A Browser Extension for Researchers/Learners... - Part 1

Shehan Wickramasooriya — Fri, 10 Jul 2026 06:18:40 +0000

As someone who loves learning, I spend a lot of time researching different topics every day. I jump between Google AI Mode, ChatGPT, Claude, blogs, documentation, eBooks, research papers, etc.

The problem is that when I come back to the same topic a day or two later, I realize I've forgotten most of what I learned. The information is scattered across multiple tabs and sources, and while taking notes would help, I'm honestly not consistent enough to do it every time.

There are already tools that summarize web pages, but they usually summarize a single page or require you to manually select the content you want. That wasn't quite what I was looking for.

So I started building a browser extension that captures and summarizes an entire research session instead of individual pages.

The workflow is simple:

Step 1: Capture

Turn on a capture toggle before you start researching.
Choose which browser tabs should be included in the session.
As you browse, the extension captures the content from each selected page.

Step 2: Summarize

As each page is captured, it is immediately summarized instead of waiting until the end of the session.
This process repeats for every page you visit, creating a concise summary for each source. For the MVP, I'm using the on-device Gemini Nano model to do the summarization.
Finally, you can export all the summaries as a single text file or PDF for future reference.

Right now, I'm focusing on building the MVP. I plan to use it myself for two weeks to see whether it actually improves my own learning workflow. If it proves useful, I'll continue improving it and run a small beta with around 10 users to gather feedback before taking it further.

This is one of those projects that started because I wanted to solve my own problem first. Hopefully, it ends up helping other researchers, students, developers, and lifelong learners as well.

I'll keep sharing updates as the project evolves.

Building products that solve your own problems is one of the most rewarding parts of being a developer.

Happy coding everyone! ( •̀ ω •́ )✧

Just finished my Bachelor's ;)

Shehan Wickramasooriya — Fri, 19 Jun 2026 08:50:25 +0000

Hey there :)

This is my first day on DEV, and I’ve found it to be a really interesting place with a great community.

I just completed my Bachelor's degree and am currently focused on improving my understanding of the fundamentals. I noticed that my thinking process became less efficient due to the use of AI in my university work, especially compared to how I approached my studies during my first year.

So I started with DSA. I'm working through the Neetcode 150 challenges, which have been super helpful! I also started reading this fantastic book called "Grokking Algorithms: An Illustrated Guide for Programmers and Other Curious People" by Aditya Y. Bhargava. So far, it's been a great experience, and I highly recommend it to anyone who’s new to DSA or anyone who needs a refresher.

If you have any suggestions for books or anything else, please drop them below.

Happy coding everyone!( •̀ ω •́ )✧

DEV Community: Shehan Wickramasooriya

A Browser Extension for Researchers/Learners... - Part 1

Just finished my Bachelor's ;)