Claude had a Chrome extension. Safari didn't. So I built AlliHat. Open the sidebar and it sees the page you're on. Ask anything. Highlight text for instant explanations. Agent Mode clicks, fills forms, and navigates. Workflows run repeated tasks in one click. Memory means you never re-explain yourself. History is saved per domain. Bring your own Claude API key, or use Apple Intelligence on-device. Your key goes straight to Anthropic. No tracking. No analytics. $29.99/year after a free trial.
Hey again! I'm Nate, the maker of AlliHat.
I built this because Chrome had a great Claude extension but Safari had nothing. As a daily Safari user, the friction of jumping to a separate ChatGPT or Claude tab to ask about the page I was already reading was driving me nuts. The sidebar should just see what I'm looking at.
A few things I learned shipping the first few versions:
Originally I launched Claude-only, requiring users to bring their own Anthropic API key. Trial-to-paid conversion was rough, because most prospective users aren't API customers and bounced on "go set up an account at Anthropic first." I added Apple Intelligence as a no-setup fallback during the trial and conversion roughly doubled.
The lesson I think wasn't "users want a specific model." It was "users want something that works in the first 30 seconds." and will quickly bounce with the extra LLM setup friction (Writing this up as a longer post for indie devs soon.)
A few things I'm proud of:
- Was worried this was just going to feel like another wrapper around an LLM, but it turns out super handy to have right inside Safari. I use it every day. All day.
- Agent Mode lets Claude click, fill forms, and navigate Safari for you. Though of course this is finicky. Let me know if you have any problems with it.
- Workflows turn repeatable tasks (translate, summarize, your saved prompts) into one click buttons
- Memory and per-domain history so context isn't lost across visits
- Everything runs on your Mac. Your key goes straight to Anthropic. No tracking, no analytics.
I'm in the comments all day (Central time), ask me anything.
Hi Nathan! Claude in the sidebar feels like the right shape for browser-AI, congrats on your launch! Quick one: when i switch tabs mid-conversation, does the sidebar follow me to the new tab or stay anchored to where the thread started?
@hiyamojo Thanks! The sidebar stays anchored where the thread started. The sidebar is actually injected into the actual web page. Safari doesn't have a "sidebar widget api" kind of thing like Chrome, so I had to get it into the page itself to have the experience I expected. One plus of this though, is that when you pull up your history of chats, and open one up, it feels intuitive that it opens up that original URL with the chat where you last left it there. It's kind of a neat new version of "bookmarks".
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claude in safari sidebar is the right shape - chrome sidebar wars are losing to native browser integrations. nice ship nathan. one thought: build a free 30-day claude API trial built into the install flow, you'll capture all the "i want to try but don't have claude pro yet" market.
@harjjotsinghh thanks! One thing I added recently to help on that front is actually just defaulting folks to the local Apple ai model. Which works surprisingly well for small asks about a website you are on. That seems to have helped the folks deal with the no Claude account. I’ve also got support now for other major llm vendors and OpenRouter so it’s easy to try all the llms on the planet for this :)
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Hey great for safari, you can also add a auto form filling feature to this. I think a good auto form filling feature is still awaited.
@partha_gautam Totally. Did you get a chance to try agent mode? That's what that's for. It isn't super sophisticated yet but form filling is exactly what that is meant for.
Census
Census
@natekontny congrats on the launch!
Hi Nathan! Claude in the sidebar feels like the right shape for browser-AI, congrats on your launch! Quick one: when i switch tabs mid-conversation, does the sidebar follow me to the new tab or stay anchored to where the thread started?
Census
@hiyamojo Thanks! The sidebar stays anchored where the thread started. The sidebar is actually injected into the actual web page. Safari doesn't have a "sidebar widget api" kind of thing like Chrome, so I had to get it into the page itself to have the experience I expected. One plus of this though, is that when you pull up your history of chats, and open one up, it feels intuitive that it opens up that original URL with the chat where you last left it there. It's kind of a neat new version of "bookmarks".
claude in safari sidebar is the right shape - chrome sidebar wars are losing to native browser integrations. nice ship nathan. one thought: build a free 30-day claude API trial built into the install flow, you'll capture all the "i want to try but don't have claude pro yet" market.
Census
@harjjotsinghh thanks! One thing I added recently to help on that front is actually just defaulting folks to the local Apple ai model. Which works surprisingly well for small asks about a website you are on. That seems to have helped the folks deal with the no Claude account. I’ve also got support now for other major llm vendors and OpenRouter so it’s easy to try all the llms on the planet for this :)
Hey great for safari, you can also add a auto form filling feature to this. I think a good auto form filling feature is still awaited.
Census
@partha_gautam Totally. Did you get a chance to try agent mode? That's what that's for. It isn't super sophisticated yet but form filling is exactly what that is meant for.