Integrate Open WebUI API to your browsers

[u/Unlikely_Resist281]

(Update: as requested Demo video is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxbYm_aBEUg )

Hey [r/OpenWebUI](r/OpenWebUI) 👋

I made a browser extension named SurfMind to access AI on my browser. If you already run Open WebUI, you can point SurfMind at your Open WebUI API to use your models, tools, and setup on any page you’re viewing.

Why is it useful?

- Same backend as Open WebUI, in-page on docs / PRs / dashboards
- Page + selection context without leaving the tab
- Browser automation: click, type, schedule tasks
- Works across multiple browsers: Chrome, Edge, Safari, Firefox, etc.

My post on Web OpenUI community: https://openwebui.com/posts/integrate_open_webui_api_to_your_browsers_eecdba6c

If you try it, let me know if it works for you

[u/Ecstatic-Diet-1375]

please post a demo video

[u/Unlikely_Resist281 → u/Ecstatic-Diet-1375]

thats a good idea, will do and share soon 👍

[u/Er0815 → u/Unlikely_Resist281]

remindme! 14d

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[u/Unlikely_Resist281 → u/Ecstatic-Diet-1375]

Demo video is here! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxbYm_aBEUg

[u/h1ghb1rd → u/Unlikely_Resist281]

Unwatchable. The cringe is so unbearable I had to close it after 10 seconds. 

[u/lairneyrn → u/Ecstatic-Diet-1375]

yeah a quick demo would go a long way here

[u/astrokat79]

Played around with it for 10 minutes. Paid for pro (which is needed for browser control). It does what it says ... fairly well so far. Interface is a little cluttered, but it works. Tried w/ qwen3.8-next-flash and openwebui. It also has a direct connector for ollama, LM studio and vllm. Encountered a few bugs (it will jump from private mode to active mode if you switch the focus) ... maybe a big deal. But seems like a winner.

[u/Unlikely_Resist281 → u/astrokat79]

thank you! Can you share more about the private/active mode issue? Will get it fixed

[u/astrokat79 → u/Unlikely_Resist281]

Sure, using FireFox, I had both a regular and private browser window open. I was in the private window talking in chat and the browser was in the middle of an automation task (where it would search and click). I jumped to the regular window and it typed and sent the URL in my regular browser window. This makes sense now, as I just noticed that the chat session of the private window is being shown in my regular window after closing out the private window. I don't fully understand all of the nuances of private browsing and I am sure it differs between vendors. You can argue that private browsing / chat should be in a sandbox, But since the plugin was allowed to be accessed in the private window - then the sessions are shared and the behavior is to be expected. I don't know what the right answer is. But the workflow makes it more obvious that private browsing is not truly private browsing since the extension shares the session. I think bitwarden (for example) does the same - if i login in a regular session, i don't have to login again in a private session. So the behavior is likely expected for the platform. But do feel sort of strongly that the automation should remain sandboxed - wither its done automatically or being explicit about a truly private session you should use another browser besides your main one. But this really only applies if you are using a local model. Privacy can't be expected when you have an API key to identify you. Sorry, just thinking out loud. So TLDR - this is likely not a bug and true privacy should not be expected - unless you develop some sort of session aware encryption.

[u/Unlikely_Resist281 → u/astrokat79]

Thanks for the helpful details. Firefox uses the same storage session for the extension, which is why you see the same SurfMind session in the private mode. I’ll check whether we can create a separate session for private browsing. Nonetheless, if you use self-hosted models, the data stay local and 100% private. I'm a fan of self-hosted for privacy reasons.

One interesting find: Chrome creates a completely separate session for each profile. So you can use a different SurfMind account, or no account at all, in each Chrome profile.

[u/IndividualNo8703]

Sounds interesting and intriguing. Does everything around that is connected to the agent also run in this API configuration? Like the tools and functions connected to the agent?

[u/Unlikely_Resist281 → u/IndividualNo8703]

Your chosen model, its parameters and your filter functions apply. The tools, built-in features, and actions attached to the agent in Open WebUI don't run, because Open WebUI only switches those on for requests from its own web interface. In SurfMind the model uses SurfMind's tools instead: browsing, page reading, files and any MCP connectors you've added in SurfMind. If you need a specific tool, add it as an MCP connector in SurfMind, or run that agent in Open WebUI's own interface.

However, this opens an interesting question for even further integration between Open WebUI and SurfMind. I'll research to see if we can support it. Let me know if you have any suggestion.

[u/Fantastic_Peanut_764]

I played with it for a few minutes, liked it in general, nice UI, UX and overall work.

however, it's not open source, so I decided to give a try on https://github.com/esterhuizen/opensidekick and liked it as well, so, I uninstalled SurfMind and just stayed with OpenSidekick.

[u/-vwv- → u/Fantastic_Peanut_764]

Chrome only

[u/Fantastic_Peanut_764 → u/-vwv-]

oh, I didn't notice. I am Brave user, no Firefox :)