Tinyshelf

Build a browser extension called Tinyshelf: save articles to a shelf that reads them back to you.

What it does

One click saves the article you're on. Tinyshelf strips it down to the text, and in the morning it reads your shelf to you in a natural voice while you make coffee.

Stack

Use TypeScript. The original was built with Windsurf and Claude in 5 evenings, for about $12 in AI usage.

How it fits together

• A browser extension with a popup and a content script
• Local storage for saved items
• A small backend only for features that need it

Build it in this order

1. Scaffold the extension and load it unpacked
2. Build the one-click save from the popup
3. Add the content script that reads the page cleanly
4. Add the main feature on top of saved items
5. Prepare the store listing and permissions

A prompt that worked: Strip an article to the words

Given the HTML of an article page, return only the article: title, author, date and body paragraphs. Remove newsletter boxes, ‘read more’ links, captions that repeat the text, and anything that would sound strange read aloud. Keep block quotes and mark them so a voice can read them differently.

Watch out for

• Ask for the fewest permissions possible; store reviewers and users both notice
• Pages vary wildly, so test on twenty real sites

Done when

• Saving works on twenty different sites
• It asks only for the permissions it uses
• It passes store review

Before writing code, ask me up to five questions about who this writing browser extension is for and what the first version must do. Then work in small steps: after each one, tell me how to try it and wait for my feedback.