The extension

Chrome, Brave, Edge and Arc (Manifest V3, built with WXT). Load apps/extension/.output/chrome-mv3 unpacked until it is in the Chrome Web Store. The unpacked build has a fixed id (ffjconacpmnbadoeegamifkellcddfja) so the dashboard can connect it in one click.

Design: one job per surface

Reading should not mean leaving the page. Every surface does one thing, the way the best reading and AI extensions split their work (one card save popups, a selection action bar, a persistent side panel, an optional page button with per site control):

Surface Job Opens with
Selection toolbar Act on a passage without leaving: highlight (hover for colours), note, explain, expand, summary, define, ask, save, copy with link Selecting text; Alt+Shift+H highlights
Popup Save this page to the right collection, with tags The toolbar icon; Alt+Shift+S
Panel (floats over the page; can dock) Ask: chat with this page and your whole Lumen library, answers cite your own highlights and notes. This page: save state, collection, highlights here. For you: today's reads and trending in your topics "Ask & explore" in the popup, right click, Lumi, Alt+Shift+L
Lumi, the page helper A small lamp at the edge of chosen sites: save, summarise, ask, open the panel, hide here Off, sites you choose (default) or everywhere
Following Follow the blog you are on (♡ in the popup, Lumi's menu, or right click); new posts arrive as notifications, checked hourly The popup, Lumi, right click
Right click Save page or link; Send to Lumen ▸ any collection; highlight, explain or ask about a selection; show or hide Lumi on this site The context menu

Settings

  • Appearance: one theme (match system, light, dark) for every surface; the panel floats over the page (default) or docks to the side; highlights adapt to dark pages, or use fill or underline.
  • Selection toolbar: on or off; which actions, in which order (live preview); words next to icons; sites where it stays off (also from ⋯ on the toolbar).
  • Page helper: name it, never / sites I choose / everywhere, left or right, and the site lists.
  • Account: one click connect, or paste a token; auto send to the collection's note.
  • Model: Lumen (hosted), Ollama, OpenAI compatible, or Claude via your CLI. Asking your library always goes through Lumen, because that is where your bank lives.
  • Obsidian: the Local REST API key, kept in the extension only.
  • Reminders and shortcuts.

Your knowledge bank stays in Lumen

Sending highlights to Obsidian or Notion is a copy. Every page, highlight, note and answer you keep also stays in Lumen, which is what Ask searches. "Save to Lumen" on an answer card stores the passage with the answer as its note.

Claude through your CLI

apps/native-host/install.sh          # registers for Chrome, Brave, Arc and Edge

The helper runs claude -p --model <haiku|sonnet|opus> and streams the answer back; page text goes in on stdin, never through a shell.

Chrome Web Store

Store build, listing text, permission reasons, data usage answers and assets: STORE.md.