FocusFlow

Chrome extension for technical reading. Highlight confusing text on a page, click Explain, and FocusFlow streams a short primer in context.

Prerequisites

• Node.js >= 18 (see package.json engines.node)
• An OpenAI API key (OPENAI_API_KEY) for /api/primer

Quickstart (Local)

1. Clone the repo and cd into it.
2. Copy .env.example to .env and set OPENAI_API_KEY.
3. (Optional) Install packages: npm install (the backend uses minimal/no dependencies, but this is safe to run).
4. Start the local backend: npm run dev (defaults to http://localhost:3000).
5. Load the Chrome extension:
   • Open chrome://extensions, enable Developer mode.
   • Click Load unpacked and select the extension/ folder.
6. Configure the extension:
   • Click the FocusFlow extension icon.
   • Set Backend API Base to http://localhost:3000 and click Save API Base.
7. Visit a technical article, highlight text, then click Explain.

Usage

Local Setup

Follow the steps in Quickstart (Local) above. The key command to start the backend is npm run dev.

Smoke Check

npm run smoke

This validates endpoint input/error handling without calling OpenAI.