TruthLens Chrome Extension

🔍 Real-time content verification for Gen Z - AI-powered credibility scores for news and social media.

Overview

TruthLens is a privacy-first Chrome extension that provides instant credibility assessment for online content. Using Chrome's Built-in AI (Gemini Nano) and external fact-checking APIs, it helps users identify misinformation with visual indicators optimized for 8-second attention spans.

Features

• ✅ Real-time Analysis: Instant credibility scores without leaving the page
• 🤖 AI-Powered: Local processing with Chrome's Gemini Nano
• 🔒 Privacy-First: No data collection, all processing happens locally
• 📱 Social Media Support: Works on Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, and more
• 🎨 Visual Indicators: Color-coded trust scores with emoji indicators
• ⚡ Fast & Lightweight: Minimal performance impact
• 💎 Freemium Model: Basic features free, premium tier for advanced analysis

Tech Stack

• TypeScript - Type-safe development
• React 18 - Modern UI components
• Webpack 5 - Module bundling
• Chrome Manifest V3 - Latest extension platform
• Chrome Built-in AI APIs - Gemini Nano integration
• SCSS - Styled components

Project Structure

truthlens/
├── src/
│   ├── background/     # Service worker (background script)
│   ├── content/        # Content scripts for page analysis
│   ├── popup/          # Extension popup UI (React)
│   ├── options/        # Settings page (React)
│   ├── shared/         # Shared types, utils, and constants
│   └── assets/         # Icons and styles
├── public/             # Static files (manifest.json)
├── tests/              # Test suites
├── scripts/            # Build and utility scripts
└── webpack/            # Webpack configurations

Development Setup

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+ and npm 9+
• Chrome 138+ (for AI APIs)
• 22GB storage (for Gemini Nano)
• 4GB+ VRAM

Installation

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/davidleathers113/truthlens.git
cd truthlens

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Start development with hot reload
npm run dev

Chrome AI Setup

1. Enable Chrome AI flags:

   • Navigate to chrome://flags
   • Enable #optimization-guide-on-device-model
   • Enable #prompt-api-for-gemini-nano
   • Restart Chrome

2. Download Gemini Nano:

   • Go to chrome://components
   • Find "Optimization Guide On Device Model"
   • Click "Check for update"

Load Extension

1. Build the extension:

   npm run build

2. Load in Chrome:

   • Open chrome://extensions
   • Enable "Developer mode"
   • Click "Load unpacked"
   • Select the dist folder

Available Scripts

• npm run dev - Start development with watch mode
• npm run build - Build for production
• npm run test - Run test suite
• npm run lint - Check code quality
• npm run format - Format code

API Keys

For external fact-checking APIs, create a .env file:

MBFC_API_KEY=your_media_bias_fact_check_key
GOOGLE_FACT_CHECK_API_KEY=your_google_api_key

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add amazing feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details

Acknowledgments

• Chrome Built-in AI team for Gemini Nano integration
• Media Bias/Fact Check for credibility data
• The open-source community for amazing tools

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Built with ❤️ for fighting misinformation