Eight and a Half Years
December 31, 2017. That’s when I pushed the very first version of Auto Clicker Auto Fill.
I remember it clearly — it was New Year’s Eve, and instead of celebrating, I was sitting at my desk, debugging a Chrome extension I had built because I was tired of filling in the same web forms over and over. I didn’t plan to share it publicly. I just wanted to solve my own problem. But I did share it, and a few people downloaded it, and that felt good.
So I kept going.
Eight and a half years later, I’m still going. And today, with version 5.0.0, I’m turning a page. This post isn’t just a list of what changed in the code. It’s me telling you where I’ve been, why things are different now, and what I’m asking from you.
The Reality of Maintaining a Free Extension
For most of those eight years, this extension was a hobby. I worked on it in the evenings, on weekends, during lunch breaks. Every feature request I could, I built. Every bug report I received, I investigated. Thousands of messages from users, and I read them all.
The extension grew. So did the user base. And so did the weight of maintaining it.
Here’s something most users don’t think about: the libraries and tools an extension depends on don’t stand still. Every few months, a dependency gets outdated, a security vulnerability is discovered, or a browser update breaks an old API. When that happens, I have to act — not because I want to, but because leaving it unfixed means your data could be at risk.
There have been real-world incidents where popular browser extensions were compromised through outdated third-party libraries. Attackers injected malicious code, stole session cookies, or silently exfiltrated form data. The extensions looked the same to users. The damage was invisible — until it wasn’t.
Keeping this extension safe means constant work. Not glamorous work. Not work that makes for exciting release notes. Just quiet, disciplined maintenance so that nothing bad happens to you.
My Life Has Changed Too
When I started this project, I was single, had fewer responsibilities, and had a lot of free evenings. That’s not my life anymore.
My family has grown. I have people who depend on me. The hours I once gave freely to this project now have to be balanced against everything else a life asks of you. I’m not complaining — I wouldn’t trade it. But I have to be honest: I can’t keep investing the same amount of time and energy into something that gives nothing back, indefinitely.
I’ve given a lot to this extension. And I’ve been genuinely happy to do it. But now, after more than eight years, I need to ask something in return.
Introducing Plans: Free, Plus, and Pro
Starting with v5.0.0, Auto Clicker Auto Fill moves to a freemium model.
The core extension remains free — always. Unlimited automations, unlimited steps, the visual recorder, all value types. If the free version is all you need, nothing changes for you.
But for the features that take the most time to build and maintain — the advanced loops, the integrations, the AI features, the priority support — there are now two paid plans.
🆓 FREE — Forever
Everything you need to get started:
- Unlimited automations
- Unlimited steps per automation
- Repeat steps in a loop
- Visual step recorder
- All value types — no API required
🚀 PLUS
Everything in Free, plus:
- 🚫 Ad-free experience
- Automation loop — repeat entire automations
- Automation monitor — watch for changes and react
- Automation scheduler — run on a schedule
- Page guard — element-based gating before a run
- Step-level settings and overrides
- Step guard — conditional checks between steps
🔹 PRO
Everything in Plus, plus:
- Google Sheets integration
- Discord integration
- Captcha solver
- OpenAI integration
- Priority support via Discord
- Gmail integration (coming soon)
You can review the plans and subscribe from the Subscription section inside the extension’s options page.
Payment is handled through Dodo Payments, backed by Stripe. Your payment details are processed securely and never stored by me.
What Else Changed in 5.0.0
Beyond the subscription model, this release includes several improvements:
Performance fix in the options page. There was a bottleneck causing the options page to slow down noticeably as the number of automations grew. That’s been fixed.
UI layout improvements. The interface now makes better use of larger screen sizes, so if you’re on a wider monitor you’ll see more content and less wasted space.
Dodo Payments replaces the previous payment provider. The integration is cleaner, the checkout flow is smoother, and the Stripe backend gives you the payment security you’d expect.
Dependency audit and security updates. As always, a pass over all third-party libraries — updating anything outdated, removing anything unused. This is the quiet work that keeps you safe.
Why I’m Telling You All This
I could have shipped this update with a short changelog and moved on. But you’ve been with me through years of this, and I think you deserve more than a bullet list.
I built this extension because I wanted to help people. I’ve kept building it because that goal hasn’t changed. But tools that are worth using are worth paying for — not because I’m asking you to pay for something you used to get free, but because the only way I can keep making this better is if it’s sustainable.
If the free plan serves you well, I’m glad. If you’ve gotten real value out of the advanced features over the years, now is a chance to give something back.
Subscribe if you can. If you can’t, that’s okay too — the core will stay free.
And either way: thank you. For the downloads, the bug reports, the feature requests, the kind messages. For eight and a half years of showing me that this was worth building.
Here’s to whatever comes next.
— Dharmesh
New in This Update
This update introduces a full publish-and-discover workflow for automations.
You can now publish selected automations to a shared cloud feed, discover public automations from other users in a dedicated Explore screen, and import them into your own list in one click.
Highlights
1) Publish from an Automation
Each automation now includes a Publish action in its menu.
Publishing supports metadata fields to make shared automations easier to discover:
- Title (required)
- Description (optional)
- Tags (optional, comma-separated)
If you already own a published automation, you can update metadata or unpublish it.
2) Ownership-Aware Safety Rules
The publish workflow enforces ownership boundaries:
- Only the owner can unpublish or update a published entry.
- If an automation is published by another user, you can duplicate it locally and publish your own copy.
This prevents accidental overwrites while keeping remix workflows simple.
3) New Explore Page
A new Explore route is available from the sidebar.
In Explore, you can:
- Search published automations
- Toggle tag and description visibility for compact browsing
- Load more results with pagination
- See author, source URL, and download counts
- Import a published automation directly into your account
4) Smoother Import Experience
Importing from Explore opens a confirmation step and then automatically migrates imported data to your current schema before opening it for editing.
Why This Matters
Until now, automation sharing mostly depended on manual JSON export/import.
With publishing plus Explore, the workflow becomes:
- Build locally.
- Publish with metadata.
- Discover from Explore.
- Import and customize.
This reduces friction for power users and makes reusable automation patterns easier to distribute.
PR Reference
These changes are part of PR #822 in the main extension repository.
View PR #822
What’s New in v5.0.5
Version 5 is the biggest structural leap since the extension moved to its current options‑page model. The headline is a complete redesign of the automation configuration screen, but the release also ships first‑class positional targeting, automatic pre‑migration snapshots, and a raft of quality improvements that make everyday automation building more reliable.
Redesigned Automation Configuration Page
The configuration page has been rebuilt from the ground up. Every interaction is now inline and context‑aware instead of relying on separate modal dialogs.
Inline name editing — click the automation name field directly to rename it in place. No extra steps, no panel to open.
Consolidated action menu — a single dropdown next to the name exposes every operation you need:
| Action |
What it does |
| Edit |
Expand the inline URL and Wait Before Start editor |
| Export |
Download the automation as JSON |
| Schedule |
Set when it should run automatically |
| Loop |
Configure repeat count and interval |
| Monitor |
Watch for new page content and re‑run matching steps |
| Duplicate |
Clone the automation |
| Disable |
Pause without deleting |
| Remove |
Delete permanently |
Inline URL editing — clicking the URL field or choosing Edit expands a section right inside the row. Edit the URL and Wait Before Start, then hit Save or Cancel without leaving the screen.
Icon tooltips — status icons for Wait, Schedule, Monitor, and Loop now show labelled tooltips on hover so you always know at a glance what is configured.
Enable toggle — flip the automation on or off directly from the row, no menu required.
Position‑Based Element Finder
Steps can now target an element by its visual position on the page using Position::x,y.
- Useful when no good XPath, ID, or class exists — for example, canvas‑rendered apps or overlapping layers.
- Right‑click context menu support makes it easy to copy a position from the recording wizard.
- Combine with Page Guard to guard against layout shifts before acting.
Automatic Migration Backup
Every time the extension applies a storage schema update, it now saves a local snapshot of your data before the migration runs.
Go to Settings → Migration Backup to:
- Browse available snapshots and inspect their JSON.
- Download a snapshot as a file for off‑device archiving.
- Restore a snapshot to roll back if something went wrong.
- Delete snapshots you no longer need.
The extension keeps the most recent snapshots and rotates older ones automatically.
Page Guard: Browser Function Evaluation
Page Guard gained a Func:: prefix that lets you evaluate any JavaScript expression instead of reading a DOM element.
Func::new Date().getHours() → current hour (0–23)
Func::location.href → current page URL
Use this to run steps only between certain hours, only on specific URL patterns, or based on any in‑browser value — without shipping a separate userscript.
Only use Func:: expressions you wrote yourself or fully understand.
Cloud Backup via Google Drive
Settings now includes a Cloud Backup panel backed by Google Drive’s App Data folder.
- The App Data scope is private to the extension — it does not touch the rest of your Drive.
- Set automatic backups to run Daily, Weekly, or Monthly, or trigger one immediately with Backup Now.
- Restore replaces your current local automations and settings with the latest Drive snapshot.
Interval Range for Steps
Step delays and batch‑processing intervals now support a range in addition to a fixed value. Click the range button on any delay or interval field to set a minimum and maximum — the extension picks a random value in that range each time it runs. This reduces bot‑detection signatures on pages that inspect timing patterns.
Monitor Improvements
The Monitor panel (previously called Watch) received a full configuration overhaul:
| Setting |
What it controls |
| Debounce |
Delay before processing new elements (100–5000 ms, default 500 ms) |
| Monitor Root |
CSS selector to scope what the observer watches (default body) |
| Monitor Attributes |
Comma‑separated attributes to watch in addition to child changes |
| Timeout |
Maximum observer lifetime (1–180 minutes, default 30 minutes) |
| Stop on URL Change |
Automatically halt the observer when the page address changes |
Settings Additions
Additional Settings consolidates three options that were previously scattered:
- Search Inside Embedded Pages — look inside
<iframe> elements before falling back to the main document.
- Refresh Page on Error — reload automatically if the extension context is invalidated (e.g. after an extension update).
- Status Bar — choose the corner where the status bar appears, or hide it entirely.
Under the Hood
- Vite + Nx powers the options‑page build, reducing cold build and incremental rebuild times.
- Playwright E2E tests now cover the settings, automations list, and core configuration flows, giving the project a regression safety net for the first time.
- Language preference persistence — your selected language is now saved to local storage and restored on next open.
- Bootstrap Icons served via CDN — smaller initial bundle.
Why v5?
The move to a major version reflects the depth of this release: a rewritten configuration screen, a new element‑targeting strategy, automatic data‑safety backstops (migration backup and cloud sync), and a test layer that keeps future changes from quietly breaking things. If you’ve been on 4.x for a while, this is the update worth switching for.
Full Changelog ↗
Questions or issues with the new configuration screen? Open a discussion and we’ll help you out.
What’s New in v4.0.47
Release 4.0.47 is a refinement-heavy update that focuses on giving power users more control while trimming visual noise and technical friction. It also clears the path for faster future iterations by
modernizing core tooling and architecture.
Highlights
Custom JavaScript Execution (Feature #483)
You can now inject bespoke JavaScript directly from your configuration, enabling advanced logic (dynamic field transforms, conditional flows, lightweight data extraction) without shipping a separate
addon. This opens the door to highly tailored automation scenarios.
Cleaner Interface
Ads have been removed for role‑based configurations, keeping your workspace distraction‑free and faster to scan.
Textarea Memory Fix (Feature #632)
Input/textarea elements now correctly retain both their detected type and height, eliminating repetitive manual adjustments when cycling configurations.
Developer & Architecture Upgrades
| Area |
Improvement |
Impact |
| Icons |
Bootstrap icons served via CDN |
Smaller bundle, quicker cold loads |
| Tooling |
Added Vitest + SWC |
Faster test runs & modern transform pipeline |
| Monorepo |
Migrated to Nx |
Clearer boundaries, scalable growth |
| Types |
Widened interface usage & cleanup |
Consistent contracts, easier refactors |
| Regex |
Removed redundant pattern |
Fewer false positives & maintenance overhead |
UX & Theme
Local Theme Context and dropdown refactor reduce prop drilling and improve isolation, making future theming and dark‑mode adjustments safer.
Why It Matters
This release shifts the extension from incremental polish toward extensibility: bringing custom JavaScript closer to the core while tightening performance.
Full Changelog ↗
Need an example of the new JavaScript hook? Open an issue and we’ll publish a snippet pack.
What’s New in v4.0.46
This cycle retires the legacy Public vs Private Profile sync feature, simplifies data ownership, and layers in quality, observability, and testing improvements.
Feature Sunset: Profiles
The cloud profile system has been removed. Your configurations now remain local (and portable through export/import). Stored encrypted data can be deleted on request—transparency and user ownership
first.
Added / Improved
- History command & enriched data list interactions for quicker recall of recent automation steps.
- Subscription modal redesigned with a unified header for clearer upgrade context.
- Codacy integration & Istanbul coverage tooling to keep regressions under control.
- Incremental Vitest instrumentation improves feedback loop speed.
Behind the Scenes
| Change |
Benefit |
| Test coverage stack refinements |
Faster CI & reliable mutation detection |
| Code cleanup / type tightening |
Reduced cognitive load for contributors |
| UI polish rounds |
Consistent spacing & readable modals |
Full Changelog ↗
If you depended on cloud sync, set up a manual export routine (Settings → Export) until a future sync replacement is announced.
What’s New in v4.0.45
Version 4.0.45 focuses on hardening timing logic, modernizing the build surface, and pruning legacy complexity to pave the way for higher‑velocity feature work.
Reliability Fixes
- Random interval execution logic corrected—delays now honor configured entropy without drifting.
- Alert parsing hardening reduces false error states when scanning dynamic pages.
- Migration toward Vite + Nx consolidates scripts, speeds cold builds, and shrinks incremental rebuild times.
- Refined Codacy exclusion rules keep static analysis signal high while cutting noise.
UX Polish
- Subscription modal refreshed with improved hierarchy, reducing funnel friction for upgrades.
Why It Matters
The extension now launches faster under development, consumes fewer CI minutes, and yields more predictable automation timing—critical for multi‑step form flows.
Full Changelog Snapshot ↗
Tip: If you chain random intervals, re‑export your configuration after saving to ensure deterministic ordering.
What’s New in v4.0.44
Release 4.0.44 refactors event dispatching, strengthens cross‑frame automation, and expands language coverage—especially for East Asian locales.
Event & Frame Handling
- Improved handling for actions added after Goto steps, preventing UI desync.
- Safer event propagation in environments where iframe elements are dynamically detached or lack
src attributes.
Localization & Accessibility
- Broadened Chinese & Korean translation updates ensure terminology consistency across record, value, and condition panels.
Dependency Hygiene
Targeted upgrades reduce transitive risk and modernize core libs, helping keep browser compatibility tight.
Developer Notes
Refinements here unlock future batching of cross‑frame actions without race conditions.
Full Changelog ↗
Encountering frame edge cases? Enable verbose logging and attach it to an issue—most hotfixes originate from community traces.
What’s New in v4.0.21
This release enhances onboarding control and reduces repetitive UI friction.
Feature Additions
- Version‑aware guided tour check prevents re‑showing tutorials after tool updates.
- Added “Suppress What’s New” option—lets power users jump straight back to work.
- Internal version constant alignment (
NX_RELEASE_VERSION) across extension surfaces for predictable telemetry & gating.
Why It Matters
Less interruption = higher adoption of deeper automation recipes.
Credits: Dharmesh (@dharmesh-hemaram)
Looking for a full diff? Compare tags from the repository UI for granular commit context.
What’s New in v4.0.9
Focus continues on progressive onboarding and infrastructure readiness.
Added
- Guided tour version gate (avoids redundant replays).
- “Suppress What’s New” toggle for quieter updates.
- Firebase OAuth + Firestore library integration laying groundwork for future sync / cloud enrichments.
Technical Foundation
Early type exposure for OAuth helpers introduced to shared library—accelerates downstream feature iteration.
Credits: Dharmesh (@dharmesh-hemaram)
Pro Tip: If you disabled tours but want them back, reset onboarding flags via settings.
What’s New in v4.0.8
Early groundwork for adaptive onboarding plus user‑choice around update noise.
Key Changes
- Version checked tour logic (prevents unnecessary repetition).
- “What’s New” suppression control—keeps UI minimal for experienced users.
Credits: Dharmesh (@dharmesh-hemaram)
Next: Cloud‑assisted insights leverage these version hooks.
@Dharmesh-Hemaram
July 23, 2026