Show HN: Wat Dat – A Firefox Extension for Instant Text Explanations

[bsgada]

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/watdat/

Wat dat" (What's that?) is a Firefox extension that sends any highlighted text to Groq and provides a simple explanation for it.

Every day, while learning or researching, I often need to look up the meanings of words or struggle to understand certain sentences. This breaks my flow and adds cognitive load due to context switching. So I created this extension to make my life a little easier.

It requires your own Groq API key and uses the llama3-70b model. All data is stored locally, ensuring your API key remains secure.

How It Works: - Highlight text you want explained and press the shortcut Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+E. - The extension sends the text to Groq's chat completion API - Groq's llama3-70b model generates a simple explanation - The explanation is streamed within the extension popup automatically

Code: https://github.com/bhavyagada/watdat

Examples: https://x.com/bsgada/status/1831398552171638899 https://x.com/bsgada/status/1830881308102533597

Some notes: - I have a Chrome version on GitHub but didn't publish it because I'm broke. I also haven't worked on a Safari version for the same reason. - I chose Groq because it's free and meets my needs. If this gains traction, I will make it customizable. - If you try it, please leave a review and share it with your friends if you liked it! :D - If you encounter any bugs, let me know.

[politelemon]

Worth noting that Firefox 130 has an experimental feature which does a similar thing.

https://www.pcworld.com/article/2447752/firefox-130-brings-a...

[bsgada → politelemon]

That's amazing. Thanks for letting me know.

However, I'd like to point out to others that they don't have Groq, which is free for normal everyday use and has the fastest inference compared to the options provided by Firefox.

My extension does a very specific thing and is not supposed to be a replacement for a chatbot. There's no typing involved, just a short keystroke.

I have no reviews so far, but in my experience, it has also been 'accurate' in explaining words, sentences, and short paragraphs to me.

I believe that, for now, my extension will be the most viable option for people who don't pay for their LLM use and only want certain things explained to them, after which they can be left alone to do their work.

[jeroenhd → bsgada]

I've set browser.ml.chat.provider to http://localhost:8080/ to use the feature with Ollama and that works fine. Perhaps it's not difficult to add support for websites like Groq?

I've tried changing the URL to chat.groq.com but it appears Firefox doesn't know how to submit the prompt. I haven't dug into it very deeply, but I feel like it should work after a rather minor change on either Firefox's end or Groq's end.

[bsgada → jeroenhd]

It would be great if they added support for Groq. Until then, people who want Groq can use this extension. :)

[dminsky]

I'm not sure if it's the default, but in Firefox, Ctrl+Shift+E opens the Network tab in Developer Tools.

[bsgada → dminsky]

I believe it does on a Windows/Linux machine. I apologize for that.

I have updated the shortcut to ensure it doesn't conflict with any defaults across all operating systems.

It is currently under review, and you will receive the update soon.

[2Gkashmiri]

i am so happy you worked on a firefox version first.

it appears most of commercial browser extensions just go with chrome and be done with it even if porting wouldnt cost them an arm and a leg

[bsgada → 2Gkashmiri]

I use Firefox, so that's what I made it for. :)

[bsgada]

I just tried using the AI chatbot feature in Firefox, which is really great if you need to chat about the contents of an entire web page. However, it has a lot of friction when looking up explanations. I had to go through TWO different dropdown menus. Also, the fact that the sidebar remains there until you manually close or open it which is yet another distraction.

[navigate8310]

Excellent tool! Installed and works exactly as described. A few days back, I was searching something similar for TV shows and movies when played on VLC. Maybe extract the relevant subtitle and provide the context and meaning to the viewer?

[bsgada]

The keyboard shortcut has been updated to Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+X.

As dminsky noted, the previous shortcut was a default in Firefox for Windows/Linux. This update prevents conflicts with default shortcuts across all operating systems. Apologies!

[oneshtein]

I use Page Assist Firefox plugin with local Ollama for this.

[bsgada → ruthmarx]

Sorry, can you tell me what's racist about it?

I wanted a catchy name and thought it was just internet slang for "what's that?"

[ramon156 → bsgada]

If the argument is about dutch, then have an opinion from a dutch person: It's not racist, it's funny.

[kuhewa → bsgada]

They are probably presuming it's intended to be AAVE or similar.

[bsgada → kuhewa]

I didn't know what AAVE meant, so I asked Wat dat: https://drive.google.com/file/d/11-S_eJt42MJwvMsnnPP43I6DfAW...

Anyway, I want to be clear that I didn't mean to offend anyone. It was just a coincidence.

[kuhewa → bsgada]

Of course, you are totally fine. Even with that interpretation, shorthand slang pronunciations have definitely become enough of a part of common parlance especially on the internet that it is quite a stretch to invoke potential racism.

Hell, 'Wat' has its own Know Your Meme page, as do several phrases including 'Dat' https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/wat

[exceptione → ruthmarx]

It is perfect dutch. «Wat is dat?»