Small tools, better software: the idea behind Brownsmith Plugins
Explore Brownsmith Dynamics' open-source utilities, our plans for npm, VS Code, Chrome and Python, and help shape the small tools we build next.
Sometimes software works exactly as intended, and you still wish one small part of it felt better.
Explore Brownsmith PluginsA link could be easier to move to your phone. A sentence on your website could be easier to edit. A simple document task could happen on your own device, with your files staying there.
Each improvement is modest. When it touches something you do regularly, though, it can make the software around you more comfortable to use.
That is the idea behind Brownsmith Plugins: a growing collection of small, focused utilities from Brownsmith Dynamics. Some address a specific problem. Others offer a quality-of-life improvement, a more private way to work, or a little more control over an everyday task.
We think those are all good reasons to build something.
A Useful Tool Can Start with a Small Preference
A utility earns its place when it makes a task better for the person doing it. That might mean fewer steps, clearer controls, or less information leaving their device.
Software projects often begin with a problem statement. What is broken? Where is the bottleneck? What needs fixing? Those questions matter, but they leave room for another one: what would make this nicer to use?
You might already have a perfectly workable way to share a page. A QR code beside the page could still be convenient. You might know how to find a heading in a source file. An editing panel that puts the words together could still make a round of revisions more pleasant.
That is what we mean by quality of life in software. The task may already be possible; a small utility makes doing it feel easier.
For us, improving software from the ground up starts with paying attention to these details. A more thoughtful interaction is a worthwhile result in its own right.
For People Building Their Own Software and Managing Their Own Work
Our target audience is people developing their own software: independent developers, business owners creating internal tools, and people using AI to build something suited to their own work.
When you build niche software for yourself, you make decisions about the details too. How will you edit the words? Which small functions could you reuse? Where should your files be processed? These are specific needs that emerge while building and looking after your own tools.
Small utilities fit naturally into that work. An extension can make one part of development easier. A package can supply a focused capability you can reuse. A local tool can help you handle a routine task with more control over your information.
We want this collection to be useful in an era when people can build software around their own niche needs and take more of their everyday work into their own hands. Tell us about the details you wish someone had already made easier.
The Collection Has Already Started
The plugin hub currently brings together four tools, each with a focused purpose:
Page QR turns the current page address into a QR code you can scan, download or copy.
Prompt Composer helps you review, format and reuse prompts near compatible browser editors.
JSX Copy Editor brings supported literal JSX and TSX text into an editing panel grouped by source file.
PPDF — Privacy PDF handles tasks such as organising PDF pages, creating PDFs from images and compressing image-heavy PDFs locally in Chrome, without document uploads or an account.
These are early examples of the direction we want to develop. The hub links to each tool's guide, privacy information and source code. Availability and setup vary by project, so the individual pages are the best place to start.
The Plan: Build for the Places People Already Work
We want to grow the collection across npm packages, VS Code extensions, Chrome extensions and Python packages. The format should follow the job and the people using it.
For developers working in JavaScript or TypeScript, an npm package could make a focused piece of functionality easy to reuse across projects. A small capability becomes more useful when someone else can build on it.
In VS Code, we want to explore utilities that make everyday development and editing more comfortable. JSX Copy Editor is one example of giving a specific task its own clearer interface.
For Chrome, the opportunity is close to the work happening in the browser: handling a page, preparing text, working with a document or making a repeated action easier to reach.
Python packages would bring the same approach to scripts and automation. A utility with a clear purpose could become a reusable part of someone's existing workflow.
This is the direction for the collection, with npm and Python packages still ahead of us. Recommendations will help us decide which ideas deserve attention and where they would be most useful.
Privacy Belongs in the Design
We want privacy improvements to be part of how a utility works from the beginning. For tasks suited to local processing, keeping information on the user's device is a useful starting point.
PPDF makes that idea concrete: its document work happens locally in Chrome. A person can organise pages or create a PDF from images while keeping the document on their device.
Different tools have different needs. Each should explain what it accesses, what it stores and whether anything leaves the device. We want people to understand that before they decide to use it.
Open Source Because We Believe in It
Everything we build for this collection is open-source software because Brownsmith Dynamics believes in open source.
We believe people should be able to inspect the tools they use, understand how they work and contribute improvements. Making the code available also gives other developers something to learn from and build upon, under each project's licence.
That matters for a collection built around small ideas. Someone may spot a simpler approach, find an edge case or recognise a use we had not considered. Open development gives those observations a place to go.
You can explore the projects in our GitHub repository. Feedback about the experience is just as welcome as a code contribution.
Tell Us What Would Make Your Software Better
Visit plugins.brownsmithdynamics.com and explore the collection. If something fits the way you work, try it and tell us how it feels.
We would also like your recommendations. What small action do you repeat more often than you would like? Which tool could give you better control over your information? Is there something you regularly think, “I wish this worked a little differently”?
Tell us what you do today and what you would prefer. You can send us a suggestion or open an issue on GitHub.
Your idea can be small. That is the point of the collection.
Sources and Supporting Material
These references support factual claims in the article. Brownsmith's interpretation and forward-looking analysis remain editorial judgement rather than vendor promises.