Minds for Chrome: Research Companion extension guide
Minds Research Companion is a Chrome extension published in the Chrome Web Store. Highlight text on a web page, choose Send selection to Minds, and paste it with its source URL into a Minds chat or Study.
Minds is an end-to-end platform for commercial synthetic research. The Minds Research Companion extension shortens the step from something you read on the web to a question for your Audience: highlight a headline, a product claim, or a competitor's message, send it to Minds, and ask how your Minds react to it.
Availability and requirements
The extension is published as Minds Research Companion in the Chrome Web Store. This guide covers version 0.1.0. Its source code is public in the minds-research-companion repository on GitHub.
You need Google Chrome (or another browser that installs extensions from the Chrome Web Store) and a Minds account to run the research. The extension itself has no sign-in and no settings.
Install
- Open Minds Research Companion in the Chrome Web Store.
- Choose Add to Chrome and confirm. Chrome lists the two permissions the extension requests: a context menu entry and writing to the clipboard.
- Optionally pin the extension from Chrome's extensions menu. Its toolbar popup has an Open Minds button.
Send a selection to Minds
- Highlight text on any web page.
- Right-click the selection and choose Send selection to Minds.
- A Ready for Minds tab opens and shows the selected text.
- Choose Copy and open Minds. The extension copies the text, followed by a
Source:line with the page URL, and opens Minds in a new tab. - Paste it into a Minds chat or a new Study and add your question, for example: "How credible is this claim for my Audience, and what would make it stronger?"
Keep the copied text as the material your Minds should evaluate and write your instructions separately, so respondents react to the original wording. To learn how to set up research from there, see the guide overview and Studies.
Privacy and permissions
The extension requests only the contextMenus and clipboardWrite permissions. It does not collect, store, or transmit your browsing history. Selected text is shown locally in the extension page and copied to the clipboard only when you choose Copy and open Minds. Nothing reaches Minds until you paste it there yourself.
Troubleshooting
- Menu entry missing: the entry only appears when text is selected. Some pages, such as Chrome settings or the Chrome Web Store, do not allow extensions to add menu entries.
- Nothing pasted: choose Copy and open Minds again and check that no other application replaced the clipboard content.
- Minds asks you to sign in: sign in or create an account, then paste the copied text.
Synthetic findings provide directional evidence; they do not replace representative human research for high-stakes decisions. Browse all integrations or connect an AI assistant through the MCP server.
