Shipped tool

Discord Server Tracker

A Manifest V3 browser extension that turns Discord server-listing activity into a searchable local history with favourites, notes, statistics and archive management.

Role
Product & Extension Engineering
Period
2023—present
Categories
Frontend
Stack
Manifest V3JavaScriptViteChrome APIsContent ScriptsService WorkerHTMLCSS
Open in Chrome Web StoreView source
Discord Server Tracker dashboard showing search, activity statistics, filters and demonstration server history in the dark theme.

Key metrics

Weekly users
70
Owner-approved weekly usage aggregate for the published extension.
Current approved snapshot; this is not a public Chrome Web Store counter.
Supported server directories
4
Distinct listing sites covered by release v4.0.2.
Current release scope, counted by supported host.
Requested extension permission
1
The Manifest V3 permissions list contains only storage.
Host matches are documented separately and are not presented as extension permissions.

Overview

Server listing sites are useful for discovery, but the browsing trail disappears quickly. Remembering which communities looked relevant, when they were visited and why they were worth returning to becomes a manual task spread across tabs or external notes.

Discord Server Tracker captures an explicit join-button interaction on supported listing websites and turns it into a browser-local activity library. The compact popup answers quick questions; the full dashboard adds search, filters, visit history, favourites, attached notes, statistics and a reversible archive.

Challenge

The four supported listing websites expose different markup, identifiers and join-link behaviour, and some update their server cards dynamically. Capture has to recognize the same user intent without turning the content script into one site-specific monolith.

Manifest V3 background workers are short-lived. The popup, dashboard and content scripts still need one predictable path to local state even when the worker is restarted between interactions.

Existing users already have local history in older record shapes. New fields for first visit, favourites, archive state, notes and tags must not discard that history, while imported backups need understandable merge and replace semantics.

Solution

A content script delegates site-specific DOM reading to small adapters. When a supported join control is activated, it normalizes the server identity, source, links and visit timestamp, updates the local record and reflects tracked state back on the listing page.

The MV3 service worker provides a narrow message bridge around chrome.storage.local. Popup and dashboard code normalize records when reading them, write migrated shapes back in place and keep history, preferences and user annotations on the device without an account or remote service.

The popup focuses on recent, favourite and most-visited servers with direct search and actions. The dashboard expands the same data into aggregate activity, source and date filters, sorting, complete visit history, notes, favourites and archive management. Settings cover language, system/light/dark themes, time format, export, import and reset.

Responsibilities

  • Define the product around remembered discovery and return visits rather than passive global browsing history.
  • Implement adapters for server-discord.com, myserver.gg, discordserver.info and disboard.org.
  • Build content-script capture and listing-page feedback for supported join-button interactions.
  • Design the MV3 service-worker message boundary and browser-local record model.
  • Develop the compact popup and full dashboard with search, filters, statistics, notes, favourites, history and archive actions.
  • Implement JSON export and import with explicit merge or replace modes and in-place migration of legacy records.
  • Refactor legacy monolithic scripts into modular Vite entry points and package the Chrome MV3 release archive.

Architecture

Interface

  • Popup quick views

  • Searchable dashboard

Services

  • Content script event capture

  • MV3 service worker

  • Merge or replace import

  • Legacy record migration

Data

  • Local history storage

Automation

  • Supported listing websites

Infrastructure

  • Vite-built MV3 package

  1. Supported join-button interaction

    Supported listing websites -> Content script event capture

  2. Normalized server and visit event

    Content script event capture -> MV3 service worker

  3. Local read, write or removal

    MV3 service worker -> Local history storage

  4. Recent and favourite quick views

    Local history storage -> Popup quick views

  5. Search, statistics and archive state

    Local history storage -> Searchable dashboard

  6. Validated merge or replace

    Merge or replace import -> Local history storage

  7. Normalized legacy record

    Legacy record migration -> Local history storage

  8. Built content entry point

    Content script event capture -> Vite-built MV3 package

  9. Manifest V3 background lifecycle

    MV3 service worker -> Vite-built MV3 package

  10. Packaged browser action

    Popup quick views -> Vite-built MV3 package

  11. Packaged full-page interface

    Searchable dashboard -> Vite-built MV3 package

Technical decisions

Track explicit join intent

Problem
Recording every page view would create noisy history and broaden the extension beyond the action the user actually wants to remember.
Decision
Capture only supported join-button interactions and store the associated server record and timestamp.
Reason
Each visit count represents deliberate interest rather than passive navigation.
Trade-off
A server viewed without activating its join control is intentionally absent from the library.

Isolate listing websites behind adapters

Problem
Each supported source uses different selectors, identifiers and URL patterns, and direct conditionals inside the event handler would become fragile.
Decision
Keep source-specific extraction and link construction in site adapters while sharing one capture lifecycle.
Reason
A markup change stays bounded to one adapter and the stored record remains consistent across sources.
Trade-off
Supported sites still require maintenance when their public markup changes.

Keep the complete library local

Problem
A hosted account would add authentication, synchronization and privacy obligations to a local activity-history tool.
Decision
Use chrome.storage.local through a narrow MV3 message bridge and request only the storage permission.
Reason
History, notes and preferences remain on the user's device and the extension works without a backend.
Trade-off
Cross-device continuity depends on explicit JSON export and import rather than automatic sync.

Normalize and migrate records on read

Problem
Legacy records use older field names and may not contain the newer history, favourite, archive or note fields.
Decision
Normalize every recognized record into the current shape, derive safe defaults and persist only entries that changed.
Reason
Existing history moves forward without a destructive one-time reset.
Trade-off
The read path owns compatibility logic and must remain careful with malformed imported data.

Separate quick access from library management

Problem
A browser popup is efficient for a few recent records but too constrained for statistics, dense filters and archive work.
Decision
Keep recent, favourite and most-visited views in the popup and move full management into a dedicated dashboard.
Reason
Each interface matches the time and space available to the task.
Trade-off
The extension maintains two coordinated presentations of the same local data.

Media

Gallery

Screenshot

01 / 06

Real Discord Server Tracker dashboard with search, activity cards, filters and server-history actions in the dark theme.

The current dashboard UI is shown with demonstration server names and activity values. Search, source/date filters, sorting, aggregate cards and record actions are the real product interface; the displayed counts are not adoption metrics.

Outcomes

  • Discord Server Tracker is available as a standalone Chrome Web Store extension with a public source repository and a complete product workflow.
  • Supported join interactions become a searchable and user-curated local history instead of disappearing after the listing tab closes.
  • Migration, merge/replace import and modular packaging let the extension evolve without presenting demo statistics as real adoption or activity claims.

Verified highlights

  • Release v4.0.2 is the current verified Chrome Web Store and source release.
  • The background service worker exposes bounded local-storage message handlers for extension contexts.
  • The popup provides recent, favourite and most-visited views, search and direct server actions.
  • The dashboard provides source/date filters, sorting, activity statistics, full visit history, notes, favourites and archive management.
  • Stored records are normalized in place from legacy fields, while JSON import supports merge and replace modes.
  • English and Russian interfaces support system, light and dark themes plus 12-hour and 24-hour time formats.
  • The active Vite build separates popup, dashboard, background and content entry points and can package a root-level MV3 archive.

Learnings

  • Small browser tools become more useful when capture is tied to a meaningful user action and retrieval receives as much design attention as collection.
  • Local-first does not remove data-lifecycle work: schema migration, import conflict rules, reset scope and browser-worker restarts still need explicit behaviour.