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Operational walkthrough

Sentinel walkthrough

This is the operational guide. For what Sentinel is and why it exists, read the Sentinel product page.

Walkthrough

Sentinel

The local-first browser extension for AI governance and verifiable session receipts.

~4 min readDifficulty: EasyPrereq: a supported AI site

What it is

VerifAIer Sentinel is the local-first browser extension (currently v1.35.0) that governs AI sessions where they happen, inside your browser. It watches supported AI assistants, applies deterministic governance, and produces verifiable session receipts. Its own description says it plainly: "Local-first AI governance, replay-safe evidence, and verifiable AI session receipts. No data leaves your browser."

Why it exists

Most AI work now happens in a browser tab, not a terminal. Sentinel brings the evidence layer to that tab so what an assistant does becomes verifiable, without a proxy, an account, or sending your session to anyone.

When to use it

Use Sentinel whenever you work with an AI assistant on a supported site and want an attested, replay-safe record of the session. It runs on:

  • chatgpt.com and chat.openai.com
  • gemini.google.com
  • claude.ai
  • grok.com

Where it fits / architecture position

Sentinel is the client-side capture layer. It sits at the very start of the evidence lifecycle, in the browser, before anything reaches the API.

Browser sessionAI assistant
Sentinelgovern + record
Local receiptsvault
Evidence engineoptional

Typical workflow

  • Install the extension and pin it.
  • Open a supported AI site, Sentinel activates automatically.
  • Work as normal; Sentinel records the session and evaluates findings deterministically.
  • Review receipts and findings in the extension popup and history.

Step-by-step usage

Sentinel ships in the extension/ folder of your VerifAIer distribution. Load it unpacked:

# Chrome / Edge
1. Open chrome://extensions
2. Enable "Developer mode"
3. Click "Load unpacked" and select the extension/ folder
4. Pin "VerifAIer" and open a supported AI site
Screenshot
Sentinel overlay active on a supported AI site, with the receipts popup (real capture added in the product-proof pass)

Inputs and outputs

Inputs: the in-page AI session (read via the active tab) and local governance rules/policy. Outputs: verifiable session receipts and deterministic findings, stored locally through the extension's storage permission.

Real example

The extension manifest declares exactly two permissions, and no host data exfiltration:

"permissions": ["activeTab", "storage"]
"content_scripts": [{ "matches": [
  "https://chatgpt.com/*", "https://chat.openai.com/*",
  "https://gemini.google.com/*", "https://claude.ai/*", "https://grok.com/*" ]}]

The analyzer that turns findings into a signal is pure and deterministic, "No network. No LLM. Pure deterministic logic."

Expected results

  • The Sentinel overlay appears on supported sites only.
  • Each session yields a receipt visible in the extension history.
  • Nothing is transmitted off-device, by design.

Common mistakes

  • Expecting the overlay on an unsupported site, it only matches the five URL patterns above, which cover four platforms, ChatGPT is matched on two domains.
  • Looking for cloud sync, there is none; Sentinel is local-first.
  • Forgetting to enable Developer mode when loading the unpacked extension.

Troubleshooting

  • No overlay: confirm the site is one of the supported matches and the extension is enabled.
  • Extension won't load: enable Developer mode; select the extension/ folder, not a zip.
  • Missing receipts: receipts are per-session and stored locally; check the extension history view.

Related documentation