Extensions
Glean Tau packages features as extensions. You can turn an extension on or off, and open its own settings. Glean builds every extension into the app, so you can't install third-party or custom extensions. Your admin controls which extensions you can access.
Manage extensions if you need to:
- Turn on a feature that's off by default, such as Browser Use or Computer Use
- Turn off a panel or tool you don't want the agent to have
- Reach a feature's own settings, such as Browser or Skills
- Check whether a feature is turned off, required, or locked by your organization before you troubleshoot it
Manage extensions
Open the Extensions page
Open Settings → Extensions. Extensions appear as cards grouped under Productivity, Developer tools, and Required.
Turn an extension on or off
Use the toggle on a card to turn an extension on or off without leaving the page.
Open a detail page
Select Settings on a card to open the extension's detail page. Only extensions with settings show it, and some show their own action instead. Use the Extensions breadcrumb to go back.
Adjust configuration
On a detail page, adjust anything under Configuration, or use the extension's own controls where it provides them.
Badges tell you an extension's state:
| Badge | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Required | Core to the product and always on. Required extensions with settings appear under the Required heading instead of showing a badge, and their toggle is disabled. |
| Managed by your organization | Your admin set this value. The toggle is disabled, and hovering it shows the policy source. |
| Experimental | The extension is still in development. Its behavior and settings may change. |
Some extensions require operating-system permissions, such as accessibility or screen recording. Enabling the extension does not grant permission. Glean Tau requests permission at the point of use, so an extension can be on and still fail until you grant it.
You can also find an extension through the search box at the top of Settings, which matches extension names, descriptions, and configuration labels.
Most extensions have only an on/off toggle. Where an extension has settings of its own, they're on its detail page, and the extension's own topic documents them:
| Extension | What you can configure |
|---|---|
| Browser | New tab URL, in-app link handling, and which browser tool families the agent can use |
| Activity Journal | Capture, capture interval, activity mapping, retention, permissions, and clearing the journal |
| Browser Use | Installing Glean Browser Operator |
Open an extension's panel
Extensions with a panel open as tabs in the side panel, to the right of the chat.
- Select Show panel in the top bar, or press Cmd+Option+B (Ctrl+Alt+B on Windows).
- Select New tab. The new tab lists the extensions you can open under Tools, and what the current chat has produced under In this session.
- Select an extension to open it as a tab.
Only extensions that apply to the current chat appear. See Contextual extensions.
Right-click a panel tab
You don't have to open Settings to manage an extension that has a panel. Right-click its tab in the side panel:
| Action | What it does |
|---|---|
| Open in full | Expands the panel to fill the window. Shown for a panel that isn't already expanded. |
| Restore panel width | Returns the expanded panel to its normal width. |
| Manage Extension | Opens that extension's page in Settings. |
| Disable | Turns the extension off. Required extensions show Required extension instead, which does nothing. |
Remove an extension's local data
To remove an extension's local data, navigate to Settings → Storage. Click Clear to delete and reset all of that extension's local data. The extension remains installed.
Available extensions
The following table lists available extensions, what each extension does, where to access the extension in Glean Tau, and its default availability state. Extensions marked Experimental show the Experimental badge in Glean Tau.
| Extension | What it does | Where to access it | Default state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Activity Journal | Keeps a private local timeline of your screen activity for recall, and can share inferred work activities with Glean. | Ask in chat to recall recent activity. | Off Experimental |
| Artifacts | Builds docs, sheets, slides, pages, emails, messages. | Ask in chat, or select More → Library in the left sidebar. | On Required |
| Browser | In-app browser. | Browser in the side panel, or ask the agent to open a URL. | On |
| Browser Use | Controls signed-in Chrome tabs. | UI surface N/A | Off |
| Computer Use | Inspects and controls local applications. | Ask in chat to control local applications. | Off Experimental |
| Dictation | Voice-to-text input. macOS-only. | Dictation control in the chat input. | On |
| Generative UI | Renders charts, diagrams, and interactive views in chat. | Ask for one in chat. | On Required |
| Local MCP | Connects MCP servers you run locally or reach by URL. | Settings → Extensions → Local MCP. The agent uses the tools in chat. | On Experimental |
| Meeting Notes | Records and summarizes meetings. | Meetings in the left sidebar. | On |
| Memory | Keeps notes across chats in a local folder. | Ask in chat to remember something, or open Settings → Memory. | On Required |
| Pull requests | Manage GitHub pull requests with chat. | Pull requests in the side panel, for chats working in a GitHub repository. | On |
| Review | Git diff review of changes made by the agent. | Review in the side panel, for chats working in a Git repository. | On |
| Shots | Captures the frontmost app window into a chat. | Press the modifier chord from any app. | On |
| Skills | Manages available skills. | More → Skills in the left sidebar, or type / in the chat input. | On Required |
| Terminal | Runs shell commands. | Terminal in the side panel. | On |
| Usage | Tracks model cost and cache savings. | Usage in the side panel. | On Required |
Required extensions are always on. Artifacts, Generative UI, Memory, Skills, and Usage appear in the Extensions list with their toggle disabled.
Contextual extensions
Contextual extensions appear only when they apply to your current work. If you turn on an extension, it can remain hidden unless it's relevant to your work. For example, Usage appears beside a chat, and Pull requests appears only when your chat works in a GitHub repository. Contextual behavior keeps the side panel's Tools list concise.
The following table describes contextual extensions in Glean Tau:
| Extension | Contextual behavior |
|---|---|
| Usage | Appears beside a chat. Shows estimated cost, cache savings, and a forecast for your next request. |
| Terminal | Appears beside a chat when you're signed in. |
| Artifacts | Appears beside a chat. Its Artifact chats panel appears when you open the Library. |
| Review | Appears when the chat's working folder is a Git repository. |
| Pull requests | Appears when the chat's working folder is a Git repository hosted on GitHub. |
| Meeting Notes | Appears in chat context on macOS and Windows. |
| Browser | Appears beside a chat, and you can also open it in other contexts. |
Contextual behavior belongs to a panel, not to a whole extension. One extension can contribute both a contextual panel and one you open yourself. For example, Meeting Notes is contextual, and its Meeting Chat panel opens on request.
Limitations
- Some features are macOS-only. Dictation doesn't run on Windows, and importing browser cookies into the Browser panel is macOS-only.
- Turning one off removes its surfaces and the agent can no longer use them. Chats keep any content already produced.
- Changes apply to the next request. If a response is still streaming when you toggle an extension, start a new request afterward.
- Extensions that don't support your platform don't appear at all, so what you see can differ from someone else's list.
- Not every Glean Tau feature is in the extensions list.
See also
- Settings — configure models, agent access, appearance, and storage
- Glean Tau administration — how admins require or lock an extension