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What is brave-origin?

flyingpenguinw/brave-origin — explained in plain English

Analysis updated 2026-05-18

31ShellAudience · generalComplexity · 2/5LicenseSetup · easy

In one sentence

A set of scripts and policy files that strips extra features out of the Brave browser at the system level while keeping its ad blocking intact.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((Brave Origin))
    Disabled Features
      Rewards and Wallet
      VPN and Leo AI
      News and Talk
      Tor and Speedreader
    Telemetry
      P3A Stats
      Web Discovery
      Sync
    Performance
      DNS Prefetch
      TCP Preconnect
      Memory Saver
    Platforms
      Linux setup.sh
      macOS setup_mac.sh
      Windows setup.bat

Code map

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What do people build with it?

USE CASE 1

Remove Brave's crypto wallet, VPN upsells, AI assistant, news feed, and other extras without losing ad blocking.

USE CASE 2

Stop background telemetry and stats pings from running in the browser.

USE CASE 3

Free up memory by preventing unused features from loading at all instead of just hiding them.

USE CASE 4

Apply a consistent, verifiable debloated Brave setup across Linux, macOS, and Windows machines.

What is it built with?

ShellBatchEnterprise Policy

How does it compare?

flyingpenguinw/brave-originganimjeong/harness-for-codexschmi7zz/phormal
Stars313131
LanguageShellShellShell
Setup difficultyeasyeasymoderate
Complexity2/52/54/5
Audiencegeneraldeveloperops devops

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you get it running?

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 5min

Requires administrator or root permissions to apply system-level policies.

MIT license: use freely for any purpose, including commercial use, as long as you keep the copyright notice.

So what is it?

Brave is a web browser built on Chromium with a built-in ad and tracker blocker. Over the years it has added a lot of other features: a cryptocurrency rewards program, a crypto wallet, a built-in VPN, an AI assistant called Leo, a news feed, a video calling tool, a Tor private browsing mode, a speed reader, and several telemetry systems. Brave Origin is a set of scripts and policy files that strips all of those extras out at the system level, leaving the ad blocking intact. The key detail is that this project applies changes through the browser's enterprise policy system rather than through settings. When you turn something off in the browser's own settings panel, the feature still loads in the background. Policies applied at the system level stop the feature from loading at all, which means no background processes, no memory usage, and no interface clutter from things you do not want. The scripts work on Linux, macOS, and Windows. On Linux and macOS you run a shell script with administrator permissions. On Windows you run a batch file as administrator, and it handles both the standard install and the Microsoft Store install automatically. The changes can be verified by opening brave://policy in the browser, where each disabled feature should appear as enabled in the policy list. Beyond just disabling features, the scripts also apply a few performance settings. DNS prefetching and TCP preconnection are turned on, and a memory saver mode is enabled. The project includes a post-setup checklist with a handful of browser flags to set manually, such as enabling parallel downloads and turning off the sidebar. The ad and tracker blocking that Brave is known for, called Shields, is left completely untouched. The project's stated goal is a browser that behaves like Brave did before the extra features were added.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
Explain how browser enterprise policies differ from regular settings toggles in terms of what actually loads in memory.
Prompt 2
Show me how to write a shell script that applies a JSON policy file to disable specific Chromium browser features on Linux.
Prompt 3
How do I verify that browser policies have taken effect using a browser's internal policy page?
Prompt 4
Explain what DNS prefetching and TCP preconnection do for page load speed in a browser.
Prompt 5
Show me how to write a Windows batch script that detects whether an app was installed normally or through the Microsoft Store.

Frequently asked questions

What is brave-origin?

A set of scripts and policy files that strips extra features out of the Brave browser at the system level while keeping its ad blocking intact.

What language is brave-origin written in?

Mainly Shell. The stack also includes Shell, Batch, Enterprise Policy.

What license does brave-origin use?

MIT license: use freely for any purpose, including commercial use, as long as you keep the copyright notice.

How hard is brave-origin to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated easy, with roughly 5min to a first successful run.

Who is brave-origin for?

Mainly general.

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