How I created my first Chrome Extension

Before I delve into the details of my journey, let me provide some context. I recently graduated from an engineering school, where I specialized in AI. I have extensive knowledge of AI and programming in Python. This summer, I decided to kickstart my career as an independent developer before beginning my new job. For this purpose, I aimed to create an application from scratch.

DAY 1 & 2: Searching for a project
Since I have little experience in web and application development, I had to look for inspiration and find a first project. After searching forums and articles, I found a video mentioning Chrome Extensions.

Chrome Extension is a growing market. Proportionally, there are fewer Chrome Extension Apps than mobile Apps.

DAY 3 & 4: Finding the project Idea:
I knew where I was building my application. However, I still didn't know what to build. I had little inspiration and the ideas were not exciting. I decided to follow a youtube tutorial on "How to create a Chrome Extension" that integrates an Openai API key.

Later, I tough about other ways to use Chat GPT more practically. I found multiple Apps which offer different chatbots (developer expert, professional marketer, ...). In all those applications the user has to enter his own API key or pay a monthly fee.

My idea was to directly integrate these functionalities into the Chat GPT Web page. This would eliminate the need for the user to provide an API key. Additionally, instead of being limited to pre-existing chatbots, the user would have the ability to create and save their own prompts.

DAY 5 -> 9: Core development
As someone with limited knowledge of Chrome Extensions and Web Development, creating this application required significant time investment. I had to frequently reconsider the user interface and make the most effective decisions.

DAY 10: Showing to peers
After presenting the core functionalities to various peers, I identified the problems with my Chrome Extension. The next step was to brainstorm solutions for these issues.

DAY 11 -> 14:
Over the course of three intense days, I addressed as many issues as I could with the app. It's now functioning smoothly and has a much-improved appearance and user-friendliness.

THE RESULT:
I am proud to say that I have built my first fully working Chrome Extension that is public on the Chrome Store. The app can still and will be improved.

My goal was to start this journey during spring break and have a first functional app. I wanted to begin before starting at my new job so I could be fully dedicated to my app development. Even if the app is free, it has allowed me to have a first step in that sector.

I hope this article helped you in some way or another in your journey of creating a startup. If interested you find my Chrome Extension on the link below.

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/gpt-shortcuts/hnlfnmdckpgnoocgjadcefekkjocfcni