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Setup

This guide takes you from purchase to a working extension loaded in Chrome. No Firebase or Stripe account needed yet; the extension runs sign-in-less out of the box.

Prerequisites: Chrome, Node 22, pnpm 8 (corepack enable picks up the pinned version), and git.

1. Accept the GitHub invite

Section titled “1. Accept the GitHub invite”

After purchase you get an invite to the private ExtensionStart repository on the GitHub account you provided. Accept it from the email or at github.com/notifications.

2. Clone and install

Section titled “2. Clone and install”
Terminal window
git clone <your ExtensionStart repo URL> my-extension
cd my-extension
pnpm install

The install ends by running wxt prepare (type generation). A warning-free install finishes on that step.

3. Run the setup wizard

Section titled “3. Run the setup wizard”
Terminal window
pnpm create extstart

Follow the prompts: name your extension, keep all modules for now (trimming later is easy), and accept the defaults. Two answers matter today:

  • Env values: press Enter through all of them; nothing is required yet.
  • Firebase setup and backend doctor: answer No to both. You connect a backend in steps 2 and 3.

The wizard configures your clone in place and downloads nothing. It refuses to run on a dirty git tree, so every change is reviewable with git diff. Every prompt is explained in the wizard guide; pnpm create extstart --yes skips the prompts entirely.

4. Start the dev build

Section titled “4. Start the dev build”
Terminal window
pnpm dev

WXT builds to apps/extension/.output/chrome-mv3 and watches for changes. It does not open the browser; load the extension yourself in the next step.

5. Load it in Chrome

Section titled “5. Load it in Chrome”
  1. Open chrome://extensions.
  2. Turn on Developer mode (top right).
  3. Click Load unpacked and select apps/extension/.output/chrome-mv3.

6. Verify it runs

Section titled “6. Verify it runs”
  • The welcome tab opens by itself as soon as the extension loads.
  • Pin the icon (puzzle-piece menu) and open the popup. The “Connect your Firebase project” notice is expected; the kit ships placeholder Firebase config until step 2.
  • If you kept content-demo: open any article page, select a sentence, and click the Highlight button that appears.

Next: 2. Connect sign-in.