Chat Distiller

Turn browser AI conversations into reusable local Markdown with prompts you control.

Install from Chrome Web Store · GitHub Releases · 简体中文 · Privacy Policy · Aikito

Chat Distiller is a Chrome extension that runs a configurable prompt inside your current AI conversation, validates the generated Markdown, and saves it directly to a local folder you control.

There is no developer-controlled backend, analytics service, or cloud storage. It works independently with any local Markdown directory (Obsidian, Git repos, or local folders), and can also companion with Aikito.

Why Chat Distiller

AI conversations frequently generate valuable knowledge, but raw transcripts are noisy and different workflows require different outputs. Chat Distiller provides a built-in distillation prompt out of the box, while letting you define your own prompts to transform the current AI conversation into structured local Markdown.

Memory notes · Decisions · TODOs · Project context · Study notes · Documentation · Custom templates

See Why Chat Distiller for the full background.

Raw Conversation	Prompt-Driven Markdown
Noisy & Verbose: Full chat transcripts contain trial-and-error, repetition, and temporary debugging context.	Clean & Structured: High-signal Markdown shaped by your prompt and written directly to your authorized local folder.
High Overhead: Hard to review manually and wastes context tokens when fed back to Coding Agents or knowledge bases.	Workflow-Ready: Extracted decisions, action items, or project context formatted exactly how your notes or tools expect them.

How It Works

1. Authorize a local root directory during first-time setup.
2. Open a supported AI conversation.
3. Select Generate and save from the extension popup (optionally specifying a custom subdirectory or filename).
4. Chat Distiller visibly inserts and submits your configured prompt in the current conversation.
5. The AI generates a structured Markdown result, which the extension validates.
6. The background task writes the note to your directory (defaults to inbox/). If no filename is entered, it uses the AI-generated filename, falling back to a time-and-title format.

You can close the popup after starting a task; reopening it restores progress. If saving fails, the conversation status card offers a retry option, and the side panel lets you reauthorize expired directory permissions.

Chat Distiller records saved conversation metadata to prevent duplicate saves and can reuse existing valid prompt results.

Supported Sites

• ChatGPT
• DeepSeek
• Gemini
• Doubao
• Perplexity

Additional AI chat sites can be added through the Site Adapter interface.

Installation

Option 1: Chrome Web Store (Recommended)

Install Chat Distiller from the Chrome Web Store.

Option 2: Install from GitHub Release

1. Open the latest GitHub Release.
2. Under Assets, download chat-distiller-*.zip. Do not download the automatically generated Source code archives.
3. Extract the downloaded ZIP.
4. Open chrome://extensions in Chrome and enable Developer mode.
5. Select Load unpacked and choose the extracted directory.
6. Open Chat Distiller and authorize a local root directory.

Each GitHub Release also provides a .sha256 file for verifying the extension archive. The release ZIP contains the same runtime files as the corresponding Chrome Web Store submission package.

Option 3: Install from Source

1. Clone this repository.
2. Open chrome://extensions in Chrome and enable Developer mode.
3. Select Load unpacked and choose the repository directory.
4. Open Chat Distiller and authorize a local root directory.

Chat Distiller requires Chrome 116 or later.

Works with Aikito

To use Chat Distiller with Aikito, select your Aikito workspace as the authorized root directory. New notes will be saved to inbox/ by default, ready for review and organization into durable memory.

flowchart LR
    A["Browser AI conversation"] -->|"Transform with Chat Distiller"| B["Aikito inbox/"]
    B -->|"Review & Archive"| C["Git-Managed Memory"]
    B -->|"Direct Use"| D["Coding Agents"]
    C -->|"Reuse Context"| D

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Privacy & Permissions

Chat Distiller operates strictly locally with zero external tracking servers:

• Local Files & Storage: Generated Markdown is written only to your authorized folder. Settings, task state, and prompt fingerprints stay in Chrome extension storage (storage permission), while directory handles remain in local IndexedDB.
• No Third-Party Backend: Chat content is never uploaded to external servers. The only AI request is the prompt submitted in your active browser chat session (host_permissions limited strictly to supported HTTPS chat origins).
• Background Tasks & Side Panel: Uses alarms to recover pending tasks/timeouts and sidePanel to maintain directory authorization flows during folder selection.

See our Privacy Policy and Local Storage and Privacy for full details.

Design Choices

• Prompt-driven transformation, not transcript scraping. The default prompt distills reusable knowledge, while custom prompts can define what to extract and how to structure it.
• A strict output protocol. Generated content is validated before it is saved, so incomplete or malformed results are rejected instead of silently written to disk.
• No generated timestamp in the note body. The note focuses on the knowledge itself; filenames and filesystem metadata can carry operational timing.
• Compact conversation UI. The submitted prompt and generated response collapse into a status card with an explicit option to reveal the content.
• No silent overwrite. Filename collisions receive a numeric suffix.
• User-visible automation. Prompt insertion and submission happen in the active chat and only after a user action.

Internationalization

The extension supports English and Simplified Chinese. Chrome locales matching zh-* use Simplified Chinese; other locales use English.

Manifest text, popup and side-panel UI, status cards, and runtime messages use Chrome i18n resources.

The default distillation prompt follows the interface language. Once edited, a custom prompt is preserved across extension upgrades and language changes until the user selects Reset to default.

Architecture

The content layer uses a Site Adapter architecture. Shared protocol, state-machine, DOM utility, and card UI code is separated from site-specific selectors and editor behavior.

Read the Architecture guide for component boundaries, task ownership, and the output protocol. To add another AI chat platform, use the Site Adapter Guide.

Documentation

• Documentation index
• Why Chat Distiller
• Architecture
• Site Adapter Guide
• Local Storage and Privacy
• Troubleshooting

Contributing

Issues and pull requests are welcome.

When adding a new site adapter, keep permissions limited to the narrowest supported HTTPS origin and avoid duplicating shared protocol or state-machine logic in site-specific code.

Support

If you find Chat Distiller useful, you can support its development.