🔍 lens - Privacy-First Browsing Intelligence

lens is a privacy-first browsing intelligence platform that transforms your browsing behavior into meaningful insights. Built with a secure browser extension and web analytics platform, lens empowers users with deep understanding of their digital habits while maintaining complete data ownership.

Made by Vael AI

🌟 Key Features

• 🔒 Privacy-First: Local storage, end-to-end encryption, complete data ownership
• 🧠 AI-Powered Insights: Advanced pattern recognition using Gemini AI
• 📊 Smart Analytics: Automatic categorization, persona detection, behavioral insights
• 🔐 Open Source: Fully transparent codebase for privacy verification
• 🏠 Self-Hostable: Deploy on your own infrastructure

🏗️ Architecture

Monorepo Structure:

lens/
├── 📁 lens/           # Browser Extension (Plasmo + React)
│   └── Privacy-first data collection & local storage
│
├── 📁 lens-view/      # Web Platform (Next.js + MongoDB)
│   └── AI processing, visualization & reports

Tech Stack:

• Extension: Plasmo, React 18, TypeScript, Tailwind CSS
• Platform: Next.js 15, React 19, MongoDB, Gemini AI
• UI: Radix UI, Recharts, responsive design

Data Schema: Complete data structure defined in lens/src/types/data.ts

🚀 Quick Start

Development Setup

# Clone and install dependencies
git clone <repository-url>
cd lens
pnpm install

# Start extension development (in one terminal)
cd lens
pnpm dev

# Start web platform development (in another terminal)
cd lens-view
pnpm dev

# Build both projects for production
cd lens && pnpm build
cd lens-view && pnpm build

Environment Setup

Extension (.env.local in /lens):

# API Configuration
PLASMO_PUBLIC_USE_LOCAL_API=true # true for local API URL, false for production API URL (lens.vael.ai)

Web Platform (.env.local in /lens-view):

# MongoDB Connection String
# Get this from your MongoDB dashboard
MONGODB_URI=your_mongodb_atlas_key_here

# Google Gemini API Key
# Get this from Google AI Studio: https://aistudio.google.com/app/apikey
GOOGLE_GENERATIVE_AI_API_KEY=your_gemini_api_key_here

# JWT Secret for internal authentication
INTERNAL_JWT_SECRET="your_very_secure_jwt_secret_key_here_at_least_32_chars" # at least 32 characters

# Development Configuration
USE_LOCAL_API=true # When this is set, the API will always generate new reports regardless of data similarity or size differences (tells app you are running locally)

🔒 Privacy & Security

• Local-First: Extension stores data locally until you generate reports
• End-to-End Encryption: All data transmission is encrypted
• Data Ownership: Full control - export or delete anytime
• Minimal Collection: Only collects what's necessary
• Transparent: Open source for complete auditability

🛡️ How It Works

1. Collection: Browser extension monitors browsing (locally stored)
2. Processing: Secure transmission to AI for analysis
3. Insights: Generate behavioral patterns and recommendations
4. Visualization: Interactive charts and personalized insights

🤝 Contributing

We welcome contributions! Each project has its own setup:

• Extension Development: See /lens/README.md
• Platform Development: See /lens-view/README.md

1. Fork the repository
2. Choose your focus area (extension or platform)
3. Follow the project-specific setup guides
4. Submit PRs with clear descriptions

📄 License

MIT License - see LICENSE file.

🔗 Links

• 🌐 Platform: lens.vael.ai
• 🏢 Company: vael.ai
• 📧 Contact: hello@vael.ai

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Built with ❤️ by Vael AI