RPIEM RPIEM / HopTrace Install

Support

Questions, bug reports and feature requests for HopTrace.

Email
support@rpiem.com

We read everything. Replies usually take one to two working days.

Getting started

  1. Install HopTrace from the Chrome Web Store and pin it to the toolbar.
  2. Open any page. If you already have the page open, reload it so the navigation can be observed.
  3. Click the HopTrace icon. The Chain view shows each hop; switch to Security, SEO, Page or Cost for the rest.
  4. Use Reload without cache in the popup header to trace again with a cold cache.

Frequently asked

Why does HopTrace ask to read and change data on all websites?

That is Chrome's wording for the <all_urls> host permission. A redirect can start on any site and end on any other, and you may trace any page you have open, so the set of hosts cannot be narrowed to a list.

HopTrace uses it for three things: receiving navigation events for the active tab, fetching robots.txt from the origin being traced, and running the content script that reads the destination page's own metadata (title, canonical, meta tags, headings, timing). It never changes page content, and none of it leaves your device.

What does HopTrace send off my device?

At most two things, and both are optional:

  • A plain GET for /robots.txt from the site you are already visiting.
  • The IP address of a server in the chain, sent to ipwho.is so the hop can be labelled with a country and network operator.

Your own IP address, the URL, your cookies and your request headers are never sent. Turn either off under Options → Analysis. The privacy policy has the full detail.

How do I delete what HopTrace has stored?

Open the Options page and click Clear stored data. Traces are also pruned automatically to the 500 most recent and 30 days of history. Uninstalling the extension removes everything.

The popup says there is no trace for this tab.

HopTrace can only report a navigation it observed. Pages that were already open when the extension was installed, or restored from a previous session, have no trace yet. Reload the page, or use Reload without cache in the popup header, and open the popup again.

Chrome also does not expose navigations on its own internal pages (chrome://) or the Chrome Web Store.

Does it work in Incognito?

Yes, once you allow it. Open chrome://extensions, choose HopTrace, and enable Allow in Incognito. Chrome keeps Incognito extension storage separate and discards it when the window closes.

Which versions of Chrome does HopTrace support?

Chrome 114 or later. HopTrace is a Manifest V3 extension with no companion app, sign-in or subscription. Other Chromium browsers that install from the Chrome Web Store generally work but are not tested.

Reporting a bug

Email support@rpiem.com with as much of the following as you can. It usually turns a week of back and forth into one reply.

  • The HopTrace version, from chrome://extensions, and your Chrome version.
  • The URL you traced, if you are able to share it.
  • What you expected to see and what you saw instead. A screenshot of the popup helps.
  • An export of the trace from the popup, if the problem is about a specific chain.

Feature requests

Send them to the same address. Tell us what you were trying to work out about a URL when you reached for something HopTrace did not have. That context matters more than the feature itself.

For anything else about RPIEM, use the contact form on the main site.