An evaluation environment is a controlled testing space designed to isolate the PSAT extension and its interaction with third-party cookies. This environment provides a clean slate, simulating a browser with no prior history or existing cookies.

Isolation: This environment is completely isolated from your browsing data, like browsing history and cookies. It's like having a newly installed browser without any past activity, ensuring the integrity of the testing process.

Accuracy: By removing external factors like browsing history and cookies, the evaluation environment allows PSAT to focus solely on how third-party cookies function. This reduces the chances of misleading results caused by unrelated browsing activity.

Precision: The controlled environment minimizes distractions and extraneous data, allowing for more precise identification of any issues related to third-party cookies.

Preparing the environment for analyzing and debugging the behavior of cookies and storage APIs during browsing sessions encompasses two aspects: (1) access to Chrome instances with and without Privacy Sandbox APIs enabled and restricted use of third-party cookies; and (2) install PSAT.

• The PSAT extension only works with Chrome version 113 or newer. You can see what version of Chrome you're using by going to this address in your browser: chrome://settings/help. For the best experience, make sure you keep Chrome updated to the latest version.

• To improve your PSAT debugging experience, please disable Chrome's preloading feature. Navigate to chrome://settings/performance#speed and uncheck "Preload Pages".

PSAT's repository includes a set of custom commands streamlining the setup process, by creating ephemeral instances of Chrome for testing with specific configurations. To install these commands, run the following in your terminal:

Run the following command

1. Download the PSAT Launcher script:

curl -s -f -L "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/GoogleChromeLabs/ps-analysis-tool/main/bin/install.sh" -o "install.sh"
chmod +x install.sh

2. Install the PSAT Launcher script:

./install.sh

3. To finalize the installation, close and reopen your terminal, or run source ~/.bashrc or source ~/.zshrc depending on your shell.

e.g.:

source "/Users/myuser/bin/chrome_launcher.sh"

4. To verify the installation, run the following command in your terminal:

chrome-pat-ps

It should open a new Chrome window with the PSAT extension installed and the Privacy Sandbox APIs enabled.

Following options are available to you for installing the PSAT Launcher script:

1. Override the installation channel: You can specify a different Chrome channel (Stable, Beta, Dev, Canary) by using the --chrome-channel option.

2. Override the Chrome version: If you want to install a specific version of Chrome, use the --chrome-version option with the desired version number (e.g., 128).

3. Override the PSAT version: To install a specific version of the PSAT extension, use the --psat-version option with the desired version tag (e.g., v0.14.1).

4. Uninstall the script: If you want to remove all files created by this script, use the --uninstall option.

5. Display help message: Use the --help option to see the usage instructions and available options.

./install.sh --help
Usage: ./install.sh [OPTIONS]

Options:
  --chrome-channel CHANNEL    Override the installation channel (Stable, Beta, Dev, Canary)
  --chrome-version VER        Override the Chrome version to be installed (specific milestone number, e.g., 128)
  --psat-version VER          Override the PSAT version to be installed
  --uninstall                 Remove all files created by this script and exit
  --help                      Display this help message and exit

Examples:
  ./install.sh --chrome-channel Beta
  ./install.sh --chrome-version 128
  ./install.sh --psat-version v0.14.1

Once the installation is completed you can use the following commands:

• chrome-default: Opens a Chrome instance with default settings.
• chrome-3pcd: Opens a Chrome instance with third-party cookies blocked.
• chrome-default-ps: Opens a Chrome instance with third-party cookies enabled and PSAT installed.
• chrome-3pcd-ps: Opens a Chrome instance with third-party cookies blocked and the Privacy Sandbox extension installed.
• chrome-pat : Opens a Chrome instance with Private Advertising Testing enabled.
• chrome-pat-ps : Opens a Chrome instance with Private Advertising Testing enabled and the Privacy Sandbox Analysis Tool extension installed.

To keep the Chrome Launcher script current with the latest PSAT Extension, simply rerun the installation command:

1. Open your terminal.
2. Run the following command:

curl -s -f -L "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/GoogleChromeLabs/ps-analysis-tool/main/bin/install.sh" -o "install.sh"
chmod +x install.sh

3. To finalize the update, close and reopen your terminal.

PSAT offers three straightforward installation methods:

PSAT is available in the Chrome Web Store ⤴. To install, simply go to the linked store listing and click on Add to Chrome.

Go to the Releases Section in the PSAT GitHub repo: bit.ly/psat-repo

Select the latest version from the available tags:

Expand the “Assets” dropdown, and click on the file named “extension-v*.*.zip” to download the extension.

Go to chrome://extensions in the browser you want PSAT to be installed on, turn on Developer mode to load the unpacked extension ⤴, click the "Load unpacked" button, and select the unzipped extension folder.

If you need to debug the extension or submit improvements, you can download the source code and run it locally.

• Clone this Privacy Sandbox Analysis Tool Repository
• Run npm install to install all dependencies
• npm run ext:dev or npm run ext:build to generate a build in /dist/extension
• Turn on "Developer mode" in chrome://extensions to load the unpacked extension ⤴
• Click on the "Load Unpacked" button and upload the dist/extension folder