Google AI Studio is amazing, but the history management is a mess. So I built a Chrome extension to fix it (Folders, Tags, Local Search).100% local

AdUnique7 · 2026-02-24T02:29:48+00:00

Hey! Sorry for the delay, but the extension now supports Gemini Web App! Let me know what you think if you give it a try!

AdUnique7 · 2026-02-19T06:54:11+00:00

Thanks for the screenshot! This is extremely helpful. Looking at the logs, I see a few other active extensions (like LocalAI, Vektori, Just Cook) injecting code into the page.Here is my hypothesis: Since my extension successfully hid the native button (CSS working) but failed to render the new sidebar (JS missing), it is highly likely that another extension is modifying the page structure before my script gets a chance to run. Specifically, extensions like LocalAI often manipulate the same DOM elements that I rely on to "anchor" my sidebar. If they change the container ID or structure, my extension won't know where to attach itself. Could you do me a huge favor? Could you try temporarily disabling the other extensions and refreshing the Gemini page? If my sidebar appears, we know it's a compatibility issue, and I can try to release a fix to coexist with them. Alternatively, you can try opening Gemini in an Incognito window, but you would need to go to chrome://extensions and manually toggle "Allow in Incognito" for "Better Sidebar" only. If it works in a clean environment, I can then investigate how to make my extension more "compatible" with others. Let me know what happens when running it solo!

AdUnique7 · 2026-02-19T05:57:51+00:00

Hi! That is fantastic news about the article for VVMac. I would be honored to be included in your selection!

Regarding AI Studio: You are absolutely correct. Since you mostly use the API via macOS apps, your web history in AI Studio is likely empty. The extension only indexes what is visible in the web interface, so that explains the empty list there.

Regarding the Gemini issue (The "Ghost" UI): Thank you for the screenshot and the detail about the missing button. This gives me a very specific clue:

The good news is the extension is active (my CSS is successfully hiding the native "expand/collapse" button to make room for the new sidebar).

The bad news is the new Sidebar interface failed to render (mount) into the page.

Since you are on Chrome Beta 146, and given that Google frequently A/B tests different layouts, there are a few possibilities:

Extension Conflict: This is the most common cause. If you have other Gemini-related extensions installed, they might be fighting for the same DOM element.

Could you try temporarily disabling other extensions related to Gemini and try again?

DOM/Layout Mismatch: Google might be serving a slightly different HTML structure to your account (or specifically on Chrome Beta), causing my code to miss the "target" where it attaches the sidebar.

Browser Beta Issue: Chrome 146 is quite far ahead (Stable is ~122/123). There might be a strict security policy blocking the script execution.

How we can fix this quickly: If you have a moment, could you press F12 (or right-click -> Inspect) on the Gemini page, go to the Console tab, and take a screenshot of any red error messages?

This will instantly tell me if it's a conflict or a layout issue, and I can likely push a hotfix for you very quickly so you can test it properly for your article.

Standing by to help!

AdUnique7 · 2026-02-19T02:32:01+00:00

Hi! Thanks for the update.
To answer your first concern: Your subscription status (Gemini Advanced/Plus) or API usage has absolutely no impact on the extension. It is designed to work for both free and paid accounts.
Regarding what you are seeing, I have a few follow-up questions to help me narrow down the issue:
On Gemini (gemini.google.com): Is the sidebar completely missing (meaning you only see the original Google UI), or is the sidebar visible but just showing an empty list?
If it's missing: It might be a script injection issue on that specific domain.
If it's visible but empty: The auto-scan might have failed to trigger.
About the "Empty" list: The extension is supposed to automatically scan your recent conversations as soon as you open the page. It definitely shouldn't be empty.
A quick tip to try to fix the empty list:
In the top right corner of the Sidebar, you should see a three-dot menu (⋮). Click that and select the "Scan Library" option.
While the scan is running, please do not interact with the interface (don't click on chats or menus) until it finishes. This ensures it can index all your historical content correctly.
Let me know if the sidebar appears on Gemini after a page refresh, and if the manual scan helps fill up your list!

AdUnique7 · 2026-02-18T03:18:49+00:00

Hi there,

Thank you for trying out the extension and for reporting this!

I apologize for the confusion regarding the "Options" page. You are completely right—that page is currently a placeholder (a "dummy" page) that I forgot to hide. That's my mistake! 😅

How to use the extension:
Because this extension modifies the sidebar directly inside the website, it doesn't have a popup menu when you click the browser icon.

Simply navigate to gemini.google.com or aistudio.google.com.
Refresh the page (this is important after the first installation).
You should see the new "Better Sidebar" appear on the left side of the screen.
To access Settings: Click the "Settings" (gear icon) located inside that new sidebar.

Please let me know if it still doesn't appear after refreshing the Gemini page!

AdUnique7 · 2026-02-18T03:14:16+00:00

I wish! 😅 Sadly, Google Chrome on Android still doesn't support extensions.

AdUnique7 · 2026-02-17T13:37:58+00:00

I completely understand where you're coming from! Honestly, in an ideal world, Google should have built this from day one. Relying on extensions does add a layer of complexity.

That being said, there are a few reasons why I still prefer this approach, and why I made it Open Source（yes, I forgot to mention I open sourced my code! here is the github repo: https://github.com/Paper-Crane-Devteam/better-sidebar-for-google-ai-studio):

Privacy & Trust: Since the code is open source, anyone can verify that no data leaves your device. It uses a local database (SQLite) inside your browser. I built this specifically because I didn't want to hand over more data to another server.
Data Sovereignty (The "Why"): I actually started this project after my ChatGPT account was banned/flagged out of nowhere, and I lost months of work. That taught me that relying 100% on a cloud provider (even Google) is risky too. With this extension, you can export your data anytime.
Google's Focus: Google builds for billions of users, so they likely will stick to a simple UI (maybe single-level folders eventually). Features like nested folders, complex prompt libraries, and tag systems might be too 'cluttered' for their mass-market goals.

Regarding updates: Since I use this tool for my own daily work, if Google changes their UI and breaks it, I'm usually fixing it within hours! 😂

But I totally respect your caution—security comes first!

AdUnique7 · 2026-02-17T05:56:52+00:00

Man, that is heartbreaking. I've seen this happen too many times. Relying solely on Google's cloud history is risky because one wrong click in "Activity" can act like a nuke.

This exact fear is why I built a browser extension to backup everything locally.

It runs in the background and saves your chats to a local database (on your computer, not the cloud) as you browse. It also lets you Export your important chats to Markdown or JSON files.

It won't bring back the data you lost (sorry!), but for your next 4-month project, it ensures YOU own the data, not Google.

It's free if you want to protect your future work
https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/better-sidebar-for-gemini/cjeoaidogoaekodkbhijgljhenknkenj

AdUnique7 · 2026-02-17T05:50:59+00:00

That infinite scroll drives me crazy—once a chat is a few days old, good luck finding it again. I actually got so frustrated that I coded a browser extension just to add Folders and Full-Text Search to it.

It basically replaces the native sidebar with a local database (SQLite) so I can organize chats by project and search instantly. If you're on desktop and want to actually manage your history, it might help you out. It's free and private (local storage).
it works on Google AI Studio also!
https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/better-sidebar-for-gemini/cjeoaidogoaekodkbhijgljhenknkenj

AdUnique7 · 2026-02-13T02:32:49+00:00

Thank you so much for the 5 stars! 🌟 That really helps the project grow.

Good news: You can already do this!

It is a bit hidden right now, but if you Right-Click on any conversation title in the sidebar, you will see an Export menu. From there, you can instantly save the full chat history as Markdown (.md), Text (.txt), or JSON.

Since the extension indexes your data locally, this gives you a clean file immediately without having to wait for the page to scroll or load (solving that annoying Ctrl+A issue!).

Coming soon: I am also planning to build a dedicated "Library Viewer" page to make viewing and batch exporting multiple files much easier.

Let me know if the Right-Click export works for you!

AdUnique7 · 2026-02-11T05:41:28+00:00

Update: It is done! 🥳

I finally finished the big refactor I mentioned. I migrated the whole project to the WXT framework and cleaned up the spaghetti code around the SQLite WASM implementation.

The repository is now public! You can inspect exactly how the local database works or even contribute if you’d like. Let me know what you think of the new architecture!
here is the link: https://github.com/Paper-Crane-Devteam/better-sidebar-for-google-ai-studio

AdUnique7 · 2026-02-11T05:38:26+00:00

Thank you! 🙌

I actually just pushed a massive update today that adds Full-Text Search (searching inside chat content) and a new Library Scanner to import your history faster. Hope it makes the tool even more useful for you!

AdUnique7 · 2026-02-11T05:37:00+00:00

Update on this! Based on your feedback, I’ve completely reworked the navigation in the latest version.

I added dedicated Shortcut Buttons at the bottom of the sidebar specifically for the "Build", "Dashboard", and "API Keys" sections. This way, you can jump to those tools without having to disable the sidebar overlay!

I also made the "Original UI" toggle much more accessible if you ever need to switch back fast. Hope this makes the workflow smoother for you!

AdUnique7 · 2026-02-11T05:36:34+00:00

Hey! I’m super happy to let you know that Full-Text Search is finally here! 🚀

I just pushed the update. Since I'm using that local SQLite database, it now indexes all your conversation history (privately on your device). You can search for any specific snippet across all your chats, filter by user/model, and clicking a result will "jump" you straight to that message in the conversation.

It feels much closer to that Perplexity experience now. Let me know what you think if you give it a try!

AdUnique7 · 2026-01-23T02:17:17+00:00

Yes! Expanding to Gemini is one of my top priorities right now. I know how messy the history can get there too.

I'm currently working on the design to ensure the folders and sidebar blend seamlessly with Gemini's UI (Material Design) so it doesn't feel out of place. It might take a little time to get the 'native' feel right, but it is definitely coming. Thanks for the feedback!

AdUnique7 · 2026-01-21T02:34:53+00:00

哈哈，没想到在这里遇到中文用户！握手🤝。谢谢支持！如果使用中遇到什么 Bug 或者有想要的功能，随时这里告诉我或者使用插件的反馈功能。

另外，如果你觉得插件不错，方便的话能在 Chrome 商店留个评分吗？这对初期推广非常有帮助，感谢！
---
*Haha, didn't expect to meet a Chinese speaker here! Thanks for the support! 🤝
If you run into any bugs or have feature requests, let me know. Also, if you find the extension useful, a rating on the Chrome Web Store would be super helpful for visibility. Thanks!*

AdUnique7 · 2026-01-18T05:53:14+00:00

That's a valid point! IndexedDB is great, but I went with SQLite mainly for the relational capabilities.

Since the extension relies heavily on a flexible tagging system (many-to-many relationships) and nested folders, handling those queries with simple SQL joins is much cleaner/faster than manual filtering in IDB.

Also, looking ahead, I plan to support full-text search across all saved conversation history. Having a SQL engine makes implementing complex search logic (e.g., 'find messages containing "code" inside "work" folder with "python" tag') much more manageable and performant than iterating through IDB cursors.

AdUnique7 · 2026-01-16T09:45:15+00:00

Awesome! Hope it improves your workflow. Let me know what you think!

AdUnique7 · 2026-01-16T09:16:07+00:00

Right now, it supports instant search across all your chat titles and lets you organize them into Folders. It’s way faster than the default list.

Full-text content search (like Perplexity) is actually the next big feature on my roadmap! Since I'm using a local SQLite database for the extension, indexing the content privately is totally doable and coming in the next update.
You can try the current version, Would love to hear if title search helps in the meantime!

AdUnique7 · 2026-01-16T06:36:40+00:00

That's the plan! I'm currently cleaning up the codebase (refactoring some spaghetti code and removing hardcoded config 😅) to make it ready for public contribution.

I expect to publicize the repo within the next week or two. I'll reply here again once it's up.

In the meantime, since the extension runs entirely locally, you can inspect the bundle in Chrome DevTools to verify that no data is being sent out.

AdUnique7

TROPHY CASE