Web2Comics: AI-Powered Chrome Extension & Telegram Bot That Turn Any Web Page Into a Comic-Strip Summary
Web2Comics is a Chrome extension that:
- extracts content from the current page
- generates a storyboard (panels + captions)
- generates panel images
- shows the result in a comic viewer side panel
- saves history and exports a single composite comic image
- supports right-click selected-text flows (instant generate or open composer prefilled)
Separate product documents:
- Extension overview: docs/extension.md
- Telegram bot overview: docs/telegram-bot.md
- Shared engine overview: docs/engine.md
Release links:
- Releases page
- Current extension release (
v1.0.4) ZIP - Current Telegram bot release (
v1.0.4) deploy ZIP
- Open the repository
Releasespage on GitHub (link above). - Download the latest extension release asset ZIP (for example
Web2Comics-v1.0.4-extension.zip). - Extract the ZIP to a folder (for example
C:\Web2Comics). - Open Chrome and go to
chrome://extensions. - Turn on
Developer mode(top-right). - Click
Load unpacked. - Select the extracted folder that contains
manifest.json(for exampleWeb2Comics-v1.0.4). - In
chrome://extensions, confirm theWeb2Comicscard is enabled (toggle ON). - Open the Chrome Extensions menu (puzzle icon), find
Web2Comics, and click the pin icon to show it in the toolbar. - Open the extension and configure a
Google GeminiAPI key (free tier) inOptions -> Providers(recommended first-run setup). - Open any article, click
Create Comic, and generate a 3-panel summary.
Note: Code -> Download ZIP downloads the full source repository. Use the release asset ZIP for installation.
- Generate comics from articles, docs, blog posts, and reference pages
- Choose providers/models for text and image generation
- Use preset or custom visual styles
- Track live progress (elapsed time + ETA)
- Review generated comics in
My Collection - Export a single PNG comic sheet with captions and source URL
- Share to connected targets (Facebook, X, Instagram, LinkedIn, Reddit, Email)
Current provider support:
- OpenAI API
- Google Gemini API
- Cloudflare Workers AI (text + image)
- OpenRouter API (model/account dependent)
- Hugging Face Inference API
Web2Comics also supports automatic fallback to other configured providers when a selected provider fails due to quota/budget issues.
- News article -> quick comic summary
- Open
cnn.com(or another news site) - Click the Web2Comics extension icon
- Click
Create Comic - Select a style and provider
- Generate a short comic summary of the article
- Technical docs -> visual walkthrough
- Open docs (MDN, Python docs, Node docs)
- Generate a 3-panel comic to explain the page
- Use
Downloadto save and share the comic image
- Compare providers
- Configure multiple providers in
Options - Test different model combinations
- Use model test buttons in
Options -> Providers
Web2Comics defaults are set for first-run success on free tiers:
- Provider:
Google Gemini(text + image) - Panel count:
3 - Detail level:
low
Why: this reduces token/image usage and improves chances of success on free-tier limits.
If Gemini free tier is unavailable for your account/region, configure another provider (Cloudflare, OpenRouter, Hugging Face, OpenAI). Web2Comics can fall back automatically to other configured providers on quota/budget failures.
Need a Gemini key for the free tier? See docs/Gemini_key.md.
Configure providers in:
Options -> Providers
The extension includes:
Validatebuttons for each providerTest Text Model/Test Image Modelbuttons (where supported)
For step-by-step key/token instructions, see:
docs/user-manual.html(appendix)docs/Gemini_key.md(quick Gemini API key setup for free tier access)
- Chrome / Chromium-based browser with Manifest V3 extension support
- Chrome Side Panel support (used for the comic viewer)
- Internet access to your selected AI provider APIs
- At least one configured provider credential (
Options -> Providers)
- Web2Comics runs locally in your browser extension (no project-hosted backend server).
- To generate comics, the extension sends extracted page text, prompts, and generation requests to the AI provider(s) you configure.
- API keys/tokens are stored in your browser extension storage on your machine.
- Generated comics/history are stored locally unless you export/share them.
- Review provider terms/privacy policies (OpenAI, Google Gemini, Cloudflare, OpenRouter, Hugging Face) before use on sensitive content.
- Open a web page.
- Click the Web2Comics extension icon.
- Click
Create Comic. - Choose provider/style (advanced settings optional).
- If no providers are configured yet, use
Configure Model Providersin the popup (or the Options page opened on install), then return and clickGenerate. - Watch live progress in popup/sidepanel.
- Review the comic in the side panel.
- Click
Downloadto export a single comic sheet PNG.
Optional selected-text right-click flow:
- Highlight text on any page.
- Right-click.
- Choose
Generate comic from selected text (Default)for instant generation, orOpen Create Comic with selected textto review/customize before generating.
background/- service worker, provider orchestration, generation pipelinecontent/- page content extraction scriptpopup/- extension popup UI (launcher + generator wizard + progress)options/- settings UI (providers, prompts, storage, tests)sidepanel/- comic viewer, history browser, exportdocs/- user manual and docstests/- unit/integration/E2E testsscripts/- probing/testing helper scripts
See per-folder README files for more detail (for example docs/README.md, tests/README.md, and scripts/README.md).
Install dependencies:
npm installUseful commands:
npm test
npx vitest run
npx playwright test
npm run probe:providers:extensionLocal secrets can be stored in:
.env.e2e.local(git-ignored)
Examples:
OPENAI_API_KEY=...
GEMINI_API_KEY=...
CLOUDFLARE_ACCOUNT_ID=...
CLOUDFLARE_API_TOKEN=...
OPENROUTER_API_KEY=...
HUGGINGFACE_INFERENCE_API_TOKEN=...- Extension icon not visible in toolbar:
- Open the Chrome Extensions (puzzle) menu and pin
Web2Comics - Confirm the extension is enabled in
chrome://extensions
- Open the Chrome Extensions (puzzle) menu and pin
- Provider not visible in popup:
- Configure credentials in
Options -> Providers - Click
Validate
- Configure credentials in
- OpenAI key validates but model test fails:
- The key may belong to a different OpenAI project or have different model access/billing
- Re-paste the key and use
Test Text Model/Test Image Model
- Gemini free tier says quota/limit
0:- Check AI Studio project eligibility/region and active limits
- Generation fails on one provider:
- Configure multiple providers so automatic budget fallback can recover
- Progress errors:
- Enable
Debug flaginOptions -> General - Export logs from
Options -> Storage
- Enable
- Extension overview: docs/extension.md
- User manual: docs/user-manual.html
- Additional specs:
docs/INSTALL.md - Privacy policy: docs/privacy.html
- Extension docs index (Markdown): docs/README.md
- Extension docs home (GitHub Pages): https://apartsinprojects.github.io/Web2Comics/
- Telegram bot overview: docs/telegram-bot.md
- Telegram bot README (Markdown): telegram/README.md
- Telegram bot docs page (GitHub Pages): https://apartsinprojects.github.io/Web2Comics/HTML/telegram-bot.html
- Telegram bot manual (Markdown): telegram/docs/user-manual.md
- Shared engine overview: docs/engine.md
- Engine manual source: engine/manual.md
Copyright (c) 2026 Alexander Apartsin. All rights reserved.
Creator website: www.apartsin.com

