Ancroo Web Backend

AI Workflow Browser Extension — connects to a self-hosted Ancroo Stack for the full feature set: speech-to-text, n8n automation, tool plugins, file uploads, and multi-user support.

Phase 0 (Beta) — The extension is functional for local use. The backend server runs without encryption or authentication by default and is still under active development — intended for local/trusted networks only. See the Ancroo Roadmap for the security path forward.

Note: This extension is not published to the Chrome Web Store. Install manually (see below). For a standalone extension without a backend, use Ancroo Web instead.

Modes

Backend Mode — Full feature set

Connect to a self-hosted Ancroo Stack for the complete experience: speech-to-text, n8n automation, tool plugins, file uploads, multi-user support, and server-managed workflows.

%%{init: {'theme': 'neutral'}}%%
graph LR
    subgraph Browser["Browser"]
        input["Text Selection<br/>Clipboard<br/>Manual Input<br/>Speech / File"]
        extension["Ancroo Web Backend<br/>Browser Extension"]
    end

    backend["Ancroo<br/>Backend"]
    services["LLM / STT / n8n"]

    input <--> extension
    extension <-- "Backend Mode" --> backend
    backend <--> services

    style input fill:transparent,stroke:transparent,color:#1e3a5f
    style extension fill:#fef08a,stroke:#eab308,color:#713f12
    style backend fill:#d1fae5,stroke:#10b981,color:#064e3b
    style services fill:#fed7aa,stroke:#f97316,color:#7c2d12

Loading

Direct Mode — No server needed

Also supports direct LLM calls (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini, Ollama, OpenRouter) without a backend.

Features

Both Modes

• Side panel UI — browse and trigger workflows from a side panel (Alt+Shift+Y or click the extension icon)
• Text selection — select text on any page, right-click "Run with Ancroo", and get AI-processed results
• Hotkeys — keyboard shortcuts trigger workflows instantly from any page
• Clipboard & page context — workflows can access clipboard content and the current page URL/title
• Output actions — results can replace selected text, copy to clipboard, insert before/after, or show in panel
• Execution history — last 50 results are stored locally for quick access and re-use

Backend Mode

• Push-to-talk audio — record speech directly in the browser and send it to a Whisper STT workflow
• File upload — drag-and-drop or pick files to send to a workflow (with type and size validation)
• Tool integration — connect workflows to n8n automations and Ancroo Runner plugins
• Multi-user — OAuth2 PKCE authentication with per-user workflow permissions
• Server-managed workflows — centralized workflow management via the admin UI

Direct Mode

• Multiple LLM providers — OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini, Ollama (local), OpenRouter, or any OpenAI-compatible endpoint
• Starter workflows — six ready-to-use workflows created automatically
• Local workflow editor — create and manage workflows with prompt templates, model selection, and input/output configuration
• Model browser — auto-detects available models from your provider

Install

This extension is not published to the Chrome Web Store. Install manually:

1. Download the latest artifact from GitHub Actions (click the latest run → ancroo-web-backend-extension)
2. Unzip → you get a dist/ folder

Or build locally:

pnpm install && pnpm build
# or: ./build.sh   (auto-installs pnpm via corepack if missing)

Load in Chrome:

1. Open chrome://extensions
2. Enable Developer mode
3. Click Load unpacked → select the dist/ folder

Backend Setup

Install the Ancroo Stack with the Ancroo Backend module. The extension connects to the backend at http://localhost:8900 by default (configurable).

Development

pnpm dev

Project Structure

src/
├── background/    # Service worker (hotkeys, mic permission, side panel lifecycle)
├── content/       # Content script (text selection, insertion)
├── shared/        # API client, auth, types, settings, LLM adapters, messages
│   └── llm/       # LLM provider adapters (OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, Ollama)
└── sidepanel/     # Side panel UI (Preact)

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Feel free to open an issue or submit a pull request.

Privacy

See Privacy Policy — Ancroo collects no data. All settings, API keys, and history stay in your browser. Data is only sent to LLM providers or the backend you configure.

Security

API Keys: API keys are stored in chrome.storage.local, which is sandboxed per extension and not accessible by websites or other extensions. Keys are only sent to the configured LLM provider. Note that the storage is not encrypted on disk — anyone with access to your browser profile can read them. This is standard practice for browser extensions.

To report a security vulnerability, please use GitHub's private vulnerability reporting instead of opening a public issue.

Acknowledgments

This project is built with the following open-source software:

Project	Purpose	License
Preact	UI framework	MIT
Vite	Build tool	MIT
CRXJS	Vite plugin for browser extensions	MIT
Tailwind CSS	CSS framework	MIT
TypeScript	Language	Apache-2.0

License

MIT — see LICENSE. The Ancroo name is not covered by this license and remains the property of the author.

Author

Stefan Schmidbauer — GitHub · stefan@ancroo.com

---

Built with the help of AI (Claude by Anthropic).