Paramant for Gmail: send encrypted attachments without leaving your inbox.
The Paramant Chrome extension adds a button to Gmail's compose window. Pick a file, and the extension uploads it to Paramant and puts a burn-on-read link (a link that stops working after it has been read) into your email. The web app and the extensions delete the file after the first read on every plan. Through the API a paid link can allow more reads: up to 10 reads on Firm and 100 on Enterprise.
Before you start
- Chrome or Chromium: version 120 or later
- Gmail in a browser tab: gmail.com or Google Workspace
- Paramant account with an API key: create an account if you don't have one
- Firefox / Safari: not supported; use the web uploader instead
- Gmail mobile app: extensions do not run in mobile apps
Installation
Install the extension
The extension is not in the Chrome Web Store yet. For now you load it yourself, as an unpacked extension, from the source on GitHub (folder extensions/chromium). Build it there with npm ci and npm run build. Then open chrome://extensions in Chrome, switch on Developer mode at the top right, click Load unpacked and choose the dist folder.
The Paramant icon appears in your Chrome toolbar. If it is hidden, click the puzzle icon in the toolbar and pin Paramant.
If that is too much for your organisation, use the web uploader. It does the same without installing anything. Once the extension is in the Chrome Web Store, this page will say so.
Sign in
Click the Paramant icon in the toolbar. Paste your key into the API key field and click Sign in. Or choose Use TOTP instead and sign in with your email address and the six digits from your authenticator app.
The extension keeps the key locally in Chrome's extension storage. It goes only to the Paramant relays (*.paramant.app), and only when you sign in or upload a file. After eight hours the extension signs you out by itself.
Your key is on Account, under Advanced account key. It starts with pgp_.
Verify the connection
When the key is valid, the popup shows Signed in with your plan and how long the session still runs. If you see Invalid API key, check that you copied the whole key: pgp_ and 64 characters, with no trailing spaces. If you see Too many sign-in attempts, wait a minute.
Sending a file from Gmail
Open a compose window
In Gmail, click Compose. At the bottom of the compose window you will see the Paramant button, next to the button for attaching files.
Click the Paramant icon and select a file
Click Paramant. A file picker opens. Select the file you want to send. The extension encrypts it in your browser and then uploads it. A progress bar shows at the top of the window.
You can send files up to 500 MB. That is the limit per file on every plan (file_mb in relay/lib/tiers.js). The extension splits the file into fixed blocks of 5 MB for the upload. The 5 MB is only how the file travels, not a limit on the size of your file.
The link is inserted automatically
When the upload completes, the extension puts a box into your email where your cursor was. It holds the file name as a link, the expiry, and the line Sent via paramant.app. The link looks like this:
https://paramant.app/get?t=...&c=1&r=...#k=...
The part after # is the key. It never reaches our server. The file name is not in the link, only in your own email.
Edit the text around the link if you want, then send your email as usual.
Your recipient downloads the file
Your recipient needs no account. They click the link, see how long the file is still available, click Download the file and get the file under its original name. The link and file are deleted immediately after that first download on every plan. The extension never asks the relay for a second read, so a second try gets a 404 (not found).
Extension settings
Click the Paramant toolbar icon, then Settings:
- Default TTL: how long the link stays active before expiring without a download. Default is 24 hours; options range from 1 hour to 7 days.
- Link format: a formatted box, or one plain line with the file name and the full link. The plain line is better if the recipient's email client does not render HTML.
- Transfer history: in the extension popup, a list of recent uploads with name, size and time. Stored only in this browser, with no link or key. It does not show whether a file was collected.
- Relay: leave it empty. A self-hosted relay does not work with the extension yet, because the recipient opens the link on paramant.app and that page only fetches from Paramant relays.