Chapter 7

Browser extension and Windows app

Two small apps put the vault where you work: the extension fills logins in your browser, and Atlas for Windows searches and copies from anywhere in Windows. Both are for staff; client accounts can't use them. Neither stores passwords: they ask Atlas each time, and every fill or copy is recorded like a reveal.

The browser extension

The Atlas extension for Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome fills logins from the vault on the site you're on.

Sign the extension in

1. Click the Atlas button in the browser toolbar.
2. Enter your Atlas address and choose Sign in through Atlas.
3. Atlas opens in a new tab. Check it shows the same code as the extension, then choose Allow. You may be asked for your password.

You never type a password into the extension itself.

Fill a login

1. On a sign-in page, click the Atlas button, or press Alt+Shift+A.
2. Logins saved for that site are listed first, then logins elsewhere on the same domain, marked Same domain. Your own logins from My vault are marked My vault.
3. Choose Fill. The username and password go into the page.

On sites that ask for the username first, fill once for the username and again on the password page. Clients that require a reason ask for one first.

Copy instead

Search by name, username, address or client to copy a password, username or one-time code for any login you can use. The extension can't clear the clipboard after it closes, so prefer Fill when you can.

Which logins match a site

A login matches when its Website or address has the same host as the page, or the same domain, so a login saved for login.example.com is offered on portal.example.com.

• Addresses on shared hosting, such as *.github.io, and IP addresses only match exactly.
• An https:// login is never offered on a plain http:// page.

Signing out

Use Sign out in the extension, or Signed-in apps on your account page. The extension also signs itself out after 7 days unused, 30 days after signing in, and whenever your password changes or an administrator signs you out.

For administrators: installing the extension

• npm run build:extension builds it. The unpacked extension goes to apps/extension/dist, and a zip to apps/extension/package.
• To try it, open edge://extensions or chrome://extensions, turn on developer mode, and Load unpacked with the dist folder.
• For your team, publish the zip privately in the Edge Add-ons or Chrome Web Store dashboard, or host it and force-install it with the ExtensionInstallForcelist group policy.
• It can only read and fill the tab you open it on, and it asks to reach one address: your Atlas. It stores the Atlas address, a session token and a signing key the browser won't let it export. No passwords, codes or lists of logins.

Atlas for Windows

A small app in the notification area, for looking things up without opening a browser tab.

Install it

1. Open your account page in Atlas and find Desktop apps.
2. Choose Download and run AtlasForWindowsSetup.exe.
3. Windows may say it doesn't recognize the publisher, because the app isn't code-signed yet. Choose More info, then Run anyway.

It installs for you only and doesn't need an administrator. The .sha256 file beside each download in the GitHub release lets you check the file.

Sign in

Enter your Atlas address and choose Sign in with your browser. Your browser opens, you sign in as usual, and you approve the app. The app never sees your password.

Search and copy

1. Press Ctrl+Shift+Space anywhere in Windows, or click the Atlas icon in the notification area.
2. Type. It searches the clients, assets, documents, contacts, locations and passwords you can see.
3. With a password selected, Enter copies it. The buttons copy the username or the one-time code, or open the sign-in address.

A copy is recorded like a reveal in the browser, asks for a reason where the client requires one, is kept out of Windows clipboard history, and is cleared from the clipboard after 30 seconds. Your personal vault isn't available in the app.

Updates

When a newer version is out, the app tells you once and adds Get version … to its menu, which opens the download in your browser. Run the new setup program over the old one; you stay signed in. The app never downloads or installs anything by itself.

Sign out

Sign out in the app's menu, or Desktop apps on your account page. Use the account page if the computer is lost: it ends the app's session at once.

For administrators: rolling it out

Run AtlasForWindowsSetup.exe /VERYSILENT /SUPPRESSMSGBOXES from your RMM as the signed-in person, not as SYSTEM, because it installs per person. Sign out everywhere on the People & access page, disabling an account, or resetting its sign-in also ends the app's session.