The AI is already there

What if you didn't need to download a model, run a server, or enter an API key? What if the AI was just... part of your browser?

That's Gemini Nano. Google ships a compact language model directly inside Chrome — built into the browser binary, managed by Chrome's update system, running entirely on your device. Daneel now supports it as a first-class provider.

No setup beyond flipping two flags. No storage to manage. No cost. And absolutely nothing leaves your machine.

What is Gemini Nano

Gemini Nano is Google's on-device language model, designed to run locally inside Chrome. It's approximately 3 billion parameters — small enough to fit on most modern hardware, capable enough for summarization, Q&A, rewriting, and basic reasoning.

Chrome handles the entire lifecycle: downloading the model weights, updating them silently, and managing GPU memory. Your extension — and Daneel — simply calls the LanguageModel API and gets responses. The model is shared across all extensions and web apps that use it, so there's no duplication.

How to activate it

Gemini Nano isn't enabled by default yet. You need to flip two Chrome flags — it takes about two minutes.

Step 1 — Check your Chrome version. You need Chrome 140 or later. Check at chrome://settings/help. If you're on an older version, update first.

Step 2 — Enable the on-device model flag. Navigate to:

chrome://flags/#optimization-guide-on-device-model

Set it to Enabled (or Enabled BypassPerfRequirement if your hardware is slightly below spec). This tells Chrome to download and maintain the Gemini Nano model.

Step 3 — Enable the Prompt API flag. Navigate to:

chrome://flags/#prompt-api-for-gemini-nano

Set it to Enabled for English only, or Enabled multilingual for English, Spanish, and Japanese support.

Step 4 — Relaunch Chrome. Click the Relaunch button at the bottom of the flags page. Chrome will restart and begin downloading the model in the background.

Step 5 — Verify the download. Open chrome://on-device-internals and check the Model Status tab. You should see Gemini Nano listed as downloaded. If it shows "scheduled" or "pending," give it a few minutes — the download happens silently.

You can also verify in DevTools (F12, then Console):

await LanguageModel.availability()
// Should return: "available"

Once you see "available," you're ready to go.

System requirements

Gemini Nano needs reasonable hardware to run well:

  • OS: Windows 10/11, macOS 13+ (Ventura), Linux, or ChromeOS 16389+ (Chromebook Plus only)
  • RAM: 16 GB minimum
  • CPU: 4 cores or more
  • GPU: Strictly more than 4 GB VRAM (integrated GPUs may work if RAM is sufficient)
  • Storage: At least 22 GB free on the volume containing your Chrome profile
  • Network: Unmetered connection for the initial model download only

Important: if your free storage drops below 10 GB after the download, Chrome will automatically remove the model to reclaim space.

Not supported on Android, iOS, or non-Chromebook-Plus ChromeOS devices.

Using Gemini Nano in Daneel

Open Settings, go to the Gemini Nano tab. Daneel auto-detects whether the model is available — you'll see a green status if everything is ready, or clear guidance on what's missing.

Choose your output language. Chrome uses language selection for quality optimization — English, Spanish, and Japanese are supported with multilingual mode enabled. The language setting is saved and persists across sessions.

Hit the test query box to try a quick prompt. Tokens stream back in real time, confirming the model is working on your hardware.

Select Gemini Nano as your active provider and you're set. Page Q&A, Site RAG, Vault conversations — everything works with zero network dependency.

Streaming with a twist

One quirk of Chrome's API: it emits cumulative chunks rather than incremental tokens. Each chunk contains the entire response generated so far, not just the new text. Daneel handles this transparently — a smart auto-detection layer compares consecutive chunks and extracts only the new content, giving you the same smooth token-by-token streaming experience you get from every other provider.

Newer Chrome versions (135+) sometimes emit true incremental chunks instead. Daneel adapts to both modes automatically during the first two tokens of each response. You never notice the difference.

Tool calling — with caveats

Yes, Gemini Nano can use MCP tools. Daneel injects tool descriptions into the system prompt and parses XML-tagged tool calls from the model's output. Connect Stripe, Exa, or any MCP server and Nano will attempt to call the right tools.

The honest caveat: a 3B model is not as reliable at tool calling as Claude or a large Ollama model. It works for simple, single-tool queries but can struggle with complex multi-step chains. Daneel truncates large tool results to 1,500 characters to stay within Nano's limited context window.

Think of it as a capable assistant for straightforward tasks, not a power tool for complex orchestration. For that, step up to Ollama or Claude.

The most private option

Gemini Nano is the only provider where the model runs inside the browser process itself. Your prompts never leave Chrome — they don't cross a network boundary, they don't reach a localhost server, they don't touch any external process.

In Daneel's privacy model, Gemini Nano gets "On-device" residency — the highest privacy tier. The only caveat: Chrome itself manages the model, so the browser vendor is technically in the loop. But your questions, your pages, your documents? They stay in your browser's memory and nowhere else.

What to expect

Gemini Nano is powerful for its size, but it's a 3B model running on consumer hardware. Set your expectations accordingly:

  • Great for: summarization, simple Q&A, rewriting, page chat, quick lookups
  • Decent for: basic reasoning, short document analysis, single-tool MCP calls
  • Limited for: complex multi-step reasoning, long documents, multi-turn tool chains, code generation
  • Context window: varies by GPU capability and Chrome version — shorter than cloud models

The context window and inference speed depend on your specific GPU. Daneel's settings panel notes this explicitly so you're never surprised.

Learn more about Gemini Nano: Read on site

What's next

Chrome's built-in AI APIs are evolving rapidly. Google is adding new capabilities — Summarizer, Writer, Rewriter, Proofreader — and improving the underlying model. As Chrome's AI surface grows, Daneel will integrate deeper.

For now, Gemini Nano is the zero-friction entry point: no downloads, no keys, no cost, no configuration beyond two flags. If you have Chrome 140+ and decent hardware, your browser already has an AI. Daneel just gives it something to do.