The Reality Button

A Chrome extension that lets you select any online claim and instantly receive a grounded credibility assessment.

What it does

The Reality Button analyzes text (headlines, social posts, claims) and returns:

• Verdict (true / false / misleading / mixed / unclear)
• Confidence score
• Concise explanation
• Supporting sources

Why I built this

Misinformation spreads faster than verification. Most people don’t fact-check because it’s too slow and inconvenient.

This project reduces that friction to one click.

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How it works

Frontend

• Chrome extension with a popup UI and user-initiated right-click action
• Users can paste a claim or verify selected webpage text without broad page access

Backend

• Node.js server deployed on Google Cloud Run
• Firestore-backed monthly allowances protect sponsored usage from runaway costs

AI + Retrieval

• Supports Gemini 3.6 Flash (recommended default), Gemini 3.5 Flash, and Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite
• Enables live Google Search grounding for current information and supporting sources
• Parses output into structured format

Architecture Chrome Extension → Cloud Run API → Gemini (with search grounding) → Structured response

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Key design decisions

1. Grounded AI (not just LLM output)

The system uses live search instead of relying on model memory, which is critical for:

• current events
• political claims
• fast-changing information

2. Free monthly allowance with optional BYOK

New users can verify up to 20 claims each month without creating an API key or billing account:

• sponsored requests use a fixed, cost-controlled model
• Firestore enforces per-installation and global monthly ceilings
• an anonymous installation identifier is pseudonymized before quota records are stored
• advanced users can optionally connect their own Gemini API key and choose a supported model

3. Robust parsing over strict JSON generation

Instead of forcing fragile JSON from the model:

• the system uses structured text
• parses deterministically on the backend
• improves reliability

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Example

Input "Vaccines cause autism"

Output

• Verdict: FALSE
• Confidence: 95%
• Explanation + sources (CDC, WHO)

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How to run locally

1. Backend

cd Server
npm install
export SPONSORED_GEMINI_API_KEY="your-server-side-key"
export INSTALL_ID_HASH_SECRET="a-long-random-secret"
export FIRESTORE_DATABASE_ID="(default)" # use the exact ID shown in Firestore
node server.js

2. Chrome extension

Go to chrome://extensions Enable Developer Mode Click "Load unpacked" Select project folder

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Setup

In the extension:

• Review and accept the data-use disclosure
• Use the included monthly allowance without an account, credit card, or API key
• Optionally connect a personal Gemini API key and choose a supported model in Settings

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Status

Published Chrome extension with no-key onboarding, a sponsored monthly allowance, optional BYOK, grounded verification, minimized Chrome permissions, and documented privacy practices.

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Privacy

Read the Privacy Policy for details about claim processing, API-key handling, retention, and user controls.

Future improvements

• Better confidence calibration
• Claim clustering and repeated-claim detection
• Caching to reduce API calls
• Source-to-claim citation mapping