? Complete Guide for 2026 post covers the basics.

What you'll see: Dropdown selectors for Space, assistant, and thread. Your existing Spaces and assistants appear automatically.

Step 4: Connect This Tab

This is the key interaction that sets Knolo apart from always-on AI scrapers.

By default, the extension is open but not connected to the page you're viewing. Your assistant can answer questions from your Space's knowledge base, but it can't see the current page. When you want to bring the page into the conversation, click "Connect this tab".

Connecting a tab does two things:

1. Takes a structured snapshot of the page's content and layout
2. Captures annotated screenshots so the assistant can understand the visual structure

Both are read-only operations. They run automatically when you connect. No approval needed. The assistant can now answer questions that reference the page content.

You can connect and disconnect tabs as you browse. Move to a different page, click "Connect this tab" again, and the assistant switches context to the new page.

What you'll see: The button state changes when connected. The assistant's context now includes the current page.

Step 5: Your First Task -- Put Your Knowledge to Work on a Page

With a tab connected, try one of these to get a feel for what the extension can do:

Fill a CRM form from your Space data. Open a CRM record entry form (HubSpot, Salesforce, or any web-based CRM). Connect the tab. Ask your assistant: "Fill the company name and industry fields using the data in my Space for Acme Corp." The assistant will propose each field fill as a separate action. You approve each one.

Research a company using your own context. Open a company's About page or pricing page. Connect the tab. Ask: "How does this company's positioning compare to ours? Use our product positioning doc from the Space." The assistant reads both the page and your document, then gives you a comparison grounded in your actual positioning.

Summarize a page through your lens. Open a competitor's blog post. Connect the tab. Ask: "Summarize this post and flag any claims that contradict our documentation." The assistant reads the post and checks it against your Space's knowledge base.

None of these require any setup beyond picking the right assistant and connecting the tab.

Use Case: The Sales Researcher

Marcus runs a 12-person SaaS sales team. Before any discovery call, his reps used to spend 20 minutes manually pulling company info from LinkedIn, the prospect's website, and their CRM. With Knolo's extension, the same prep takes under 5 minutes. The rep opens the prospect's LinkedIn company page, connects the tab, and asks the assistant to cross-reference the page against the CRM data and their ICP criteria stored in the Space. The assistant pulls it together in one response. Reps go into calls better prepared, and Marcus has stopped hearing "I didn't have time to prep" as an excuse.

Use Case: The Content Ops Manager

Sophia manages content for a B2B software company. She uses Knolo's extension to audit competitor content without switching between tabs and her notes. She opens a competitor's blog post, connects the tab, and asks her assistant to score the post against her company's content rubric (stored in the Space). The assistant reads the post and the rubric, flags gaps, and suggests angles her team hasn't covered. What used to take 30 minutes of copy-pasting into a separate AI chat now takes 5.

Approval Gates: How Page Actions Work

This is the part most AI browser extensions get wrong. Several popular extensions give AI agents broad permissions to click, type, and navigate on your behalf. Users on Reddit have flagged the security implications repeatedly. One thread on r/ClaudeAI put it plainly: "Massive security and privacy risks from giving an AI full control of your browser."

Knolo's model is different by design. There are two categories of tools:

Read-only tools (page snapshot, annotated screenshot) run automatically when you connect a tab. The assistant needs to see the page to help you. These tools don't change anything on the page.

Action tools (fill form field, click element, select option, upload file) require your explicit approval every single time. When the assistant wants to take an action, you see a prompt describing exactly what it's proposing: which field, what value, which element. You approve or reject. Reject it and nothing happens.

This approval model means you stay in control of what happens on every page. The assistant proposes. You decide.

Thread Sync with app.knolo.io

Every conversation you have in the extension is also available at app.knolo.io. The sync is real time, so messages appear in both places as you type them.

This matters for a few reasons:

• You won't lose your research. Close the browser, come back tomorrow, and the thread is exactly where you left it.
• You can continue on desktop. Start a research thread in the extension, then open it on your desktop to write up the findings with more screen space.
• Your team can see it. If your Space is shared with teammates, they can read and contribute to extension threads from the web app.

The extension is a front end to your Knolo Space, not a separate tool. Everything you do in it lives in the same place as the rest of your work.

For more on how Knolo connects your knowledge across tools, see Connect Your Whole Brain to Every AI Tool You Use.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which pages does the extension work on? Any http or https page, including web apps, SaaS tools, internal dashboards, and public websites. The extension reads the page's DOM structure and takes screenshots. If you can see it in Chrome, the assistant can read it.

Does the extension store my browsing history? No. Knolo doesn't log which URLs you visit or build a history of your browsing. When you connect a tab, the page content is sent to your assistant for that conversation. It's not stored separately or used to train models.

Can the extension act on pages without my approval? Never. Read-only tools (page snapshot, screenshot) run automatically when you connect a tab -- they don't change anything. Action tools (fill, click, select, upload) always require your explicit approval before they run. There's no mode where the assistant takes actions without you confirming them.

What's a Space? A Space is your AI workspace in Knolo. It contains your knowledge bases, your assistants, and your conversation threads. If you're new to Knolo, the What Is an AI Workspace? Complete Guide for 2026 explains how it all fits together.

Can I use the extension with multiple Spaces? Yes. The Space selector in the extension lets you switch between any Space you have access to. Use a different Space for different projects or clients.

Does Knolo require a subscription? Knolo uses credit-based pricing -- you buy credits and use them as needed, no subscription required. The extension is included with your Knolo account.