Configuration

All configuration and customization for chrlauncher is managed through the chrlauncher.ini file. This plaintext initialization file must reside in the exact same directory as chrlauncher.exe.

If the file is missing, chrlauncher will generate a default one upon its first execution.

Core Settings

These settings dictate where and how the browser is executed.

  • ChromiumBinary
    • Description: The specific filename of the browser executable to launch inside the binary directory.
    • Default: chrome.exe
    • When to change: If you are using chrlauncher to manage a different browser, such as brave.exe or firefox.exe.
  • ChromiumDirectory
    • Description: The relative or absolute path where the browser binaries are extracted, stored, and executed from.
    • Default: .\bin
  • ChromePlusDirectory
    • Description: Path to the Chrome++ DLL payload directory. Files here are copied to the ChromiumDirectory after every successful update.
    • Default: .\chrome_plus
  • ChromiumCommandLine
    • Description: The string of arguments passed directly to the browser executable on launch.
    • Default: --flag-switches-begin --user-data-dir=..\profile --no-default-browser-check --disable-logging --no-report-upload --flag-switches-end
    • Note: The --user-data-dir argument is strictly required to maintain portability.

Download and Update Behavior

These settings control the timing, UI, and background behavior of the automated updater.

  • ChromiumUpdateUrl
    • Description: The API endpoint used to query the latest browser versions. The API must return a semicolon-separated string containing keys like version=...;download=...;timestamp=....
    • Default: https://chromium.woolyss.com/api/v3/?os=windows&bit=%d&type=%s&out=string
  • ChromiumArchitecture
    • Description: Forces a specific binary architecture to download.
    • 0: Autodetect based on your host OS (Default - Recommended)
    • 64: Force 64-bit (x64)
    • 32: Force 32-bit (x86)
  • ChromiumAutoDownload
    • false: (Default) Shows a passive tray tooltip when an update is found. Requires the user to click the tray icon to authorize the download.
    • true: Automatically begins downloading and installing the update in the background the moment it is detected.
  • ChromiumBringToFront
    • true: (Default) Forces the chrlauncher progress window to the foreground when a download starts.
    • false: Keeps the download UI entirely hidden/minimized in the tray.
  • ChromiumWaitForDownloadEnd
    • true: (Default) The launcher will block and wait for the download and extraction to finish completely before launching the browser. Ensures you always open the newest version.
    • false: Immediately launches the old browser version currently on disk, allowing you to browse immediately while the update downloads and unpacks silently in the background. The new version will take effect on your next restart.
  • ChromiumUpdateOnly
    • false: (Default) Normal operation; updates and then launches the browser.
    • true: Downloads and installs the update, but aborts before launching the browser. Ideal for automated background scripts.
  • ChromiumCheckPeriod
    • Description: The number of days between update checks. Used to prevent spamming the update API.
    • 2: (Default) Check every 2 days.
    • 0: Disable update checking completely. Useful if you are using chrlauncher solely as a launcher for unsupported offline browsers (like Firefox).
    • -1: Ignore the cache and force an update check on every single launch.
  • ChromiumDeleteToRecycle
    • true: (Default) Moves the old bin directory to the Windows Recycle Bin during an update. Provides a safety net if an update breaks your browser.
    • false: Permanently and forcibly deletes the old directory. Saves disk space, highly recommended for low-capacity USB drives.

Chromium Build Types (ChromiumType)

The ChromiumType setting specifies the exact flavor of Chromium requested from the API. The open-source community provides several customized variants.

  • dev-official: Official Google snapshots. Pure open-source Chromium. No proprietary codecs (HTML5 video like Twitter/Netflix may fail).
  • stable-codecs-sync: Unofficial builds of the stable branch. Includes proprietary media codecs (H.264/AAC) and enables Google Account Sync capabilities.
  • dev-nosync: Development branch builds. Includes codecs, but disables Google Sync functionality.
  • dev-codecs-sync: Development branch builds. Includes both codecs and Google Sync.
  • dev-codecs-nosync: Development branch builds with media codecs, but no Google services.
  • ungoogled-chromium: Unofficial privacy-hardened builds (from the Eloston project). All Google web service dependencies, telemetries, and pre-compiled binaries are stripped out. Highly recommended for privacy enthusiasts.

Network & Proxy Settings

For users behind corporate firewalls or privacy VPNs, chrlauncher utilizes native Windows HTTP proxy settings, but can be overridden manually.

  • UserAgent
    • Description: Set a custom HTTP User-Agent string for the WinHTTP download requests.
    • Example: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36
  • Proxy
    • Description: Force chrlauncher to route update API checks and binary downloads through a specific proxy server.
    • Format: IP:Port (e.g., 127.0.0.1:8080 for a local SOCKS5/HTTP tunnel).