Pollen Browser Extension

A browser extension that surfaces image provenance claims on Bluesky, using the Nectar API.

Learn more at nectar.hypha.coop.

Setup

npm install
npm run package

Load in Chrome

1. Open chrome://extensions/
2. Enable Developer mode (top right toggle)
3. Click Load unpacked
4. Select the extension/dist folder

Load in Firefox

Follow these instructions.

Development

npm run watch    # Rebuild on file changes

After making changes, click the refresh icon on the extension card in chrome://extensions/.

Usage

1. Navigate to https://bsky.app
2. Browse/scroll the feed
3. Posts with matching claims show a badge below their images
4. Click the badge to view claim details
5. Hover over a post image and click Claim to add your own provenance claim

How It Works

The extension uses a content script that:

1. Observes the DOM for post links via MutationObserver
2. Extracts handle and post ID from URLs (/profile/{handle}/post/{rkey})
3. Resolves handles to DIDs via Bluesky's public API
4. Fetches post metadata including image URLs and perceptual fingerprints (PFPs)
5. Searches for existing claims matching each image's PFP
6. Injects claim badges and per-image claim buttons into the feed
7. Writes new claim records to the user's PDS via their active session

Bluesky DOM compatibility check

Pollen works by pattern-matching Bluesky's live DOM (data-testid attributes, CDN image URL shapes, computed-style walks), which Bluesky can change without notice. A scheduled GitHub Actions workflow loads the real built extension against a real bsky.app post and profile feed daily and fails if Pollen's selectors and injection logic stop matching, on either the single-post ("thread") view or the virtualized feed list view.

Run it locally:

npm run build
npx playwright install chromium   # first time only
npm run test:bluesky

Dependencies

• @atcute/client - AT Protocol client
• @atcute/bluesky - Bluesky lexicon types
• esbuild - Bundler
• Playwright - Browser automation for the Bluesky DOM compatibility check