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11 Comments

How do you start a new extension project?

Hi there,

I'm Farhan, a freelancer on fiverr.

I've worked on several extensions for my clients and every time I have to start a whole new project from scratch. That process is quite boring and hence, I built a CLI tool for my personal use which is able to generate an extension project for you based on your requirements. Whether you use React or TypeScript, the tool makes it very easy with hot reload where you don't have to reload the extension whenever you make a change.

I'm planning on currently making it open-source. Is anyone interested in using such a tool?

The tool also comes with a library that contains some utility functions I use daily for my work.

  1. 2

    I actually think there is really good momentum to do this, especially when focusing on the near future, where there is development for a common browser extension platform.

    I think we are in the calm before the storm and when extensions will become available on mobile... there is a whole new wave to ride.

    Good luck!

  2. 1

    I'm making a template which uses background.js to insert a React frame on the page.
    Think there's a great opportunity to open-source a customisable boilerplate with certain options on startup:

    • layout format (resizeable, draggable)
    • different plugins (Firebase, Tailwind, Typescript etc)
    • build using Rollup / Parcel to different web store formats

    Is a list of the best Github repos a good place to start?

    1. 1

      do you need background.js to do that???
      Manifest 3 doesn't support background.js.

  3. 1

    I use this tool. I have been using/making/maintaining it since 2018 privately and open sourced it about 1.5 years ago.

    1. 1

      Damn, this never came up when I was looking for boilerplate. Github search sucks.

      1. 1

        What keywords did you use? I will add more. I am also not the best as distribution.

      2. 1

        google does a good job

    2. 1

      That's an interesting project.

  4. 1

    I used https://github.com/fregante/browser-extension-template before but I hate Parcel with every inch of my body.

    Now using: https://github.com/webextension-toolbox/webextension-toolbox

    and it's great.

    Question: how is the demand for browser extensions? How many orders do you get on average per month?

    1. 1

      Okay cool.

      I get approx. 5 orders in a month but there are months with floods. You can get more if you're a serious freelancer. For me, I'm a student so I mostly don't take on huge projects on the platform to be able to deal with studies.

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