linker/README.md

# Reddit → Spotify / Bandcamp linker

A Firefox extension that, while you browse a Reddit thread, finds **artist / band
names and album titles** in the comments (and the post body) and turns them into
inline links to **Spotify** and **Bandcamp** — so a recommendation thread like
[this one](https://www.reddit.com/r/SlamDeathMetal/comments/1txh2r1/) becomes a
list of clickable artists and albums instead of names you have to copy-paste into
search.

The hard part is *"which words are artists/albums and which aren't?"*. Rather than
guess with client-side rules, the extension hands candidate names to a tiny local
**resolver service** that confirms each one and only links the names that are
really artists or albums. The resolver confirms names two ways (you enable either
or both): **Spotify** (exact-name match across artists **and** albums → direct
Spotify pages) and an optional **local LLM** via ollama (classifies which
candidates are artists/albums). A confirmed name links to its Spotify
artist/album page when available, otherwise to a Google search for
"<name> bandcamp". Album links are italicised so you can tell an album from an
artist at a glance.

```
 reddit page                 content script                 resolver service
 ───────────                 ──────────────                 ────────────────
 comment text  ──extract──>  candidate names  ──POST /resolve──>  Spotify API  (exact-match + direct links)
                                                                     and/or
 <a> links     <──rewrite──  confirmed links  <─────────────────  local LLM    (ollama, optional)
```

## Layout

```
service/      tiny Node.js resolver (one file, zero npm deps)
  resolver.js
  package.json
  .env.example
extension/    Firefox MV2 extension
  manifest.json
  background.js   (does the resolver fetch; talks to the content script)
  content.js
  styles.css
  icon.svg
```

## 1. Run the resolver service

Requirements: **Node 18+** (uses the built-in `fetch`). No `npm install` needed —
there are no dependencies.

```sh
cd service
node resolver.js
# resolver listening on http://localhost:8787  (spotify: off, llm: off)
```

For anything to link you need **at least one** of two gates configured —
**Spotify credentials** or the **local LLM** (or both). With neither, the resolver
warns at startup and nothing links.

### Spotify credentials (one of the two gates)

Spotify does two jobs: it **gates** a name (a candidate links only when Spotify has
that **artist or album** by exact name match) and supplies the **direct** Spotify
page link. A single search call covers both types, so albums confirm and link with
no extra setup. To enable it:

1. Create a free app at <https://developer.spotify.com/dashboard> and copy its
   **Client ID** and **Client Secret**.
2. `cp .env.example .env` and fill them in (the `.env` file is gitignored):

   ```
   SPOTIFY_CLIENT_ID=your_id
   SPOTIFY_CLIENT_SECRET=your_secret
   ```
3. Restart the service. Startup reports `(spotify: on, llm: off)`.

With Spotify alone, names that aren't on Spotify don't link — precise, but it
misses real artists Spotify doesn't carry. The local LLM gate (below) catches
those.

Quick check that it works:

```sh
curl -s localhost:8787/resolve \
  -H 'content-type: application/json' \
  -d '{"candidates":["Cerebral Bore","Devourment","Notarealband Xyzzy"]}'
# {"Cerebral Bore":{...},"Devourment":{...},"Notarealband Xyzzy":null}
```

A confirmed name links to its Spotify artist page when available, otherwise to a
Google search for "<name> bandcamp" (which surfaces the artist's Bandcamp page).

## Better matching with a local LLM (optional)

The optional LLM gate is the **matching-quality lever**: it classifies which
candidate strings are real artists/albums, so confirmed names that aren't on
Spotify still link (via the "<name> bandcamp" Google fallback). The resolver calls
ollama over **plain HTTP**, so it stays **zero npm dependencies**.

On a 16GB MacBook (M2):

1. Install ollama — <https://ollama.com/download> or `brew install ollama`.
2. Pull a small model: `ollama pull qwen2.5:3b` (~2GB; runs comfortably on a 16GB
   M2; the first resolve call warms the model so it's a little slow once, then
   fast).
3. In `service/.env`, point the resolver at ollama (and optionally override the
   model):

   ```
   OLLAMA_URL=http://localhost:11434
   OLLAMA_MODEL=qwen2.5:3b
   ```
4. Restart the resolver. Startup reports `(spotify: off, llm: qwen2.5:3b)` (or
   `(spotify: on, llm: qwen2.5:3b)` if you also set Spotify creds).
5. Confirm: `curl localhost:8787/health` should show `"llm":"qwen2.5:3b"`.

With both gates, the LLM decides which names are artists and Spotify supplies the
direct links; with the LLM alone, confirmed names get a Spotify direct link if one
exists, else the Google fallback.

## 2. Install the extension in Firefox

The extension is unpacked / unsigned, so load it as a **temporary add-on**:

1. Open `about:debugging#/runtime/this-firefox`.
2. **Load Temporary Add-on…**
3. Select `extension/manifest.json`.

It's now active until you restart Firefox. (To keep it permanently you'd sign it
via [AMO](https://addons.mozilla.org/developers/) or use Firefox Developer/ESR
with `xpinstall.signatures.required = false`.)

## 3. Use it

1. Make sure the resolver service is running.
2. Open any Reddit comments thread (a URL with `/comments/` in it).
3. Artist names and album titles become a single link — to **Spotify** if it's on
   Spotify, otherwise to **Bandcamp** — colour-coded (green = Spotify, blue =
   Google/Bandcamp); album links are italicised so they read as albums. New
   comments loaded as you scroll are linked automatically.
4. The toolbar icon shows the extension is active; its badge shows how many links were
   added on the current page.

## Troubleshooting

If nothing gets linked:

1. Confirm the resolver is running — `curl localhost:8787/health` should return
   `{"ok":true,"spotify":<bool>,"llm":<model|false>,"cached":<n>}`. If both
   `spotify` and `llm` are off, nothing can link — configure at least one gate
   above.
2. On the reddit thread, open the browser console (F12) and look for `[rsl]` logs: they
   report the root element, candidate count, and resolver responses on each scan. A
   `resolve failed` line means the background script can't reach the resolver (is it on
   `:8787`?); `candidates found: 0` means the comment text wasn't matched (please report
   the thread).
3. The content script reaches the resolver **through the extension's background script**
   — a page-context fetch to `http://localhost` is blocked by reddit's CSP — so make sure
   the add-on loaded without errors in `about:debugging`.

## Configuration

The resolver URL is the constant `RESOLVER_URL` at the top of
`extension/background.js` (default `http://localhost:8787`). If you change the host
or port, update **both** that constant **and** the matching entry in
`extension/manifest.json` → `permissions` (Firefox needs the host listed there to
let the content script reach it).

## Limitations (MVP)

- **Artist detection is mostly capitalization-based**, with a cue-phrase pass that also
  catches lowercase names right after "check out / by / fan of / recommend …". Names split
  across inline formatting (e.g. **bold** mid-name) can still be missed. The resolver's
  exact-name match keeps false *positives* low; the trade-off is some false *negatives*.
- **Album detection leans on two precise signals** — quoted titles (`"Reek of Putrefaction"`)
  and album cue phrases ("the album X", "X LP/EP"). Album free-text is noisier than artist
  names, so it deliberately over-generates only from these cues and lets the Spotify
  exact-album match (and/or the LLM) be the precision filter. A bare album title written with
  no quotes or cue may be missed.
- **Links are direct to Spotify when Spotify has the artist/album**; otherwise a confirmed
  name links to a Google search for "<name> bandcamp" (which surfaces the Bandcamp page).
- **Without Spotify creds or the LLM, nothing links** — at least one gate must be
  configured.
- **New reddit (shreddit) shadow DOM** — the comment-text scan pierces the **open**
  shadow roots of the `shreddit-*` web components within the comment tree, so it links
  comment bodies whether reddit slots them into light DOM or encapsulates them in a
  shadow root. **Closed** shadow roots are unreachable from a content script and stay
  unlinked (a browser limitation, not a setting).
- The optional LLM adds a little latency on the **first** call (ollama warms the
  model), then is fast.
- The resolver caches results in memory; it resets when you restart it.
- Built and tested as a Firefox MV2 extension.

## License

Personal project — do as you like.