I've been a software engineer for a while and I kept noticing
the same friction points in my daily workflow:
- Pasting JSON into a random website to format it
- Copying JWT tokens into jwt.io every time I needed to debug auth
- Switching to charactercountonline.com to check if my LinkedIn post was too long
These are small problems. But small problems repeated 10 times
a day add up. So I spent a few weekends building Chrome
extensions to fix them.
What I built
PayloadPeek
A JSON formatter that actually does more than format. Paste any
API response and you get:
- A collapsible syntax-highlighted tree
- One-click TypeScript interface generation
- SQL schema inference (CREATE TABLE from your JSON structure)
- Ctrl+F search within the JSON
- Click any value to copy it
The TypeScript generator was the feature I personally needed
most. When you're working with unfamiliar APIs, writing
interfaces by hand is tedious.
PayloadPeek on Chrome Web Store
BearerPeek
A JWT decoder with a security analysis panel. Most JWT tools
just decode - BearerPeek also flags:
- Missing exp claim (token never expires)
- Missing aud claim (any service can accept the token)
- Algorithm set to "none"
- Expired tokens with exact time since expiry
It also scans the current page for JWT-shaped strings
automatically, so if you're in DevTools looking at a request,
it pre-fills the token for you.
BearerPeek on Chrome Web Store
TextPeek
Character and word counter with platform-aware limits. Select
text on any webpage, right-click, and see instant counts
without opening anything. Or paste into the popup and track
against Twitter (280), LinkedIn Post (3000), Meta Description
(160), YouTube Title (100), and more.
The right-click selection feature is the one I use most -
it's much faster than switching tabs.
What I learned shipping these
MV3 is strict about permissions. Got rejected twice for
requesting permissions I wasn't using (tabs, scripting)
and once for loading highlight.js from a CDN. All JS must be
bundled locally in MV3 - no external scripts allowed at all.
The first submission always gets rejected. Don't be
discouraged. The rejection emails are specific and actionable.
Read them carefully and fix exactly what they say.
Building three small things is better than one big thing.
Each extension does one job well. This makes the Chrome Store
listing clearer, the permission justifications simpler, and
the user trust higher.
Local-only is a genuine differentiator. "No data leaves
your browser" is something developers actually care about,
especially for JWT tokens and API responses that might contain
sensitive data.
What's next
I'm building these under a brand called ShipNano - the idea
is to keep shipping small focused tools.
All feedback welcome - especially bugs and missing features.
Built with Claude Code as a pair programmer, shipped on
weekends alongside a full-time engineering job.
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