ant-webex

Browser extension for downloading and displaying content from the Autonomi decentralized network.

Web developers embed autonomi:// references in their pages. When a user with this extension visits, the extension automatically fetches and renders the content through a local antd daemon.

How It Works

1. antd (the Autonomi network daemon) runs locally as a REST gateway to the network
2. The extension's content script scans web pages for autonomi:// references
3. Detected resources are fetched via antd and rendered inline (images, video, audio, PDFs)
4. autonomi:// links become clickable downloads

No data goes through any central server. The daemon connects directly to the Autonomi P2P network.

Prerequisites

• antd — the Autonomi network daemon (ant-sdk)
• Node.js 18+ (for building the extension)
• Chrome 120+ or Firefox 128+ (Manifest V3)

Set up the daemon (antd)

The extension can't reach the Autonomi network on its own — browser sandboxing and the network's post-quantum cryptography mean a small local daemon (antd) does the network work and exposes a localhost REST API the extension talks to.

Recommended — guided setup: after you install the extension, an onboarding page opens automatically with a Download daemon button for your platform. Run the downloaded installer; it starts antd (with CORS enabled) and sets it to launch on login, and the extension connects automatically. You can reopen this any time via the Setup guide link in the popup.

Manual: if you already have the antd binary, start it with CORS enabled (required for the extension to reach it):

antd --cors

antd listens on http://localhost:8082 by default; the extension auto-detects it.

Supported Browsers

Browser	Engine	Status
Chrome 120+	Chromium	Supported
Edge 120+	Chromium	Supported
Opera 109+	Chromium	Supported
Brave 1.63+	Chromium	Supported
Vivaldi 6.5+	Chromium	Supported
Arc	Chromium	Supported
Firefox 128+	Gecko	Supported
Tor Browser	Gecko	Supported

All Chromium-based browsers use the same dist/ build. Firefox/Tor use dist-firefox/.

Build

npm install
npm run build            # Chrome / Chromium browsers → dist/
npm run build:firefox    # Firefox / Tor → dist-firefox/
npm run build:all        # Both

Load in Chrome / Chromium browsers

1. Go to chrome://extensions (or edge://extensions, brave://extensions, etc.)
2. Enable "Developer mode"
3. Click "Load unpacked" and select the dist/ directory

Load in Firefox

1. Go to about:debugging#/runtime/this-firefox
2. Click "Load Temporary Add-on"
3. Select dist-firefox/manifest.json

Embedding Autonomi Content (For Web Developers)

Add these to your HTML. Without the extension, they're inert. With it, content loads automatically.

Links

<a href="autonomi://NETWORK_ADDRESS">Download file</a>

Images

<img data-ant-src="autonomi://NETWORK_ADDRESS" alt="description" />

Video / Audio

<video data-ant-src="autonomi://NETWORK_ADDRESS" controls></video>
<audio data-ant-src="autonomi://NETWORK_ADDRESS" controls></audio>

Generic Embeds

<div data-ant-embed="autonomi://NETWORK_ADDRESS"
     data-ant-type="application/pdf"
     style="width:100%; height:600px;">
</div>

The optional data-ant-type attribute provides a MIME type hint. Without it, the extension sniffs the content type from magic bytes.

See ARCHITECTURE.md for the full tag format specification and design details.

Configuration

Click the extension icon to open the popup. When connected it shows the antd version, and flags when an update is available or when antd is older than the minimum supported version. The Setup guide link reopens the onboarding page.

Settings:

• Daemon URL — defaults to http://localhost:8082. Change if antd runs on a different port.
• Auto-fetch inline — toggle automatic fetching of data-ant-src / data-ant-embed resources.
• Check for antd updates — periodically check GitHub for a newer antd release and show an update prompt.

Native Messaging Host (Optional)

For automatic daemon port discovery (matching how other Autonomi SDKs find antd), you can install the native messaging host. See native-host/README.md for build and registration instructions.

Without it, the extension probes the default port (8082), which works for most setups.

Development

npm run watch      # Rebuild on file changes
npm run typecheck  # Type-check without emitting
npm test           # Run unit tests (requires Node 23.6+ for native .ts execution)

After rebuilding, go to chrome://extensions and click the reload button on the extension card.

V1 Scope

This version focuses on downloading and displaying public content. Upload, payment, wallet, and private data features are planned for future versions.

License

MIT