Bobby - AI Text Analysis Chrome Extension

What it is

Bobby is a Chrome extension that provides instant AI-powered text analysis. Highlight any text on a webpage or PDF to get explanations, summaries, key points, and fact-checking powered by Claude 3.5 Sonnet, OpenAI GPT, and Exa search.

Quick start

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/yourusername/bobby-extension.git
cd bobby-extension

# Copy config template
cp config.example.js config.js

# Add your API keys to config.js:
# - ANTHROPIC_API_KEY (recommended) or OPENAI_API_KEY
# - EXA_API_KEY for fact-checking
# - Optional: PERPLEXITY_API_KEY

# Load extension in Chrome:
1. Open chrome://extensions/
2. Enable "Developer mode"
3. Click "Load unpacked"
4. Select the extension directory
5. For PDFs: Enable "Allow access to file URLs"

Features

• Explain - Get clear explanations of complex text
• Summarize - Quick summaries of long content
• Key Points - Extract main ideas
• Simplify - Make text easier to understand
• Pros & Cons - Analyze advantages and disadvantages
• Fact Check - Verify claims with web sources via Exa
• Follow-up - Ask questions about the selected text
• History - Track your analysis sessions

Configuration

Edit config.js to customize:

• API Provider: Set USE_ANTHROPIC: true for Claude (recommended for rate limits)
• UI Settings: Theme, popup width, animation speed
• Feature Flags: Enable glassmorphism UI, particle effects, context-aware buttons
• Max text length: Default 5000 characters

Usage

1. Select any text on a webpage or PDF
2. Bobby popup appears with action buttons
3. Click an action to analyze the text
4. Drag popup to reposition
5. Click star to save to history
6. Use fullscreen mode for longer content

API Keys

Get your keys from:

• Anthropic Console - For Claude
• OpenAI Platform - For GPT
• Exa.ai - For fact-checking

Keyboard Shortcuts

• Esc - Close popup
• Click outside popup to dismiss

Development

The extension uses Manifest V3 and requires no build step. Structure:

• background.js - Service worker for API calls
• content.js - Content script for UI
• components/modules/ - Modular functionality
• styles-v2.css - Modern glassmorphism styles
• pages/ - Extension pages (history, options, popup)

Additional modules for clarity:

• components/modules/MessageTypes.js – central action constants.
• components/modules/BackgroundClient.js – Promise wrapper for background messaging.
• components/modules/ConfigService.js – unified accessors for BOBBY_CONFIG.

Storage keys:

• History: bobby_history with entries { id, timestamp, text, response, mode, metadata, followUps }.

Security:

• config.js is not web-accessible (loaded as a content script and by background via chrome.runtime.getURL). Never commit real keys.

Privacy

• API keys stored locally in config.js
• No telemetry or tracking
• History stored in Chrome local storage
• All API calls made from background script

Troubleshooting

• Check API keys in config.js
• View console for errors (F12)
• Check service worker logs in chrome://extensions/
• Ensure "Allow access to file URLs" for PDFs
• Try USE_ANTHROPIC: false if rate limited

License

MIT