Chrome Instances

Running multiple Chrome instances? Here’s how to tell Pinchtab’s apart from your regular browser.

Copy Chrome to a custom name — changes the actual process name in ps, Activity Monitor, Task Manager:

bash terminal 
# macOScp "/Applications/Google Chrome.app/Contents/MacOS/Google Chrome" /usr/local/bin/pinchtab-chrome# Linuxcp $(which google-chrome) /usr/local/bin/pinchtab-chromechmod +x /usr/local/bin/pinchtab-chrome

Then point Pinchtab at it:

bash terminal 
CHROME_BIN=/usr/local/bin/pinchtab-chrome pinchtab

Now ps aux | grep pinchtab-chrome instantly identifies the Chrome processes. Name it whatever you want — ai-agent-chrome, bot-chrome, etc.

2. Add custom Chrome flags (visible in process)

bash terminal 
CHROME_FLAGS="--user-agent=Custom-Agent/1.0" pinchtab

Custom flags show up in the full process command line:

bash terminal 
ps aux | grep pinchtab# Shows Chrome processes with custom flags

Useful for identifying different agent roles:

bash terminal 
# Scraper agent (with custom flag)CHROME_FLAGS="--user-agent=Scraper/1.0" pinchtab &# Monitor agent (different flag)BRIDGE_PORT=9868 CHROME_FLAGS="--user-agent=Monitor/1.0" pinchtab &

3. Separate profile directory (built-in)

Each Pinchtab profile gets its own directory under ~/.pinchtab/profiles/<name>/ — completely separate from your real Chrome profile.

Instance Chrome processes show --user-data-dir=/.../.pinchtab/profiles/... in their args.

When you create instances via API, they automatically use isolated profiles.

4. Identify via Dashboard

The easiest way: Open the dashboard at http://localhost:9867/dashboard

You’ll see:

  • Instance IDs (inst_XXXXXXXX)
  • Which profile each instance uses
  • Whether it’s headed or headless
  • When it was started
  • Current status

Full example

bash terminal 
# Start orchestrator with custom Chrome binaryCHROME_BIN=/usr/local/bin/pinchtab-chrome pinchtab

Or for agents/instances with custom Chrome flags:

bash terminal 
# OrchestratorCHROME_BIN=/usr/local/bin/pinchtab-chrome pinchtab &# Create instances with identifying info# View in dashboard: http://localhost:9867/dashboardcurl -X POST http://localhost:9867/instances/launch \  -d '{"mode":"headless"}'  # Instance appears in dashboard with its ID, port, profile info

Docker

Volume-mount your renamed binary and set the env var:

FROM alpine:latest

COPY pinchtab-chrome /usr/local/bin/pinchtab-chrome
RUN chmod +x /usr/local/bin/pinchtab-chrome

ENV CHROME_BIN=/usr/local/bin/pinchtab-chrome

EXPOSE 9867

CMD ["pinchtab"]

Tips

  • Chrome for Testing provides standalone Chrome binaries — no installer, won’t conflict with system Chrome. Ideal for automation setups.
  • chrome-headless-shell from the same source is even smaller — headless-only, perfect for server deployments.
  • The orchestrator process is always pinchtab, so pkill -f pinchtab cleanly shuts down all instances.
  • Instance IDs (inst_XXXXXXXX) are hash-based and stable — great for identifying instances in logs, dashboards, and monitoring.
  • Combine approaches (renamed binary + custom flags + dashboard visibility) for maximum clarity in production.
  • The dashboard shows all running instances with their profiles, status, and real-time activity — easiest way to identify what’s running.