Browser Extension

The Bifurc Companion extension connects your browser directly to Bifurc for proxy control, capture-driven workflows, and quick creation of requests and mocks from live traffic.

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What it does#

The extension provides three main capabilities:

1. Proxy toggle from the browser — route traffic through Bifurc without opening OS proxy settings.
2. Companion bridge — a localhost WebSocket bridge for sending actions into the desktop app.
3. DevTools workflows — capture network activity and turn it into Bifurc entities.

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Installation#

Chrome Web Store (Recommended)#

Install the Bifurc Companion extension directly from the Chrome Web Store.

Firefox Add-ons#

Install the Bifurc Companion add-on from Firefox Add-ons.

Load from source#

1. Open chrome://extensions
2. Enable Developer mode
3. Click Load unpacked
4. Select the bifurc-extension folder

Browser support#

• Chrome: supported
• Firefox: supported
• Other Chromium browsers: likely compatible if they support the required APIs

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Popup workflow#

Open the extension popup to control the browser-to-Bifurc connection.

Configure ports#

The popup stores:

• Proxy port — the Bifurc forward proxy port (default 8080) that should receive browser traffic
• Companion port — the localhost WebSocket bridge port Bifurc listens on

These values should match the desktop app settings for your current workspace setup.

Enable proxy routing#

Send browser traffic through Bifurc with the extensionVideo coming soon

When you enable the proxy toggle, the extension writes a PAC configuration through the browser proxy API so traffic is routed through 127.0.0.1:<proxyPort>.

That gives you a fast on/off switch for:

• capture sessions
• mock interception
• proxy-rule testing
• browser validation against mapped services

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DevTools workflows#

Open DevTools and switch to the Bifurc tab.

Capture and review#

The panel records browser network activity and shows:

• request method
• URL
• status
• asset type
• size
• timing

Save a request to Bifurc#

1. Open the Bifurc DevTools tab
2. Trigger traffic in the page
3. Find a captured row
4. Click Save
5. The extension sends the request to the Bifurc companion bridge
6. Bifurc creates a saved request in the active workspace

Turn traffic into a mock#

1. Capture a request in DevTools
2. Click Mock
3. The request and response payload are sent through the companion bridge
4. Bifurc creates a mock prefilled with:
   • method
   • URL pattern
   • request headers and body
   • response status, headers, and body

Bulk-create mocks or requests#

The DevTools panel also supports batch workflows over the current filtered view:

• create a folder
• send multiple captured requests as mocks
• send multiple captured requests as saved requests

This is useful when reverse-engineering an existing frontend API surface quickly.

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Context-menu workflow#

The extension adds browser context-menu actions:

• Mock this request [Bifurc]
• Add to Requests [Bifurc]

These are quick helpers for link-driven workflows and feed actions into the same companion bridge.

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Companion bridge details#

The extension talks to Bifurc over a localhost WebSocket connection:

• default companion bridge: ws://127.0.0.1:4747
• reconnects automatically with backoff
• never sends traffic to external servers

Open Settings, under Servers, to see which browser extensions are currently connected to the app. Each one is listed with its browser and operating system, which is the quickest way to tell whether the extension has reached the right Bifurc.

The bridge is intended for additive actions such as:

• creating requests
• creating mocks
• creating folders for captured items

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Security model#

• Communication is localhost-only
• The extension does not send data to a cloud backend
• Proxy routing is browser-scoped through browser APIs
• HTTPS inspection still depends on trusting the Bifurc CA inside the desktop app

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Current scope and limitations#

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Troubleshooting#