Memolight

Memolight is a Firefox extension for keeping personal context about usernames, authors, and text you encounter on the web.

On built-in supported sites, Memolight shows markers next to detected usernames and authors. On other domains, text markers work only after you explicitly add the domain and grant access. You can also select text on a page and save it as a phrase memo from Firefox's context menu.

Click a marker to save a note, short label, and color. Hover over a saved marker to quickly preview its content. For newly created memos, Memolight also stores a sanitized source URL, page title, and short surrounding text snippet so you can understand the original context and reopen the source later.

Memolight automatically keeps the latest 20 versions when memo text, labels, colors, phrase display ranges, or source context changes. You can preview recent history from the marker editor, review and restore previous versions on the management page, and browse creation, update, restoration, and deletion activity. Deleted memos can be restored or permanently removed with their history.

By default, all data stays in Firefox's local extension storage. On Firefox desktop, if you choose to connect a Google account, Memolight can synchronize encrypted data between supported installations. Sync runs automatically after local changes and periodically checks for updates; you can also use Sync now. You can disconnect without deleting data, or separately delete the sync data stored in Google Drive.

Key features

• Show note markers next to usernames and authors on supported sites
• Show text markers on domains you explicitly add and allow
• Save selected page text as a phrase memo from the context menu
• Preview saved notes on hover
• Save short labels, colors, detailed notes, and source context
• Automatically keep the latest 20 versions of memo-facing changes
• Review and restore previous versions and recover deleted memos
• Search, filter, sort, and edit saved notes on the management page
• Turn markers on or off per site or domain
• Configure and test site-level and phrase-level selector scopes
• Diagnose permission, configuration, selector, target, and marker states for the current page
• Review local storage usage and preview backup changes before import
• Export notes and source context to readable CSV
• Export and import password-protected AES-GCM encrypted backups
• Optionally sync encrypted data through your Google Drive app-data space on Firefox desktop
• Resolve sync conflicts by keeping the latest active memo while preserving earlier edits in history
• Dark mode support

Privacy and Google Drive sync

• Without sync, notes and settings remain in Firefox's local extension storage on your device.
• Source context may include a sanitized page URL, page title, and short surrounding text snippet only for a memo you choose to create. Memolight does not collect your general browsing history.
• Memolight does not use user data for analytics, advertising, tracking, or sale.
• Google Drive sync is off until you explicitly connect a Google account. No separate Memolight account is required.
• When sync is enabled, memo data, labels, colors, saved phrases, source context, history, deletion markers, synced custom-site definitions, and a random installation ID are encrypted on your device with AES-GCM and sent directly to your Google Drive app-data space. They do not pass through a developer-controlled sync server.
• Memolight requests only the Google Drive app-data scope (drive.appdata). It cannot view or modify your normal Google Drive files.
• To let the same Google account reconnect on another installation, the random sync key is stored in the same hidden Google Drive app-data space. This means the design is not zero-knowledge encryption against access to that Google account or Google itself.
• On Firefox desktop, OAuth access and refresh tokens are stored only in Firefox extension local storage and are used only for Google Drive sync.
• The connected account hint is stored only in local extension state.
• Disconnecting sync does not delete local or remote data. The separate Delete Drive data action removes the sync key and encrypted snapshots from the app-data space while leaving local memos intact.
• Custom domains normally request access one domain at a time. You may optionally grant access to all HTTP and HTTPS sites once; even then, Memolight uses that access only on built-in supported sites and custom domains you explicitly add and enable. Synced custom-site definitions never grant site access automatically on another installation.
• CSV files are not encrypted, so please store them carefully. Backup files are encrypted with AES-GCM using the password you provide.

Why permissions are needed

• Storage: Saves notes, source context, memo history, recoverable deletion records, sync state, OAuth tokens on Firefox desktop, diagnostic summaries, and extension settings locally.
• Alarms: Schedules automatic sync after local changes, periodic update checks, and bounded retries while Google Drive sync is enabled.
• Identity: Opens Google's authorization flow only after you choose to connect Google Drive. It is not used to access normal Drive files.
• Site access: Detects matching usernames or text and displays markers on supported or user-approved domains.
• Optional site access: Lets you approve custom domains individually or, only if you choose, allow all HTTP and HTTPS sites once for custom-domain support.
• Scripting: Enables text markers on custom domains explicitly added and enabled by the user.
• Context menus: Saves text selected by the user as a phrase memo after an explicit context-menu action.
• Active tab: Temporarily diagnoses the current page only after you click the Memolight toolbar icon. The diagnostic checks permission, configuration, selector, target, memo, and marker counts and excludes memo content and the full page URL.
• Google API access: Exchanges OAuth tokens and reads or writes only Memolight's hidden Google Drive app-data space after you connect an account.