What BackSpin accesses, and what it never does#
A browser extension can be powerful, so here is exactly what BackSpin does before you install it. BackSpin reads an AI chat page only to detect when a generation is running and to render one discovery card during that wait. It requests the narrowest permissions that allow this: storage for your settings, and host access scoped to the specific AI chat sites listed in its manifest plus the BackSpin API. It does not request access to all sites.
BackSpin never reads, stores, or transmits your prompts, the AI's responses, your conversation history, or page content. It sends attention metadata only: that a wait happened, how long a card was on screen, and your ratings. It does not patch, replace, wrap, or modify any other extension, browser, or installed tool on disk. Everything it does is open source and auditable.
1. Download the extension#
Download the packaged extension, then unzip it to a folder you will keep (the browser loads it from that folder).
2. Load it in Chrome, Edge, Brave, or Arc#
Open chrome://extensions (or edge://extensions, brave://extensions).
Turn on Developer mode (top-right toggle).
Click Load unpacked and select the unzipped folder.
BackSpin appears in your toolbar.
3. Load it in Firefox#
Open about:debugging#/runtime/this-firefox.
Click Load Temporary Add-on and select the manifest.json inside the unzipped folder.
4. Connect your account#
Click the BackSpin icon, open Settings, and paste your dev user (local testing) or Clerk token (production). Set the API URL if you are not using the default.
That is it. Open ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or Perplexity and BackSpin shows discovery while the model generates.
Coming soon: one-click store install#
We are publishing to the Chrome Web Store and Firefox Add-ons. Once live, this page will switch to a one-click install and auto-updates.
Still have a question? Contact us or read the FAQ.