Article Extractor (Newspaper3k + Chrome Extension)

Extract clean sentences from news articles with one click, right from your browser.

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Project Overview

This tool is a Chrome Extension that connects to a local Flask server using newspaper3k and NLTK to extract the content of news articles and export it as a JSON file of sentences.

• One-click extraction: Download sentences from any news/web article instantly.
• NLP-grade results: Robust parsing and sentence tokenization using NLTK punkt.
• Local & private: All processing is local; no article data leaves your machine.
• Simple UI: Clean status updates and download flow.

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Initial Setup

1. Clone the Repository

git clone <your-repo-url>
cd <repo-folder>

2. Install Python Dependencies (Backend)

Python 3.8+ recommended

pip install flask flask-cors newspaper3k nltk==3.8.1

3. Download NLTK 'punkt' Model

Run this once to get NLTK's sentence splitter:

python download_nltk_data.py

• This downloads the tokenizer to your user nltk_data folder (cross-platform, no hardcoding).

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Running the Flask Server

python app.py

• The server listens at: http://127.0.0.1:5000/extract
• Leave this terminal running while using the extension.

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Chrome Extension: Setup & Usage

1. Load the Extension (Developer Mode)

• Go to chrome://extensions in Chrome
• Enable Developer Mode (top right)
• Click Load unpacked and select the repo folder

2. Permissions

• Approve downloads and localhost access if prompted.

3. Usage

1. Open any article in Chrome
2. Click the extension icon, then click Extract Text & Download JSON
3. A .json file will be downloaded containing the article’s sentences

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File Structure

• app.py – Flask server (Python)
• download_nltk_data.py – NLTK model downloader (Python)
• background.js – Extension background logic (JS)
• popup.js – Extension popup logic (JS)
• popup.html – UI for the extension popup
• manifest.json – Chrome extension config (MV3)

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Troubleshooting

• No download/status?

  • Ensure Flask server is running, with no errors
  • Reload the extension in chrome://extensions after edits
  • Approve permissions for downloads and localhost requests
  • Some browsers may block http://127.0.0.1; see Chrome flags or try Edge/Firefox
  • If you see NLTK errors, re-run download_nltk_data.py or check nltk_data path in app.py

• Still stuck?

  • Check the extension background page console for errors
  • Test Flask directly with curl/Postman

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Credits

• Article extraction: newspaper3k
• Sentence splitting: NLTK | nltk.PyPI 3.8.1
• Chrome Extension: Manifest V3
• Author: Avijit Roy

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Built with ❤️ by Avijit Roy.