Create a browser extension (GSoC task)

Introduction

As you probably know already, The Software Heritage archive can be browsed on the Web. The code powering that interface is a Django application that also implements a Web API.

Task description

When browsing a repository (on GitHub, Gitlab, ...) or a package description (on NPM, Debian), people may want to check when (and if) this repository or package was last archived in Software Heritage. Currently, this means opening the archive in a new tab, and searching for the URL, and looking at the status. Then, they can trigger a new archival with another few clicks (via the "Save Code Now" feature).

This workflow may be streamlined by the creation of a browser extension or bookmarklet. This extension/bookmarklet would, for example, show an icon next to the URL bar to show the status of the currently visited repository; and clicking it would show details (like the date of last visit) and run "Save Code Now" in just two clicks.

Expected duration

175 hours. Difficulty: easy

Desirable skills

• Python 3 and Git are a must to work on any Software Heritage project
• Javascript experience is also needed for this project
• Prior experience in working with browser extensions is a plus

Potential mentors

• Antoine Lambert (anlambert on IRC)
• Valentin Lorentz (vlorentz on IRC)
• Jayesh Velayudhan (jayeshv on IRC)