How to use Project Mariner

Table of contents

• About Project Mariner
• Who can use Project Mariner
• Manage tasks in Project Mariner
• Teach Project Mariner how to run a task
• Terms & privacy
• Send feedback about Project Mariner
• Our approach to safety

About Project Mariner

Eligible subscribers can use our research prototype, Project Mariner, to automate up to 10 tasks at the same time on web browsers, subject to available capacity. As Project Mariner completes your tasks on Virtual Machines, you can watch it work through live views, screen captures, and written step-by-step processes.

Project Mariner can help you do things like:

• Find and add items to your online cart: Find items online based on your needs, such as ingredients for a recipe or a specific type of product.
• Research topics and summarize info from across the web: Understand a topic quickly through summarized information from sources like articles or product reviews.
• Plan travel and discover local spots: Create travel itineraries, find flight and hotel options, or discover nearby restaurants and local attractions.
• Explore your interests and hobbies: Create a music playlist for a specific mood or occasion, or get suggestions for unique gift ideas based on someone's interests.

Who can use Project Mariner

Currently, to use Project Mariner, you must meet all of these requirements:

1. Be located in the United States
2. Be age 18+
3. Be subscribed to the Google AI Ultra plan with your personal Google Account

Manage tasks in Project Mariner

Start a new task in Project Mariner

To start a new task:

1. On your device, go to labs.google.com/mariner.
2. In the text box at the bottom, enter a detailed description of your task.
   • If needed, follow the on-screen instructions to add related tabs.
   • Example prompt: Book me a flight from SF to Singapore next Friday on Google Flights.
3. Click Start Task.
4. Project Mariner will begin the task on Virtual Machines, show you a live view of the site it’s on, and generate a step-by-step list of its actions within each site.
5. While Project Mariner works, you can step in at any time:
   • To take over a task: At the bottom of the live view, click Take over.
   • To pause a task: At the top right, click Pause.
   • To resume a task: At the top right, click Resume.
   • To cancel a task: At the top right, click Cancel.

Unblock tasks that need attention

When Project Mariner needs your input before it can continue a task, it’ll pause the task:

1. On your device, go to labs.google.com/mariner.
2. Under “Needs attention,” find the task, and click Review. 
3. In the text box at the bottom, enter your input.
4. Click Submit . 
5. Project Mariner will automatically resume work.

Manage tasks that have ended

1. On your device, go to labs.google.com/mariner.
2. On the top, click Ended.
3. Find the task.
   • To delete the task: Click Delete .
   • To view the task’s results: Click View result.

Learn how to give feedback on an ended task.

Teach Project Mariner how to run a task

Important: This feature is only available on Google Chrome.

You can teach Project Mariner how to complete a task through a screen recording:

1. On Google Chrome, download Project Mariner from the Chrome Web Store.
   • Tip: Once it installs, go to your Extensions in your Chrome browser and pin it to the extension bar for ease of use.
2. Click the Project Mariner extension > Demo a task.
3. Record how you’d like Project Mariner to complete the task:
   1. Select a window to start screen share with. 
   2. Click Share.
   3. Narrate your thought process as you perform the task.
   4. When you’ve completed the task, click Stop sharing.
4. Project Mariner shares the step-by-step process it learned from your recording.
   1. To edit the steps, click Edit.
   2. To run the task on Virtual Machines at labs.google.com/mariner, click Launch. 

Review and run a saved task

After Project Mariner successfully completes a task it was taught, you can review and run the task again:

1. On your device, go to labs.google.com/mariner.
2. On the top, click Saved.
3. Find the task you’d like to run.
4. Click Review and Run.
5. Review the process Project Mariner has saved. Make edits as needed:
   • To change the order of a step: Drag the step.
   • To change the text in a step: Double click the step.
   • To change a blue variable, such as a link: Click on the variable.
6. Click Start task.

Terms & privacy

Review the legal terms and privacy notice applicable to Project Mariner.

Change your privacy settings

Your conversations and browsing data may be reviewed and used to improve Google AI. By default, Project Mariner:

• Includes conversations in generative AI model training
• Does not include screen captures and other page content in generative AI model training

You can change these settings at any time:

1. On your device, go to your Project Mariner settings.
2. Choose which types of data you’d like to include in model training.
   • To include the data, check the box next to it.
   • To exclude the data, uncheck the box next to it.

Learn more about your choices in the Project Mariner Privacy Notice.

Send feedback about Project Mariner

Important: Do not submit any sensitive or personal information along with your feedback.

Send feedback about ended tasks Send general feedback about Project Mariner

Our approach to safety

Project Mariner incorporates several features intended to enhance operational safety and reduce the likelihood of unintended or potentially harmful actions, including:

• Prompts for user confirmation: For certain tasks that could have significant consequences (e.g., terms of service acceptance or finalizing financial transactions), Project Mariner includes a mechanism that aims to request your explicit review and confirmation before completing the action.
• Prohibited task recognition: Project Mariner is equipped with safeguards intended to help it recognize and refrain from acting on certain types of requests identified as potentially harmful or inconsistent with its designated operational parameters, including certain tasks that may violate the Generative AI Prohibited Use Policy.
• “Take over” mode: When interacting with certain websites or when asked to input specific types of sensitive information (such as passwords or payment details), Project Mariner may pause its autonomous operation. It will then prompt you to “take over,” requiring direct manual control of the browser for these specific inputs.

Important considerations and user responsibility

Project Mariner is an early research prototype. The safety features described above are intended as supplementary measures and their reliability is still under active development. They may not always function as anticipated, and the system may not always prompt for confirmation or recognize all prohibited tasks.

Given these limitations, it is crucial that users exercise diligence and maintain close supervision of Project Mariner’s activities where appropriate, such as in connection with important tasks, when logged into websites with sensitive access or data, or when an unintended action could have negative consequences. In those cases, you should always be prepared to interrupt Project Mariner’s operations if necessary by using the “pause” or “cancel” buttons. Our built-in safety features are not a substitute for your active oversight. Learn more about how to use Project Mariner responsibly.