AI Sidebar is a small Chrome extension from an independent developer that puts an OpenAI GPT chat box in Chrome's side panel. Rather than a full AI browser, it is a focused utility: open the panel, ask a question, or hand it the page you are on and ask for a summary or a rewrite. That design keeps the current page visible while you work, which matters more than it sounds like when you are comparing several sources or reading documentation.
The extension deliberately brings your own key. You paste an OpenAI API key into the settings, and the extension makes requests on your behalf, so you control which models you can access and how much you spend. There is no bundled subscription and no developer markup. In exchange, you need a working OpenAI account and you are responsible for keeping the key secure.
Expectations should stay modest. The listing shows version 1.0, updated in August 2024, and around two dozen users with no ratings — essentially an early, personal-scale project rather than a polished commercial assistant. It is genuinely useful for summarization and quick drafting, but anyone wanting deep integrations, multimodal support or frequent updates should compare it against larger, actively maintained AI sidebar extensions before committing.
