AI Code Commentator
Section 1:
I designed a popup-based UI because it provides an instant, lightweight interaction surface
without navigating away from your webpage. React ensures flexible UI state management,
while TailwindCSS gives performance - optimized styling suited for tight Chrome extension
spaces.
I introduced multiple explanation modes to cater to diverse learning styles. A beginner may
prefer a story-like walkthrough, while senior devs lean toward step-by-step breakdown. This
customization improves learning outcomes and user satisfaction.
Before sending code to the backend, I integrated a lightweight language detector. It uses
keyword heuristics to guess the programming language, ensuring the backend applies the
right error correction rules. This approach is fast, avoids unnecessary AI calls, and improves
accuracy without complexity.
"When the user opens the extension, Chrome mounts a React app inside a sandboxed popup.
It initializes state handlers for code, explanation modes, and difficulty. I implemented a
heuristic-based language detector that instantly guides backend parsing, and validation
ensures we never send empty or malformed input. This design balances usability,
performance, and correctness from the very first user interaction."
Section 2:
Because Chrome’s popup scripts can’t directly fetch from APIs, I routed all network requests
through the background service worker. This design ensures compliance with Chrome’s CSP,
and also gives me a single layer to handle retries, authentication, and error logging.
I implemented robust error handling around all fetch requests. If the Flask server isn’t running,
the extension gracefully informs the user instead of failing silently. I also added request
timeouts on the frontend to avoid hanging states, so users get responsive feedback even
under failure.
"One of the biggest challenges was Chrome’s restricted extension security model. I solved this
by having a message-passing system — the popup UI talks to background.js, which safely
proxies requests to Flask. This layering not only satisfied Chrome CSP but also gave me a neat
separation of responsibilities — UI only handles user state, background acts as a
communication broker, and Flask handles pure processing."
Section 3:
ˇCSP stands for Content Security Policy, and in the context of Chrome (or any modern
browser), it is a security feature that helps prevent attacks like Cross-Site Scripting (XSS),
data injection, and clickjacking.
ˇChrome CSP is Chrome’s implementation of the Content-Security-Policy HTTP header (or
<meta> tag).
It tells the browser which resources are allowed to load and execute on a web page.
For example:
• Which domains can serve scripts, images, or styles.
• Whether inline JavaScript is allowed.
• Whether to allow eval() or not.
• Whether resources must be loaded only via HTTPS.
Why CSP is Important?
Without CSP, if an attacker manages to inject malicious JavaScript into your page, the browser
will just execute it.
With CSP, you can block such behavior by restricting sources of content.
The backend is structured as a modular Flask API with endpoints mapped to analysis tasks. By
isolating responsibilities (analyze-code, convert-language, check-errors), the frontend has a
clear contract while backend maintains extensibility.
I abstracted AI providers with LangChain so code doesn’t care whether the provider is Gemini,
OpenAI, or Claude. This gives reliability (auto-fallback) and allows chain-based workflows like
prompt templates & sequential reasoning.
Notice how my analysis blends symbolic heuristics (fast, reliable error fixing) with AI (for
natural explanations). This hybrid approach keeps the extension snappy while still delivering
rich insights.
"Instead of fully depending on LLMs, I built a two-layer backend. A rule-based engine handles
fast syntax corrections and heuristic performance predictions, while LangChain-powered
providers handle explanatory natural language outputs. This hybrid approach guarantees both
reliability and contextual richness, even if an AI provider fails."
Section 4:
I containerized the backend with Docker Compose so collaborators can launch the server with
a single command, without worrying about Python versions or dependencies. This significantly
reduced onboarding time.
"I designed the project for not only functionality but also developer experience. With Docker
Compose, Vite, and a manifest v3 compliant extension, the entire stack runs consistently
across machines and environments. This allows anyone to clone, spin up containers, build the
extension, and start using it within minutes — lowering onboarding friction significantly."
Summary
"This project is an AI-powered Chrome extension called Smart Code Commentator v2.0,
designed to help developers quickly understand and improve code."
1. User Interface (React + Tailwind)
“On the frontend, I built a clean React + Tailwind popup UI inside a Chrome extension. Users
can paste or highlight any code on a webpage, choose analysis mode (story, steps, flowchart),
difficulty level, or even run performance analysis and language conversion — all through a
friendly tabbed interface.”
2. Browser Extension Architecture
“The extension uses a manifest v3 service worker (background.js) as a bridge between the UI
and backend.
Requests like analyze-code or convert-language are sent via chrome.runtime messaging, and
a content script fetches highlighted code from any web page. This keeps the popup
lightweight while the heavy lifting happens in the backend.”
3. Backend Processing (Flask + Hybrid AI)
*“The backend is a Flask service that combines deterministic rule-based corrections with AI
explanations via LangChain.
It runs a pipeline:
Error correction (e.g., adds missing ; in JS, fixes Python colons).
Comment insertion (inline beginner-friendly or advanced notes).
AI explanations (story mode, steps, ASCII diagrams) using Gemini / OpenAI / Claude with
automatic fallback.
Performance heuristics (time & space complexity, optimization suggestions).
Quality scoring (best practices, maintainability).
Results are returned as structured JSON with corrected code, explanations, and performance
insights.”*
4. Deployment & DX
“For easy setup, the backend is fully Dockerized — one docker-compose up spins up the
environment with API keys injected from .env.
The frontend is bundled with Vite, outputting into the Chrome extension folder.
Everything is designed for quick onboarding: clone → run docker-compose → build React →
load extension → start analyzing.”
Pitch Closing
*“In short, I designed Smart Code Commentator v2.0 as a hybrid rule+AI code analysis
assistant, packaged as a Chrome extension for immediacy, backed by a multi-AI provider
pipeline for reliability, and wrapped in Docker + Vite for developer friendliness.
It’s fast enough to give instant fixes, smart enough to generate meaningful explanations, and
portable enough for anyone on the team to run with a single command.”*
----------------------
Working:
Smart Code Commentator v2.0 is a Chrome extension that enables AI-powered code analysis
directly inside the browser, helping users instantly explain, correct, and convert code with a
modern UI and robust backend.
How It Works
1. Chrome Extension & UI
Users install the extension and can select code from any webpage.
The extension popup features tabs for Explanation, Performance, Playground (simulated code
run), and Language Conversion.
The frontend is built with React and Tailwind CSS, providing a modern, responsive, and theme-
switchable interface.
2. Communication Layer
Code and user requests are passed from the extension’s popup to a background service
worker (background.js).
The background service worker relays requests (like code analysis or language conversion) to
the Flask backend running locally at http://127.0.0.1:8000.
3. Flask Backend & AI Processing
The backend receives code and processes it in several steps:
Language detection: Recognizes the programming language based on code patterns.
Error correction: Applies rule-based corrections (e.g., fixes common syntax errors) before
sending to AI.
Comment generation: Adds difficulty-level-appropriate comments.
AI explanations: Uses Gemini, OpenAI, or Claude via LangChain to generate code explanations
in different modes (story, step-by-step, ASCII flowchart), with automatic failover for reliability.
Performance analysis: Estimates complexity, runtime, memory, and quality heuristics.
Language conversion: Converts code between major languages with explanation of syntax
differences and best practices.
4. Results Display
Results (commented code, explanations, AI feedback, or converted code) are returned to the
popup for immediate viewing, copy, or further actions.
Users can simulate code execution in the Playground tab, which provides simulated outputs
safely without running unsafe code.
5. DevOps & Extensibility
All backend services are containerized with Docker for quick setup and consistent
development.
Environment variables manage secrets, and logs help with troubleshooting.
In summary:
The extension creates an AI “code assistant” in any browser tab, seamlessly blending front-
end usability with multi-provider AI logic in a secure, local-first architecture.
