Yowu's DevTools Companion

# Yowu DevTools Companion **The Essential Companion Extension for tools.yowu.dev - Your Free Online Developer Toolkit** --- ## What is Yowu DevTools Companion? Yowu DevTools Companion is a lightweight browser extension designed to enhance your experience with **tools.yowu.dev** - a free, privacy-focused online developer toolkit. This extension acts as a bridge between the web application and your browser's networking capabilities, enabling advanced features that wouldn't otherwise be possible due to browser security restrictions. **Important:** This extension does not function on its own. It is specifically designed to work exclusively with tools.yowu.dev and will only activate when you explicitly invoke certain features from the website. --- ## Why Do You Need This Extension? When using API testing tools in a web browser, you'll often encounter **CORS (Cross-Origin Resource Sharing)** errors. These are browser security measures that prevent web applications from making requests to different domains. While this protects users in general browsing, it creates significant obstacles for developers who need to test APIs. ### The Problem - Web browsers block requests to different origins for security - Testing internal APIs, local development servers, or third-party endpoints becomes impossible - Developers are forced to use desktop applications or configure complex proxy setups ### The Solution Yowu DevTools Companion seamlessly bypasses CORS restrictions when you're using the API Tester tool on tools.yowu.dev. With a single click, you can switch from "direct" mode to "extension" mode and test any API endpoint without CORS limitations. --- ## Key Features ### 🔌 On-Demand Activation - The extension remains completely dormant until explicitly invoked - Zero background activity or resource consumption when not in use - Only activates when you click "Use Extension" in the API Tester tool ### 🔒 Privacy-First Design - **No data collection**: We never send your data to any external server - **No analytics**: No tracking, no telemetry, no usage statistics - **Local storage only**: All request history and settings are stored in your browser - **Open source**: Full transparency - inspect the code yourself on GitHub ### 🎯 Granular Permission Control - Request permissions only for specific domains you need - Easily review and revoke permissions at any time - Clear visibility into which domains have been granted access ### ⚡ Seamless Integration - Automatic detection of CORS errors with one-click retry option - Smart fallback: try direct requests first, suggest extension mode when needed - No configuration required - just install and use --- ## How It Works 1. **Install the extension** from Chrome Web Store 2. **Visit tools.yowu.dev** and open the API Tester tool 3. **Enter your API endpoint** and click Send 4. **If CORS error occurs**, click "Retry with Extension" 5. **Grant permission** for the target domain (one-time per domain) 6. **Success!** Your request bypasses CORS and returns the response The extension communicates with tools.yowu.dev through Chrome's secure external messaging API. When you request an API call via the extension, it executes the fetch request in the extension's context (which isn't subject to CORS), then relays the response back to the web application. --- ## About tools.yowu.dev **tools.yowu.dev** is a comprehensive, free online toolkit designed specifically for developers. All tools are **100% client-side** - your data never leaves your browser. ### Available Tools (and growing!) **📝 Data Transformation** - **JSON Viewer & Formatter** - Pretty print, validate, and explore JSON with tree view - **YAML Converter** - Convert between JSON and YAML formats - **Base64 Encoder/Decoder** - Encode and decode Base64 strings with file support - **URL Encoder/Decoder** - Encode and decode URL components **🔐 Security & Authentication** - **JWT Decoder** - Decode and inspect JSON Web Tokens - **JWT Encoder** - Create and sign JWTs with custom claims - **Hash Generator** - Generate MD5, SHA-1, SHA-256, SHA-512 hashes - **Password Generator** - Create strong, customizable passwords - **UUID/ULID Generator** - Generate unique identifiers **⏱️ Time & Scheduling** - **Time Converter** - Convert between timestamps, ISO 8601, and human-readable formats - **Cron Parser** - Parse and validate cron expressions with next run times **🔧 Development Utilities** - **Text Diff** - Compare two texts side by side with syntax highlighting - **Regex Tester** - Test regular expressions with real-time matching - **Query String Parser** - Parse and build URL query strings - **String Length Counter** - Count characters, words, lines, and bytes **🌐 API Testing (Extension Required)** - **API Tester** - Full-featured REST API testing with request builder, history, and CORS bypass --- ## Privacy & Security We take your privacy seriously. Here's our commitment: ### What We DON'T Do ❌ Collect or transmit any personal data ❌ Track your browsing history or behavior ❌ Store any information on external servers ❌ Use analytics or tracking scripts ❌ Inject content into web pages you visit ❌ Run background processes when not in use ### What We DO ✅ Process all data locally in your browser ✅ Store settings only in your browser's local storage ✅ Require explicit permission before accessing any domain ✅ Provide full transparency through open-source code ✅ Allow you to revoke all permissions with one click --- ## Permissions Explained This extension requests the following permissions: ### `storage` Used to save your granted domain permissions and extension settings. All data stays on your device. ### `optional_host_permissions` (http://*/* and https://*/*) These are **optional** permissions - the extension doesn't automatically access any websites. You grant permission per-domain when you first try to make a request to that domain through the API Tester. You can revoke these permissions at any…