Support & FAQ
Subshack is a Chrome extension that helps Substack creators draft better Notes and replies and reuse their own articles — you review and publish everything yourself. This page answers the questions we actually get asked. If yours is not here, email contact@404-dev.com and we will reply.
Getting started
1Install Subshack from the Chrome Web Store, then open substack.com and reload any tab that was already open.
2On any Note, click the ✍️ Suggest icon to get three reply suggestions — or open the composer and use Create a note.
3In the article editor, use ✨ Fill template to turn an outline into a draft. You always insert, edit and publish yourself.
New to Notes as a growth channel? Start with Notes that get replies or Substack Notes templates. You can also run the free Substack profile audit without installing anything.
Common questions
Does Subshack post, follow or like for me?
No — never. Subshack only drafts text and puts it in front of you. It never posts, follows, likes, restacks or messages on your behalf. You review every draft and press publish yourself, inside Substack.
How do I install it?
Install Subshack from the Chrome Web Store, then open substack.com and refresh any tab you already had open. Extensions are only injected into pages loaded after the install, so a tab opened beforehand will look untouched until you reload it.
The Subshack buttons do not appear on Substack.
Three things to check, in order. 1) You are on substack.com or a *.substack.com publication — Subshack does not run anywhere else. 2) You reloaded the page after installing or updating the extension. 3) The extension is enabled in chrome://extensions. If a publication uses its own custom domain, open it once from substack.com so Subshack can attach to it.
Which permissions does Subshack ask for, and why?
Storage (keep your prompts, settings and article library on your device), scripting (add the Subshack buttons to the Substack page), context menus (the right-click actions), and alarms (refresh your stats in the background). Its host permissions are limited to substack.com, subshack.pro and saas-maker.com — the domains that serve the AI and stats endpoints. Notifications are optional and only requested when you click Sync now.
Can I use Subshack without any AI?
Yes. Open Settings and tick "Disable AI features (classification & generation)". Nothing is sent anywhere after that: the generative surfaces are removed from the interface rather than left inert, so the Substack composer goes back to being strictly native. The non-generative parts — your stats, Goal and People — keep working, because they never call a model in the first place.
How do I delete my data?
Settings → "Delete my Subshack data" clears everything Subshack has collected — your Notes snapshots, statistics, computed labels and analysis cache — while keeping your own settings and prompts so you do not have to configure it again. Uninstalling the extension removes the rest with it.
What is sent off my device when I generate something?
Only what the model needs for that one request: the Note or draft you are working on and the settings that shape the output. Your prompts, your settings and your local article library stay in your browser. The Privacy Policy lists exactly which three features leave your device and what they send.
How do I change what Subshack writes?
Every prompt is editable in Settings, with a live preview of the resolved text and the list of variables you can use. If the tone is off, change the prompt rather than rewriting each draft by hand — it is the fastest way to make the suggestions sound like you.
Is Subshack free?
Yes, Subshack is free to install and use while it is in beta. If a paid plan arrives later, existing users will be told before anything changes.
Is there a Firefox version?
A Firefox build exists in the repository but is not published yet. Chrome and Chromium-based browsers (Edge, Brave, Arc, Vivaldi) all install Subshack from the Chrome Web Store listing.
Still stuck? Contact us
Email contact@404-dev.com with your browser version and, if the problem is visible on screen, a screenshot — it is usually enough to identify the cause on the first reply. Bug reports and feature requests both land in the same inbox and are read by the person who builds Subshack.
Subshack is published by 404-DEV, INC. See the Privacy Policy for exactly what leaves your device, and the guides for how to actually grow with Notes.