My Chat Saver Chrome Extension – Feedback Wanted!

[Uncle Gizmo]

Hey Access Forum crew,

I’m chuffed to bits to share a little tool I’ve cooked up over the past few months: “My Chat Saver” Chrome extension! It’s a mash-up of two separate extensions I built—one for saving ChatGPT chats (`https://chatgpt.com/*`) and one for Grok chats (`https://x.com/i/grok*`)—now rolled into a single, handy package. With a ton of help from both ChatGPT and Grok, I’ve merged them into one extension that grabs your chats and saves them as .txt files, complete with a custom prefix you can slap on for easy filing (e.g., `MeetingNotes_Grok_Chat_Grok_20250224.txt`).

Here’s the scoop:
- **What It Does**: Works on both ChatGPT and Grok pages. Pop it open, type a prefix (optional), hit “Save Chat,” and snag the convo as a text file.

- **Caveat**: No guarantees it’ll keep working forever—those crafty folks at OpenAI and xAI might tweak their URLs or page guts on a whim, and that could throw a spanner in the works. It’s solid as of Feb 24, 2025, but keep an eye out!

- **Why Share**: I’d love your eagle eyes on it—test it, break it, suggest upgrades. Does it grab the full chat? Any features you’d add? I’m all ears for feedback to make it sharper.

Big shoutout to ChatGPT and Grok—without these clever AIs nudging me along, tweaking code, and brainstorming fixes, this wouldn’t exist. They’ve been my coding sidekicks, and I’m stoked to see what we’ve whipped up together. From faffing about with two extensions to this unified beast, it’s been a blast!

Grab the zip below [or link: insert here], follow the install steps, and let me know what you think. Cheers for giving it a whirl—can’t wait to hear your thoughts!

Uncle Gizmo

 

[Uncle Gizmo]

How to Install and Test My Chat Saver Chrome Extension:

1. **Download**: Grab the `CHAT AND GROK_Saver_1a.zip` file attached below...

2. **Unzip**:
- Right-click the zip file > "Extract All" > Choose a spot (e.g., `C:\Users\YourName\MyChatSaver`).
- You’ll get a folder with 4 files: `manifest.json`, `popup.html`, `popup.js`, `content.js`.

3. **Load in Chrome**:
- Open Chrome > Top-right menu > "Extensions" (or type `chrome://extensions/` in the address bar).
- Enable "Developer mode" (toggle top-right).
- Click "Load unpacked" > Select the unzipped folder (e.g., `C:\Users\YourName\MyChatSaver`) > Open.

4. **Test It**:
- Visit a chat page: `https://chatgpt.com/c/...` or `https://x.com/i/grok?conversation=...`.
- Click the extension icon (gray puzzle piece if no icon) > Enter a prefix (e.g., “Test”) > Click "Save Chat".
- Check your Downloads folder for a .txt file (e.g., `Test_Grok_Chat_Grok_20250224.txt`).

5. **Feedback**: Let me know what works, what flops, and any ideas to make it better!

 

[Isaac]

Good for you - I am interested in how to do this, as Chrome extensions are very in-vogue and never going out of style, I bet! I'm almost curious how they're made and how much programming saavy they require, and in what language..Might have to study up a little.

I've never used Grok, but ChatGPT has a built-in archive of everything you've ever asked plus a search function. However I suppose saving them as text files could be useful in cases where, for example, you weren't logged in , or plan to delete the chat because it's so da*m naughty!

Can this extension go in the Chrome extension store or is that a very high barrier?

 

[Isaac]

One thing that would be super is the ability to browse for the destination folder for save.

I don't know about others, but the first thing I do on a new computer/new Chrome installation is change the downloads behavior from defaulting to 'downloads' to be somewhere intelligible that I really want, (usually Desktop). So anything that defaults to Downloads would a) confuse me as I would forget there is some kind of Download that I hvaen't already changed via Chrome settings, and b) be more annoying.

 

[Uncle Gizmo]

One thing that would be super is the ability to browse for the destination folder for save.

Re:-

One thing that would be super is the ability to browse for the destination folder for save.

Yes I wanted that too, but unfortunately it's not available because it would mean giving the browser access to the computer... So the only place you are allowed to save anything to is the downloads folder!

 

[Uncle Gizmo]

Can this extension go in the Chrome extension store or is that a very high barrier?

Re:-
Can this extension go in the Chrome extension store or is that a very high barrier?

When I first got chat GPT I looked in the Chrome extension store and found a suitable extension for downloading the text from my chats... After a few months I got a message saying that the Chrome extension was not available because of security issues, and it had been removed from the Chrome extension store...

I scanned the store for other options and there were none that I liked. There were ones which I believe took a screenshot, or some other obscure way of doing it and I just didn't like them!!!

So I asked chatGPT if it could help me build a Chrome extension! After many iterations and failures me and chatty got it working!!!

Then after a few months our custom Chrome extension failed because chat GPT altered their URL structure....

I don't know if it's possible to put it in the Chrome extension store. Might have a look at that next!

 

[Uncle Gizmo]

the first thing I do on a new computer/new Chrome installation is change the downloads behavior from defaulting to 'downloads' to be somewhere intelligible

Re:-
the first thing I do on a new computer/new Chrome installation is change the downloads behavior from defaulting to 'downloads' to be somewhere intelligible

Give it a try! It might not be harnessed to the download folder, it might save stuff to your specified destination?

 

[Isaac]

Okay I'm going to try it and let you know

 

[Isaac]

1. 20250225T170850Z does this time format include seconds? If so good, just wanted to make sure

2. Chat Saved Successfully occurred first, and then a Save As dialogue box popped up for me (my chrome is set to ask where to download everything to) - which is perfect! Not to be picky but if you wanted to, knowing then that this will be the behavior for some users, you could change 'Chat Saved Successfully' to 'Chat Generated Successfully' - since after that point the file MAY either be saved to their Downloads OR, as in my case, the Save As dialogue might have just popped up and be sitting there

It's pretty nifty, worked great for me. Thanks for sharing this accomplishment. I've become interested in the concept of making a chrome extension and learning javascript from the inspiration therefrom.

 

[isladogs]

1. 20250225T170850Z does this time format include seconds? If so good, just wanted to make sure

The TZ part is the time. That string is 2025-02-25 17:08:50

 

[Uncle Gizmo]

I am interested in how to do this, as Chrome extensions are very in-vogue and never going out of style, I bet! I'm almost curious how they're made and how much programming saavy they require, and in what language..Might have to study up a little.

My first efforts in creating the Chrome extension were done with the aid of ChatGPT and it was quite a laborious process! - ChatGPT wrote the code and often wrote it badly!! I don't take any credit for the code, I couldn't write a Chrome extension to Save My Life! I could probably modify one - slightly!

My task was to manage ChatGPT and make sure it followed my rules... This in itself is difficult because it will break the rules on a whim!!

If you want to use ChatGPT to help you write a Chrome extension then I would advise against it if you don't know how to write a Chrome extension yourself...

I would recommend that first you use ChatGPT to help you with MS Access VBA code, as you will more easily spot the errors it makes... Once you've seen how it behaves in an environment you know and are familiar with then you will have better results with it in composing unfamiliar code...

Alternatively wait six months! I'm pretty sure that the large language models are getting better and better, and very soon you will just say do this and it will do it!

 

[isladogs]

Perhaps you will be interested in next week's Access Europe presentation:

Access Europe User Group - Wed 5 Mar: AI Assistants – Bring your knowledge to the smartest AI models (Alexander Denz)

The next Access Europe User Group meeting will be on Wednesday 5 Mar 2025 starting at 18:00 UK time (6PM UTC) and finishing by 19:30 (7.30PM). I hope you will join us on Wed 5 Mar for this session. For local start times, please check https://www.worldtimebuddy.com In this session, Alexander...

www.access-programmers.co.uk

 

[Isaac]

My first efforts in creating the Chrome extension were done with the aid of ChatGPT and it was quite a laborious process! - ChatGPT wrote the code and often wrote it badly!! I don't take any credit for the code, I couldn't write a Chrome extension to Save My Life! I could probably modify one - slightly!

My task was to manage ChatGPT and make sure it followed my rules... This in itself is difficult because it will break the rules on a whim!!

If you want to use ChatGPT to help you write a Chrome extension then I would advise against it if you don't know how to write a Chrome extension yourself...

I would recommend that first you use ChatGPT to help you with MS Access VBA code, as you will more easily spot the errors it makes... Once you've seen how it behaves in an environment you know and are familiar with then you will have better results with it in composing unfamiliar code...

Alternatively wait six months! I'm pretty sure that the large language models are getting better and better, and very soon you will just say do this and it will do it!

Very interesting. I agree about the just asking ChatGTP to write the code, I wouldn't actually do that I don't think - my plan was to get inspired (maybe) to start learning Javascript as a starting point.

 

[Uncle Gizmo]

, I wouldn't actually do that I don't think

I can't remember who it was, somebody reasonably famous, probably just in the AI world!

He said that the new programming language is English! ... Instructing an AI

 

[Uncle Gizmo]

I've made another Chrome extension! You may recall that I use a web tool for transcribing my speech into text. It recently started triggering a Google safety message saying that my text might be going off to third parties, so I thought hello !! I need to put this right!!

I had a chat with chatty and built this first version of the Nifty Transcription Tool...

It's not finished yet !!!

It doesn't allow editing manually of the text in the transcription display box.
The box is a fixed size the other tool I used had a sizable box.

You're welcome to try it out and see if you can break it! Let me know how I can improve it.

It does interact with the Google speech AI but I'm assured the Google Speech AI doesn't save any of the text or voice.

The insulation process will be very similar to the installation process of the other Chrome extension mentioned in this thread, so I'm not going to provide separate install details...

 

[Uncle Gizmo]

This has got to be the future of software.

I see a Chrome extension I like but then I discover that it's not safe! To get over that problem I talk to an AI and the AI helps me overcome that particular problem, but then offers to add some extra features!

What I was originally using was a very good and useful transcription tool. With the AI help it becomes an absolutely personalized TOOL!!! Personalised to just the way I like to do things...

For instance I now have a dark mode button! I can now save the text either with a default name (quickly and easily) but when necessary I can add a file name prefix!!