Watchtower Browser Extension

See your attention items at a glance from any tab

Your Watchtower, Always Visible

The Watchtower browser extension for Chrome and Edge puts your FreeITSM attention dashboard in your browser toolbar. A badge shows how many items need your attention — urgent tickets, unapproved changes, overdue tasks, active incidents — and clicking it opens a compact popup with the full summary. No need to keep FreeITSM open in a tab.

Watchtower browser extension popup showing module summaries

Badge Count

A number on the extension icon shows how many items need attention. Red for urgent, orange for warnings, hidden when everything is clear.

Popup Dashboard

Click the icon for a compact summary of all nine Watchtower modules — checks, tickets, changes, tasks, services, contracts, calendar, knowledge, and assets.

Configurable Polling

Choose how often the extension checks for updates — from every minute to every 30 minutes. Includes a manual refresh button.

Secure API Key Auth

Authenticates via API key — no session cookies, no passwords stored. Keys can be revoked instantly from the admin panel. Rate-limited to prevent abuse.

Setup Guide

  1. Generate an API Key

    In FreeITSM, go to Software > Settings > API Keys. Enter a label like "Chrome extension" and click Generate. Copy the key immediately — it won't be shown in full again.

  2. Download the Extension

    The extension is included in the FreeITSM repository under the browser-extension/ folder. Clone or download the repo from GitHub.

  3. Load in Chrome or Edge

    Open chrome://extensions (or edge://extensions), enable Developer mode (top-right toggle), click Load unpacked, and select the browser-extension folder from the repository.

  4. Configure the Extension

    Click the Watchtower icon in your browser toolbar, then click Settings. Enter your FreeITSM server URL (e.g. https://itsm.yourcompany.com/freeitsm-app) and paste your API key. Click Test to verify the connection, then Save.

  5. You're Done

    The extension will start polling immediately. You'll see a badge count appear on the icon within your configured interval. Click the icon any time to see the full Watchtower summary popup.

Rate limiting: The extension API is rate-limited to 60 requests per minute per API key by default. This is configurable in your FreeITSM system settings. With a 5-minute poll interval (the default), you'll use about 12 requests per hour — well within the limit.
Revoking access: To disable an extension, go to Software > Settings > API Keys and click Revoke on the key. The extension will show an authentication error on its next poll.