Building a Chrome Extension with AI: What I Check Before Publishing
What I check after AI helps me build a working Chrome extension: feature scope, permissions, network requests, local storage, and whether the store listing matches the behavior. Copy & Prep provides a small example.
AI can help write code for a Chrome extension and suggest fixes.
I use it in my own extension projects. But getting an extension ready for other people involves decisions beyond the code: what it should do, what it can access, and how to explain it to users.
Describe the problem in one sentence
Ask for a useful Chrome extension without narrowing the task, and there is always another feature to add.
Those features may also need access to web pages, storage, or external services.
When I built Copy & Prep, I started with a small problem:
I want to collect selected passages from several web pages, then copy them all at once.
I decided what to leave out first. The extension did not need a login or cloud sync, so I did not add them.
Keeping the purpose small before asking AI for suggestions makes it easier to judge whether a proposed feature belongs.
Check permissions and data handling once it works
A working extension still needs review before publication.
At a minimum, I check:
- Which web pages it can access
- Whether it requests more permissions than it needs
- Whether it sends data outside the browser
- What it stores on the device
- Whether the store listing matches its behavior
Depending on the permissions requested, Chrome may show users warnings about reading and changing data on websites they visit.
Publishing through the Chrome Web Store also involves providing a store description and privacy information, then submitting the extension for review.
Seeing it work on my computer and deciding it is ready for someone else to use are separate checks.
Separate AI's help from my decisions
My process usually looks like this:
Define the problem → Build the necessary features → Try it in Chrome → Check permissions, network requests, and storage → Compare the description with the behavior → Submit
AI helps with a first draft of the code and with finding the cause of errors.
The decisions I make include:
- Is this feature needed?
- Does it need that permission?
- What should users be told?
AI has made it easier to start building a Chrome extension. That makes the final check matter to me: is this version ready for other people to use? I do not want to stop at having made something that runs.
Notes and sources
Some Chrome extension permissions trigger warnings for users. Before publishing a new item in the Chrome Web Store, developers must complete the Store listing and Privacy information. Submitted extensions go through review.
- Chrome for Developers, Permissions
- Chrome for Developers, Use the Chrome Web Store API
- Chrome Web Store Program Policies