# SlimBrave Neo hardens Brave through enterprise policies, not extensions

> SlimBrave Neo writes Chromium managed policies to configure Brave Browser on Windows, macOS and Linux, and its distinction is that it ships as source only, with a policy catalogue where every toggle carries a plain-English description of what it disables.

**ChaoticSi1ence/SlimBrave-Neo** — Debloat and harden Brave Browser on Linux, macOS, and Windows using Chromium enterprise policies. Curses TUI on Linux/macOS, native GUI on Windows. 79 policies, 6 presets, zero dependencies.

- Repository: https://github.com/ChaoticSi1ence/SlimBrave-Neo
- Stars: 772 · Forks: 18
- Language: Python
- License: GPL-3.0
- Published: 2026-10-21 · Updated: 2026-10-21 · Language: en
- Canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/chaoticsi1ence-slimbrave-neo

## Policies rather than extensions, and source only rather than installers

SlimBrave Neo uses Chromium enterprise managed policies to disable telemetry, bloat and unwanted features in Brave Browser, and the readme is explicit about the method: no browser extensions, no hacks, just clean policy enforcement that Brave respects natively. That distinction matters because a managed policy is a first-class configuration surface in the browser rather than a layer on top of it, so a setting applied this way is not something an extension update or a profile reset can quietly undo. The second decision is about distribution. The readme carries an important notice that this is source code only, with no .exe, .msi, .dmg or installers ever, and that the repository is the only official source, so a download claiming to be SlimBrave Neo anywhere else is not from this project, with a pointer to SECURITY.md. The audience is a user who would rather read a script than trust a binary, and a reviewer who wants to know exactly what a policy switch does before applying it.

## A fork with a stated audit trail

The project is a fork of SlimBrave by a different author, under the same GPL-3.0 licence, extended to Linux and macOS. What the fork adds is a curation practice. The readme says the policy keys are curated and re-audited against brave-core and Chromium source by Claude Fable, and adds that what ships is a human call, with receipts in AUDIT.md. That last phrase is the important one, because it distinguishes a catalogue of policies that someone checked from a list generated by a model, and the repository does indeed carry an AUDIT.md file at the root next to SECURITY.md. The release tags reinforce that the auditing is a live practice rather than a one-off. v2.3.2 is described as an audit at Brave 1.96.59 with corrected descriptions and caveats, v2.3.1 added Brave Origin support for Linux, and v2.3.0 added keyboard access for the Windows GUI and frames and descriptions for the TUI.

## The Windows path is a script, and the execution policy is the gotcha

On Windows the tool is a PowerShell script, and the quick start is a clone and a launch.

```powershell
git clone https://github.com/ChaoticSi1ence/SlimBrave-Neo.git
cd SlimBrave-Neo
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\SlimBrave.ps1
```

There is a one-liner for people without git, which downloads the script from the raw GitHub URL and runs it in the same command. The readme then explains the error most people hit, the running scripts is disabled message, which is the default Restricted execution policy refusing to run any .ps1, and that is why both commands end in powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File rather than .\SlimBrave.ps1. The bypass applies to that one launch only, it changes no setting on the machine, and you never need Set-ExecutionPolicy. It also notes the two commands pull the current main, and points at SECURITY.md for tagged releases with SHA-256 sums if you would rather pin an exact, unchanging version. The script requires Administrator privileges and re-launches itself elevated, and it opens showing the policy already on the machine rather than an empty form.

## A seven category catalogue where every policy explains itself

The Windows GUI is the polished part of the project, and its idea is that a policy is a sentence rather than a key name. Each row carries a plain-English description under its title, with a worked example about the daily usage ping that counts an install in Brave's active-user statistics, plus the search-engine usage counts it carries and the referral-code check, and where the text is longer than the row a chevron expands it in place. The search box reads the descriptions as well as the names, so typing passwords surfaces Require HTTPS for Basic Auth even though the title never says the word, and telemetry returns the whole reporting section. Several words narrow the results, plurals match singulars, punctuation is ignored on both sides, and title matches rank above prose matches. A sidebar splits the policies into seven categories, with an All Options view that lists all 79 in one scroll with section headers for anyone who would rather not navigate.

## Presets are cards, and nothing is applied until you say so

The preset model has one rule that shapes the rest of the interface. Each preset is a card that shows what it does and how many policies it sets, and loading one only fills in the controls, nothing reaches the registry until you press Apply Settings, so you can change your mind first. The presets are embedded in the SlimBrave.ps1 script itself, which means they work for the one-liner download with no Presets directory on disk, and the repository does carry a Presets/ directory for those working from a clone. The other interface decision is about accidental destructive edits. Clicking a label does nothing, only the toggle and the dropdown respond and each stays within its own bounds, and the reasoning is that opening a menu is reversible while flipping a machine-wide policy is not. The button row is Export, Import, Re-sync, Reset and Apply Settings, with Re-sync reading the policy state from the machine.

## The keyboard path is treated as the primary path

The readme states that it works without a mouse and then documents the keys in a table, which is unusual for a settings dialog and is the clearest sign of what kind of tool this is. Tab moves between the sidebar, the search box, the list and the button row with Export first and round again, and Shift+Tab goes back. Up and Down move between items, PageUp, PageDown, Home and End move through the list. Space or Enter presses whatever has focus, on release, so a held key acts once. Right opens a row's description and Left closes it, and Escape clears a search or otherwise closes the window, asking first if there are staged changes. A dotted outline marks the focused control, and it appears once the keyboard moves focus, so a mouse session never shows it. The same care appears in the Curses TUI on Linux and macOS, which the description says has frames and descriptions for the policies, and the Windows GUI got keyboard access as a release note in v2.3.0.

## Where the tool stops, and what Linux users should consider first

Two limits are structural. The first is that it configures a browser that has to be there, so it is a Brave tool and not a browser, and a user who wants the same outcome across browsers has to run the policy catalogue per browser. The second is the platform split, where the Windows path is a PowerShell script and a native GUI, and the Linux and macOS path is a Curses TUI, with the repository carrying slimbrave-linux.py and slimbrave-mac.py alongside the script. The more interesting limit is the one the readme raises for Linux users, who are told to consider Brave Origin first, an official Brave build with telemetry and bloat already removed, now on the Release channel and installable with apt install brave-origin. SlimBrave Neo is positioned as the better fit if you want per-policy control, presets, or your own DNS over HTTPS templates, and the readme notes it runs on Origin too, because the Arch brave-origin-bin package and the brave-origin deb and rpm are detected and Origin reads the same /etc/brave/policies directory, so everything Origin has not already compiled out applies there as well. On the security side, the fact that the tool runs an elevated script is why the project publishes SECURITY.md, ships no binaries, and offers tagged releases with SHA-256 sums.

## Conclusion

SlimBrave Neo suits a Brave user on Windows, macOS or Linux who wants telemetry and bloat features switched off through the browser's own policy mechanism, and it suits anyone who wants to read what each policy actually does before turning it on. It is the wrong tool if you want an extension-based approach, because the whole design is managed policies with no extensions involved, and it is the wrong choice on Linux if Brave Origin already ships with telemetry removed, since the README recommends considering that first. Before running it, read the AUDIT.md receipts, because the policy keys are curated and re-audited against brave-core and the Chromium source, and on Windows prefer the tagged release with a checksum over the moving main branch. The last push was on 2026-10-01 and the current release is v2.3.2 from 2026-09-28.

## FAQ

### How do I install SlimBrave Neo on Windows?

Clone the repository, change into the SlimBrave-Neo directory, and run powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\SlimBrave.ps1. The script requires Administrator privileges and re-launches itself elevated. The bypass applies to that one launch only and changes no setting on your machine.

### Does SlimBrave Neo install browser extensions to block telemetry?

No. It uses Chromium enterprise managed policies to disable telemetry, bloat and unwanted features, and the README is explicit that there are no browser extensions and no hacks, just policy enforcement that Brave respects natively.

### What does the SlimBrave Neo policy catalogue look like?

The Windows GUI lists all 79 policies in one scroll with section headers, split into seven categories by a sidebar. Each policy has a plain-English description under its title, and the search box matches titles, policy keys, category names and the description text.

## Sources

- [ChaoticSi1ence/SlimBrave-Neo on GitHub](https://github.com/ChaoticSi1ence/SlimBrave-Neo)
- [Issues](https://github.com/ChaoticSi1ence/SlimBrave-Neo/issues)
- [License: GPL-3.0](https://github.com/ChaoticSi1ence/SlimBrave-Neo/blob/main/LICENSE)
- [README](https://github.com/ChaoticSi1ence/SlimBrave-Neo/blob/main/README.md)
- [Releases](https://github.com/ChaoticSi1ence/SlimBrave-Neo/releases)

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Hysen Labs editorial analysis, written from the project's own repository and release notes. Cite the canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/chaoticsi1ence-slimbrave-neo