Project Info

Bramble

Inspiration

I heard a co-host on the WAN Show mention wanting a browser extension that helps you avoid mega-corporations and find local alternatives. I thought it sounded like a fun hackathon project, so I built it.

What it does

Bramble is a Chrome extension that works when you're shopping on Amazon, Walmart, Target, or Best Buy. It identifies who actually owns the brand you're looking at, shows you local stores nearby that might carry the item, and suggests small online retailers as alternatives. You can set which brands you want to avoid and see everything on a map with directions. How I built it It's a Chrome extension using Claude API to analyze products and identify parent companies, Google Places API to find local stores, Brave Search API to find small online retailers, and Leaflet for the interactive map. The background service worker handles all the API calls to avoid CORS issues. I used Claude Code to speed up development during the 24-hour time crunch. Challenges Google and Bing both deprecated their web search APIs right when I needed them, so I had to switch to Brave Search API. Getting the extension to work across different retail sites was tricky since they all use different page structures. The biggest challenge was keeping it honest. Early versions just showed nearby stores without knowing if they had the product, which felt misleading. I changed it to say "call to confirm" instead of pretending to have data I don't have. What I learned I learned how Chrome extensions actually work, how to handle API calls in browser extensions without CORS errors, and how to integrate multiple APIs into one project. I also learned that building something mission-driven means saying no to shortcuts, like suggesting Target as an "alternative" to Amazon when they're both mega-corporations.

What's next

Add real inventory data where possible, let users submit their own local store recommendations, and maybe expand to other browsers. The goal is to make it actually easier to shop locally instead of just telling people they should.

Bramble 🌿

Shop independently - find local alternatives to mega-corporations.

A Chrome extension that helps you discover local businesses and ethical alternatives when shopping on major retail sites.

Features

Product Detection: Automatically detects products on Amazon, Walmart, Target, and Best Buy
Side Panel UI: Beautiful, collapsible side panel with smooth animations
Company Analysis: Identifies parent companies and provides ethical scores
Alternative Recommendations: Suggests local businesses, sustainable options, and fair-trade alternatives
Cost-Benefit Analysis: Shows the positive impact of choosing ethical alternatives
Customizable Settings: Toggle preferences for local businesses, avoiding specific corporations, and sustainable products
Impact Tracking: Keep track of your ethical shopping contributions

Installation

Development Mode

Clone or download this repository
Open Chrome and navigate to chrome://extensions/
Enable "Developer mode" in the top right corner
Click "Load unpacked"
Select the treehacks-project directory
The Bramble extension is now installed!

Using the Extension

Visit any product page on:
- Amazon.com
- Walmart.com
- Target.com
- BestBuy.com
Wait for the extension to detect the product (you'll see a green checkmark badge)
Click the floating toggle button on the right side of the page to open the side panel
Browse ethical alternatives and make informed decisions!
Click the extension icon in the toolbar to customize your preferences

File Structure

treehacks-project/
├── manifest.json          # Extension manifest (Manifest V3)
├── content.js            # Content script for product detection
├── sidepanel.html        # Side panel UI structure
├── sidepanel.js          # Side panel controller
├── popup.html            # Extension settings popup
├── popup.js              # Popup controller
├── background.js         # Service worker for messaging
├── styles.css            # Cohesive design system
├── icons/
│   ├── icon16.png        # 16x16 icon
│   ├── icon48.png        # 48x48 icon
│   └── icon128.png       # 128x128 icon
└── README.md            # This file

Design System

Bramble uses a cohesive earth-tone color palette:

Primary Green: #7ba05b - Main brand color
Dark Green: #5d7e47 - Hover states and emphasis
Light Green: #9cb87f - Accents
Cream: #f5f3ed - Background
Warm Gray: #d4d0c8 - Borders and subtle elements
Text Dark: #2d4a2b - Primary text

Settings

Configure your preferences in the extension popup:

🏪 Support Local Businesses - Prioritize local shops in recommendations
🌱 Sustainable Products - Prioritize eco-friendly alternatives
🚫 Brands to Avoid - Add any brands or companies you want to avoid (e.g., Amazon, Nestlé, Walmart, etc.)

Future Enhancements

Integration with real alternative product databases
User reviews and ratings for alternatives
Price comparison tools
Carbon footprint calculator
Community-sourced alternatives
Browser extension for Firefox
Mobile app version

Technology Stack

Manifest V3: Latest Chrome extension standard
Vanilla JavaScript: Modern ES6+ syntax
CSS3: Animations and responsive design
Chrome Storage API: Settings and data persistence
Chrome Messaging API: Inter-component communication

Privacy

Bramble respects your privacy:

No data collection or tracking
No external API calls (in current version)
All data stored locally on your device
Settings synced via Chrome Sync (optional)
Open source and transparent

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit issues or pull requests.

License

MIT License - Feel free to use and modify as needed.

Credits

Created for TreeHacks 2026 🌲

Note: This is a prototype with placeholder data for alternatives. In production, this would integrate with real databases of ethical businesses and product alternatives.

Analysis

Compare with all teams

View

Metric

JosePerezIV
48
Claude Sonnet 4.5
25

Figures cover GitHub contributors during the hackathon window. A co-authored commit counts in full for each author, so per-member totals add up to more than the whole-team figures.

Technology

Found in codeClaimed only

CSSIn code
HTMLIn code
JavaScriptIn code

3 of 3 appear in the indexed code.

AI coding agents

Claude CodeCommits

Detected from committed agent config files and commit authorship. Absence of a signal is not proof an agent was unused.

Codebase size

Source size

312 KB

Source files

Counts recognized source files only; vendored directories, binaries and lockfiles are excluded, so this is smaller than the repository on disk.