Chrome Extension
In one sentenceA small add-on that adds features to the Google Chrome browser, like a button, a side panel or a tool that reads the page you are on. AI can now build one for you in an afternoon.
What it means
A Chrome extension is a folder of ordinary web files (HTML, JavaScript, CSS, icons) plus a settings file called manifest.json that tells Chrome what the extension is allowed to do: read certain websites, open a side panel, store data, call an API.
Because it is just files, AI coding tools can write a complete extension from a plain-English description. You load the folder into Chrome yourself to test it, then publish it to the Chrome Web Store if you want others to install it.
How to use it
- Ask an AI coding tool for exactly what the button or panel should do, on which websites, and what it should save.
- Test it locally: open chrome://extensions, turn on Developer mode, click "Load unpacked" and pick the folder.
- Publishing to the Chrome Web Store needs a developer account (a small one-time fee) and a review by Google.
- Ask for the fewest permissions possible. Users (and Google's reviewers) are wary of extensions that can read every site.
- Never put an API Key inside an extension's code. Anyone who installs it can read it. Send AI calls through your own server instead.
Prompt to try
Build me a Chrome extension (Manifest V3) that adds a side panel on linkedin.com. When I click "Save", it saves the name, headline and URL of the profile I am viewing to a list I can export as CSV. Use the fewest permissions possible and explain how to load it unpacked.
Fill in the [brackets], then paste it into evyAI, ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini.
In evyAI
evyAI itself runs as a Chrome extension: its side panel reads the LinkedIn post or profile you are looking at so it can write comments, messages and connection notes in context.
Related terms
Vibe Coding API API Key JSON Webhook