TextGrab

Firefox extension to extract clean article/blog text from any webpage and copy it as markdown to your clipboard. Perfect for pasting into Claude, ChatGPT, or any AI tool.

Quick Start

🚀 Install on Firefox Add-ons • 📥 Download ZIP

Features

• Extract Article Text — Intelligently extracts main article content from webpages
• Markdown Formatting — Converts HTML to clean, readable markdown with proper formatting
• One-Click Copy — Single button press to copy content to clipboard
• Smart Detection — Automatically disables on unsupported pages (restricted URLs, iframes, etc.)
• Instant Feedback — Shows "✓ Copied to clipboard" when successful
• No Data Collection — Everything runs locally in your browser. No tracking, no accounts, no servers.

Privacy

TextGrab only accesses the page when you use it. It uses Firefox's activeTab permission — no broad "access all websites" host access. The extension reads the current tab's content only when you deliberately click the toolbar button or context menu. Everything stays local in your browser; nothing is ever sent to a server.

Supported Markdown Elements

• Headings (h1-h6)
• Paragraphs
• Lists (ordered & unordered)
• Tables
• Bold, italic, strikethrough, underline
• Code blocks & inline code
• Links & images
• Blockquotes
• Horizontal rules

Installation

Option 1: Firefox Add-ons Store (Recommended)

Install TextGrab on Firefox Add-ons

1. Click the link above
2. Click Add to Firefox
3. Automatic updates included

Option 2: Manual Load (Development)

📥 Download v1.2.1

1. Download and extract the ZIP file
2. Open about:debugging in Firefox
3. Click This Firefox → Load Temporary Add-on
4. Open the extension/ folder and select manifest.json

Usage

1. Visit any article, blog post, or webpage
2. Click the TextGrab icon in your toolbar
3. Click Copy Content button
4. The page content is copied to clipboard as markdown
5. Paste into Claude, ChatGPT, or your favorite AI tool

How It Works

1. Content Extraction — Uses Readability algorithm to identify main article content
2. HTML to Markdown — Converts extracted HTML to clean markdown format
3. Clipboard Copy — Uses native clipboard API with fallback for older browsers
4. Smart Disable — Button disables automatically on pages where extraction isn't supported

Files

textgrab/
├── extension/           # The Firefox extension (zip this folder to release)
│   ├── manifest.json    # Extension configuration
│   ├── background.js    # Background service script
│   ├── content.js       # Content script (runs on pages)
│   ├── popup/
│   │   ├── popup.html   # Popup UI
│   │   ├── popup.js     # Popup logic
│   │   └── popup.css    # Popup styling
│   ├── icons/           # Extension icons
│   └── lib/
│       └── Readability.js  # Article extraction library
└── README.md

License

TextGrab is licensed under the MIT License (see LICENSE file).

Readability.js (included in lib/Readability.js) is licensed under the Apache License 2.0. Copyright © 2010 Arc90 Inc.

Credits

• Built with Readability.js for intelligent article extraction
• Firefox Readability algorithm for content identification