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7d ago

Building Lumen AI Sidebar Assistant — stuck on API key strategy

Hey makers, I m building Lumen AI Sidebar Assistant, a Chrome sidebar extension for browsing. I m trying to figure out the best API key flow for users and could use your input. Right now I have two options to consider: 1. Ask users to bring their own API keys. This is reliable, but many casual users don t have one ready to test quickly. 2. Offer a shared free API access for trial. The problem is free tiers are slow, hit rate limits easily and can be unstable. I m trying to balance a smooth onboarding experience without running into reliability issues. Has anyone run into this same problem with a small browser extension? Any better approaches or stable free API options you d suggest? Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

I tested every AI browser extension. Then I built one that makes them all pointless.

Everyone told us the AI browser extension space was crowded.

They were right. It's crowded with half-products.

Most do one trick, summarize a page, manage your tabs, maybe fill a form. That's it. You still need 5 other tools to actually get work done.

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