scalar-openapi-extension

Scalar OpenAPI Viewer

A Chrome extension that detects OpenAPI specifications and renders them using Scalar’s beautiful API reference UI.

Features

• Link Detection: Finds swagger.json links on any webpage and adds an “Open in Scalar” button next to them
• Popup Status: Shows whether the current page has an OpenAPI spec available
• Manual URL Input: Enter any OpenAPI spec URL directly from the popup
• Beautiful Viewer: Renders API documentation using Scalar’s modern interface with sidebar navigation, request examples, and more

How It Works

1. Content Script scans pages for links ending in swagger.json and injects “Open in Scalar” buttons
2. Popup displays detection status and provides quick access to the viewer
3. Viewer opens in a new tab and renders the OpenAPI spec with Scalar’s API Reference

Installation

From GitHub Releases

1. Download the latest release from the releases page
2. Extract the zip file
3. Open Chrome and navigate to chrome://extensions/
4. Enable Developer Mode (toggle in top right)
5. Click Load unpacked and select the extracted folder

Development

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Build the extension
npm run build

# Development mode with auto-rebuild
npm run dev

Then load the dist folder in Chrome:

1. Open chrome://extensions/
2. Enable “Developer mode”
3. Click “Load unpacked”
4. Select the dist folder

Usage

• On API documentation pages: Look for the green “Open in Scalar” button next to swagger.json links
• Via popup: Click the extension icon to check status or enter a spec URL manually
• Direct URL: Open the viewer with any OpenAPI spec URL using the manual input

Project Structure

├── public/
│   ├── manifest.json     # Chrome extension manifest (v3)
│   └── icons/            # Extension icons
├── src/
│   ├── background.ts     # Service worker for messaging
│   ├── content.ts        # Injects buttons on web pages
│   ├── components/       # Shared React components
│   ├── lib/              # Utilities
│   ├── popup/            # Extension popup UI
│   └── viewer/           # Full-page API reference viewer
├── popup.html            # Popup entry point
└── viewer.html           # Viewer entry point

Tech Stack

• TypeScript
• React 18
• CSS Modules
• Vite
• Scalar API Reference React

License

MIT — Do whatever you want with it, but contribute back if possible.

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