# AutoFirmer Capture (Chromium extension)

Scrapes the firm tab you are looking at and posts its HTML back to the
dashboard. There is no on/off switch for that — see **Scope** below for what
limits it instead.

## Install (unpacked)

1. Start the dashboard (`npm run dev`) so `http://localhost:3000` is up.
2. Open `chrome://extensions`, enable **Developer mode** (top right).
3. **Load unpacked** → select this `extension/` folder.
4. Click the extension icon to open the popup and set:
   - **Dashboard URL** — default `http://localhost:3000`. Use the VPS IP if the
     dashboard runs elsewhere.
   - **Poll interval** — seconds between status checks (default 3).
   - **Element selector** — optional CSS selector; matching elements get their
     on-screen position measured alongside the HTML.

The badge shows `!` (red) if the dashboard is unreachable, and nothing otherwise
— blank is the working state. Open the popup for what the last tick actually did.

## Flow

```
extension       --GET   /api/autobuyer/status-->  { pendingLocate }
extension       --POST  /api/autobuyer/capture->  html + viewport + element rects
AutoBuyer page  --GET   /api/autobuyer/capture->  renders the HTML
```

Nothing in that loop is switchable. Every tick serves any queued clicks and then
captures the tab you are on.

## Scope

Capture has no switch, so scope is what keeps it honest. Two limits, both
enforced by Chrome rather than by this code:

1. **`host_permissions` is deliberately narrow** — the firm sites plus localhost
   for the dashboard. The extension is *technically incapable* of reading any
   other site, so an accidental capture of your bank or mail tab cannot happen
   however the logic here is changed.
2. **Only the tab you are on.** `pickTab()` asks for the active tab of the
   last-focused window *and* a host_permissions match. A firm tab sitting in the
   background is not captured, and neither is anything else. Switch away and
   capture simply stops until you switch back.

To automate a different broker, add its pattern to `host_permissions` in
`manifest.json` and reload the extension — that alone scopes capture to it. Avoid
going back to `<all_urls>`: it would put every tab you visit in reach, and limit
1 is the only thing standing between this and scraping your whole browser.

## Notes

- The extension never captures the dashboard's own pages — otherwise it would
  just mirror its own output back.
- `chrome://`, `about:` and Web Store pages cannot be scripted by any extension;
  they're skipped.
- MV3 service workers are torn down when idle. Each poll makes an extension API
  call, which keeps the worker alive; a 30-second alarm revives it if Chrome
  kills it anyway. So worst-case cadence is 30s, normal cadence is the poll
  interval.