Why I Built Side Copilot
Traditional comet browsers like Comet force AI assistance into a separate window, breaking workflow immersion and adding context-switching overhead. Instead of relying on those tools, I developed Side Copilot, a lightweight Chrome extension that embeds AI-powered coding help directly as a sidebar in your IDE or browser tabs.
This plugin transforms any webpage or developer environment into an intelligent companion without leaving your current context. No more alt-tabbing between apps—just highlight code, ask questions, or generate snippets right where you work.
Key Features That Beat Comet
Seamless Sidebar Integration: Pins an AI chat panel to the side of any tab, auto-resizing to fit without obstructing content. Unlike Comet’s full-window …
Why I Built Side Copilot
Traditional comet browsers like Comet force AI assistance into a separate window, breaking workflow immersion and adding context-switching overhead. Instead of relying on those tools, I developed Side Copilot, a lightweight Chrome extension that embeds AI-powered coding help directly as a sidebar in your IDE or browser tabs.
This plugin transforms any webpage or developer environment into an intelligent companion without leaving your current context. No more alt-tabbing between apps—just highlight code, ask questions, or generate snippets right where you work.
Key Features That Beat Comet
Seamless Sidebar Integration: Pins an AI chat panel to the side of any tab, auto-resizing to fit without obstructing content. Unlike Comet’s full-window takeover, it stays out of the way until summoned.
Context-Aware Code Assistance: Analyzes selected text, surrounding code, or entire pages to provide tailored suggestions, debugging tips, or refactors. Supports multiple languages including Python, JavaScript, Java, and more.
Real-Time Collaboration: Chat with AI models (powered by open APIs) for instant explanations, unit test generation, or optimization ideas. Export responses as copyable snippets or file diffs.
Privacy-First Design: All processing happens client-side where possible, with optional cloud sync. No data harvesting like some proprietary comet tools.
Customizable Workflows: Theme matching, shortcut triggers (e.g., Cmd+K), and plugin extensions for GitHub, VS Code web, or Jupyter notebooks.
Install it from the Chrome Web Store and experience frictionless AI augmentation.
Development Journey
Building Side Copilot started as a personal frustration hack during late-night debugging sessions. Comet’s rigid interface felt clunky for quick queries, so I prototyped a Manifest V3 extension using React for the UI, WebSockets for AI streaming, and Chrome’s side panel API for native integration.
Challenges included handling dynamic page resizing and ensuring low-latency responses across varying network conditions. The result: a 4.8-star rated tool with thousands of active users, proving developers crave embedded, non-intrusive AI.
Get Started in 60 Seconds
- Add Side Copilot to Chrome from the store link above.
- Pin it via the extensions menu (puzzle icon → Side Copilot → Pin).
- Open any code-related tab, hit the sidebar toggle, and start chatting: "Explain this regex" or "Optimize this SQL query."
- Customize settings in the gear icon for your preferred AI provider.
Side Copilot isn’t just an alternative—it’s the evolution comet browsers inspired. Try it today and reclaim your focus. Feedback welcome on Comment!