| name | chrome-clean-install |
| description | Refresh Chromium-based browsers by backing up profile/cache data, guiding a clean reinstall, and restoring bookmarks only. Use when Chrome, Chrome Canary, Edge, Brave, Arc, Dia, or another Chromium browser has browser-specific corruption, black screens, Meet/video issues, bad flags, GPU/WebGL cache problems, or profile-state bugs. |
Chrome Clean Install
Purpose
Use this skill to perform a clean-install-style refresh for Chromium-based browsers without losing the old profile. The workflow moves profile/cache data to a timestamped backup, lets the browser regenerate clean state, and restores bookmarks only when requested.
Default browser: Chrome. If the prompt includes a browser name, use that name.
When To Use
- Browser-specific video, WebGL, GPU, black-screen, Google Meet, tab, extension, or flag issues.
- Same account/site works in another browser, so network/account is unlikely.
- User wants a clean install, profile refresh, or “only bookmarks back” recovery.
Core Workflow
- Normalize the browser name. If omitted, use
Chrome.
- Load
references/browser-paths.md for known macOS paths.
- Run a dry run before changing files:
node scripts/chromium-clean-install.mjs backup --browser "Chrome" --dry-run
- Run backup when paths look correct:
node scripts/chromium-clean-install.mjs backup --browser "Chrome"
- Tell the user to reinstall or relaunch the browser, then test the issue before Sync/extensions/flags return.
- If bookmarks should return:
node scripts/chromium-clean-install.mjs restore-bookmarks --browser "Chrome" --from-backup "/path/to/backup"
Safety Rules
- Move data into a backup folder; do not delete profile/cache data.
- Quit the browser before moving or restoring files.
- Restore only
Bookmarks and Bookmarks.bak unless the user explicitly asks for more.
- If the browser is unknown, require explicit
--support-dir and optional --cache-dir.
- If the user has not launched the reinstalled browser yet, ask them to launch once so the destination profile exists.
References
- Known browser paths:
references/browser-paths.md
- Detailed procedure and recovery notes:
references/workflow.md
- Helper script:
scripts/chromium-clean-install.mjs
