FAQ¶
Does any data leave my Mac?¶
No, not automatically. Activity, screenshots, OCR text and session data are stored locally in SwiftData and local files; browser tab data travels only between the Chrome extension and the local native messaging host on the same machine. The only way data leaves is a manual export you trigger yourself. See Privacy.
Why does the Chrome extension need a separate native host process instead of just talking to the app directly?¶
Because Chrome's native messaging protocol launches the host itself, as a subprocess, over stdio — there is no way for an extension to open a socket or pipe directly to an arbitrary running app. GrotTrackNativeHost is the process Chrome is allowed to launch; it relays what it reads to GrotTrack.app locally via NSDistributedNotificationCenter. See Native Messaging for the full chain and why this avoids the Automation (Apple Events) permission a JXA-based approach would need.
Why isn't the app sandboxed?¶
GrotTrack.entitlements sets com.apple.security.app-sandbox to false. Tracking the frontmost app via AXUIElement, enumerating windows via CGWindowListCopyWindowInfo, and running a native-messaging subprocess relationship with Chrome all need access the App Sandbox restricts. This is also why GrotTrack is distributed outside the Mac App Store — via Developer ID signing, notarization and Sparkle auto-update rather than App Store review.
Does GrotTrack work without the Chrome extension?¶
Yes. ActivityTracker runs on AXUIElement and NSWorkspace regardless of whether a browser extension is connected — you get app-level tracking either way. The extension only adds browser tab title/URL as a further dimension. Without it, BrowserTabService.activeTabTitle/.activeTabURL simply stay nil.
Does session classification require Apple Intelligence?¶
Yes, for the human-readable label (e.g. "Code Review"). SessionDetector groups events into sessions regardless of Apple Intelligence availability; SessionClassifier is what attaches a label and confidence score, and only runs where FoundationModels is available (macOS 26+, Apple Intelligence enabled, supported hardware). Without it, sessions exist but are unlabeled.
What macOS version do I need?¶
macOS 26.0 (Tahoe) or later — set as MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET in project.yml. This is required for Swift 6 Approachable Concurrency and the ScreenCaptureKit / FoundationModels APIs GrotTrack depends on.
How is the extension versioned relative to the app?¶
They share one release-please-driven version number. project.yml's MARKETING_VERSION and grot-track-extension's package.json/wxt.config.ts versions are all listed as extra-files in release-please-config.json and bumped together on every release. See Releasing.
Can I use GrotTrack without a Grafana Labs account?¶
The app has no dependency on any Grafana product, service or account — it is a standalone local time tracker. "Built for Grafana Labs employees" in the README describes its intended primary audience, not a technical requirement.