NodeLane Act
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NODELANE ACT / DOCS

Install and use

Install the browser extension and MCP server to let AI use supported Zhihu and Reddit features in your signed-in browser.

Choose your Agent guide

This page covers the common two-component setup. Client-specific instructions are at act.nodelane.net/en/codex/, act.nodelane.net/en/claude-code/, and act.nodelane.net/en/cursor/. All use the same local MCP server.

Platform workflows and pagination details are at act.nodelane.net/en/reddit-mcp/ and act.nodelane.net/en/zhihu-mcp/. Check act.nodelane.net/download/ for npm and marketplace publication status.

Requirements

NodeLane Act 0.2.0 requires an MCP client, Node.js 22 or later, and Chrome or Edge 120 or later on the same computer. Windows is the tested environment. macOS and Linux have not been tested. Live website read checks used Chrome; isolated browser tests used Chromium.

Keep the browser running and sign in to the websites normally. You do not need a website developer account, App Key, or a separate OAuth application. Your AI provider may have its own account requirements and charges.

node --version

1. Get matching packages

Visit act.nodelane.net/download/ to choose an installation method. The browser extension and MCP server are separate components: install both. ZIP and MCPB are alternative ways to install the MCP component.

The ZIP packages include built code and runtime dependencies, so they do not require npm install. They do not include the Node.js executable. The MCPB also requires a suitable Node.js runtime; install Node.js 22+ first. These instructions do not claim publication to npm, browser extension stores, or an MCP marketplace. Refer to the download page for explicit listing status.

  • nodelane-act-extension-0.2.0.zip: the standalone browser extension.
  • nodelane-act-plugin-0.2.0.zip: the MCP server, Codex plugin manifest, and matching browser extension.
  • nodelane-act-0.2.0.mcpb: an MCP bundle for clients that support this format. Install the browser extension separately.

2. Install the browser extension

Extract the extension ZIP to a permanent folder. Open chrome://extensions in Chrome or edge://extensions in Edge, enable Developer mode, choose Load unpacked, and select the extracted folder containing manifest.json. Do not select the ZIP itself.

If you downloaded the full plugin ZIP, you can load its dist/extension folder instead. Do not install a duplicate extension. Review the browser’s website permission prompts. After installation, the extension does not add a pairing code, port form, or extra action confirmation.

Keep the extracted folder: the browser continues to load files from it. The extension popup shows connection status, running operations, and recent history.

3A. Import an MCPB

If your client supports local MCPB installation, import nodelane-act-0.2.0.mcpb through its extension or MCP settings, review the package and permissions, and enable it. The exact entry point depends on the client and version. MCPB is not supported by every MCP client.

The bundle installs the MCP server, not the Chrome or Edge extension. If there is no MCPB import option, use the stdio configuration below. A client-provided Node.js runtime may be used if it meets the version requirement; the project does not assume every client includes one.

3B. Configure a standard MCP server

Extract the full plugin ZIP to a permanent folder such as C:\Tools\nodelane-act. Preserve package.json, dist/, and the dotfiles in their original layout. Use node as the command and the absolute path to dist/server/index.js as its argument.

For clients that accept an mcpServers JSON configuration, use the example below. In other clients, enter the same command and arguments in the appropriate fields. This is a local stdio server, so do not enter it as a remote HTTP endpoint. Reload or restart MCP as your client requires.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "nodelane-act": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["C:\\Tools\\nodelane-act\\dist\\server\\index.js"]
    }
  }
}

Install with the Codex CLI

If the Codex CLI is installed, the following command registers the same local stdio server. Replace the path with your actual installation folder. The full ZIP also includes .codex-plugin/plugin.json and .mcp.json for Codex clients that support that plugin import mechanism. Avoid registering the same server more than once.

Codex MCP configuration documentation: learn.chatgpt.com/docs/extend/mcp?surface=cli.

codex mcp add nodelane-act -- node "C:\Tools\nodelane-act\dist\server\index.js"

4. Check the connection and read

Starting MCP automatically starts or reuses the local bridge. The extension discovers it and connects. Install the components in either order; no port settings or authentication values need to be copied. Keep the browser and MCP client running and check that the popup reports a connection.

Start with “Read five Reddit recommendations” or “Read the first five answers to this Zhihu question and keep the next-page cursor.” AI selects a page and discovers the operations it needs. site.context can open a missing supported page without replacing your other tabs.

site.context({ site: "zhihu" })
site.discover({ site: "zhihu", operation: "answers" })
site.execute({
  targetId: "<targetId returned by context>",
  operation: "answers",
  args: { questionId: "<question ID>", limit: 5 }
})

Pagination, full text, and context budgets

There are only three initial tools: site.context, site.discover, and site.execute. Discover with site for a compact catalog, add query to find relevant capabilities, or add operation to fetch one exact input schema.

For Zhihu lists, pass nextCursor unchanged as cursor. Reddit lists use after or before as specified by each operation. Keep the original query and sort when paging. Fetch full text separately instead of returning an entire HTML page.

Zhihu topic feeds can read cards loaded on the corresponding page. At the loaded end, one normal scroll waits up to eight seconds for more. If no new cards appear and the page has no explicit end, the result is PAGE_NOT_READY. TARGET_PAGE_REQUIRED provides a URL that site.context can open. DOM and API cursors cannot be mixed.

site.execute.maxChars defaults to 12000 and is capped at 30000. It is a character budget, not an exact token count. Oversized output is returned in chunks. Reading a resultId with nextOffset resumes the local result cache without executing the operation again. The cache holds up to 30 results for ten minutes.

site.execute({ resultId: "<returned resultId>", offset: 12000, maxChars: 12000 })

Interactions and failures

State the target and action clearly. Supported user-requested writes are submitted directly to the website without a second extension confirmation. If you want to review a post first, ask AI to draft it, then explicitly request submission after review.

Cancellation, timeouts, and disconnections cannot undo a write already sent. If the outcome is uncertain, inspect the website before retrying. Writes are not automatically retried. After navigation or target expiry, call site.context again.

Website login, permissions, rate limits, and verification still apply. Complete normal website flows in the browser when needed. NodeLane Act does not bypass signatures or verification. Publishing a Zhihu article requires a target on zhuanlan.zhihu.com.

Update, diagnose, and uninstall

Finish ongoing operations before updating. Replace both components with matching versions, reload the extension in the browser, and restart MCP in the client. Do not remove an installation folder while an operation is running.

For connection problems, check the Node.js version, absolute MCP path, running browser, enabled extension, and website permissions. The commands below check status or stop the shared bridge. Disable MCP in your client before stopping the bridge, or a later request may start it again.

To uninstall, remove the browser extension and client MCP configuration, stop the bridge, and delete the installation folder. Local runtime configuration requires separate cleanup. Uninstalling does not delete website posts or conversations retained by your AI client.

node "C:\Tools\nodelane-act\dist\server\index.js" status
node "C:\Tools\nodelane-act\dist\server\index.js" stop

Build from source

Developers can build the repository, load dist/extension, and register dist/server/index.js as a local MCP server. Each added site provides a manifest.json and adapter.ts under sites/<id>/ and follows the shared validation and result contract. Rebuild and reload the extension after changing browser execution code.

git clone https://github.com/Wy2926/nodelane-act.git
cd nodelane-act
npm ci
npm run build