Gemini Live Assistant Chrome Extension

A Chrome extension that lets you talk to Google's Gemini AI with voice and share your screen for visual context.

Features

• Voice Chat: Talk to AI with your voice and get audio responses
• Screen Sharing: Share your current tab or screen with the AI
• Live Conversations: Voice + screen sharing together for smart assistance

Setup

1. Get a Gemini API Key

1. Go to Google AI Studio
2. Sign in with your Google account
3. Click "Create API Key"
4. Copy the API key

2. Enter Your API Key in the Extension

1. Load the extension in Chrome
2. Open the side panel
3. Paste your Gemini API key into the setup field
4. Click Save

3. Install Extension

1. Open Chrome and go to chrome://extensions
2. Turn on "Developer mode" (top right toggle)
3. Click "Load unpacked"
4. Select the Extension folder
5. The extension will appear with a blue icon

Build Packages

This project does not use a bundler. The build process is just packaging the contents of the Extension folder into distributable Chrome extension files.

Prerequisites

• Google Chrome installed at /Applications/Google Chrome.app
• The extension source in the Extension folder
• The signing key at build/GeminiChrome.pem if you want to keep the same extension ID for the .crx

Build Output

• build/GeminiChrome.zip for distribution or manual inspection
• build/GeminiChrome.crx for a signed packaged extension

Commands

From the repository root:

cd /Users/pablo/Projects/TheSeer

Create the ZIP from the extension source:

cd Extension
zip -qrFS ../build/GeminiChrome.zip . -x '*.DS_Store'

Create the signed CRX with the existing key:

"/Applications/Google Chrome.app/Contents/MacOS/Google Chrome" \
  --pack-extension=/Users/pablo/Projects/TheSeer/Extension \
  --pack-extension-key=/Users/pablo/Projects/TheSeer/build/GeminiChrome.pem
mv -f /Users/pablo/Projects/TheSeer/Extension.crx /Users/pablo/Projects/TheSeer/build/GeminiChrome.crx

Build Process

1. Update the files inside Extension/.
2. Rebuild the ZIP so the latest source is packaged.
3. Run Chrome's --pack-extension command to generate a signed .crx.
4. Move the generated Extension.crx into build/GeminiChrome.crx.
5. Load Extension/ unpacked in Chrome for development, or use the files in build/ for packaged distribution.

Notes

• If you omit --pack-extension-key, Chrome can still create a .crx, but the extension ID will change.
• For local development, Load unpacked from Extension/ is usually the fastest workflow.

How to Use

Voice Chat

1. Click the extension icon to open the side panel
2. Click the blue "Talk" button
3. Allow microphone access when prompted
4. Start speaking - the AI will respond with voice
5. Click the red "Stop" button to end

Screen Sharing

1. During voice chat, your screen is automatically captured every 3 seconds
2. The AI can see what's on your screen and help accordingly
3. Grant screen capture permission when prompted

Troubleshooting

"Please enter your API key" - Open the side panel and save a valid Gemini API key

Microphone not working - Allow microphone permission in Chrome settings

Screen capture fails - Allow screen recording permission when Chrome asks

Connection errors - Check your internet and verify your API key is valid

Google Cloud (Firestore, optional)

The extension can use Google Cloud Firestore to persist Gemini Live session resumption tokens. When enabled, the conversation context survives closing the side panel and reconnects (e.g. after the 2-minute context-window refresh). If Firestore is not configured, the extension still works; the token is kept only in memory and is lost when the panel closes.

• Where: Side panel → Settings → Firestore (optional) (Project ID and API key).
• What it stores: A single document (gemini_sessions/current_session) with a resumptionToken field holding the Live API resumption handle.
• Proof of use: See GOOGLE_CLOUD_FIRESTORE.md in the repo root for a full description of how Firestore is used, the REST API calls, and the code paths that read and write the token.

Need Help?

• Get API key: Google AI Studio
• Chrome Extensions: chrome://extensions
• Check browser console (F12) for error messages