🚀 Features

Core Functionality

• RSVP Reading: Read text word-by-word at configurable speeds (WPM)
• Hover Activation: Hold a modifier key (CMD/Meta or Alt) and hover over any text to start reading
• Smart Text Selection: Automatically extracts visible text from any webpage element
• Expandable Selection: Expand text selection to include parent elements while reading
• Visual Feedback: Blue outline highlights the text being read
• ORP Highlighting: Highlights the Optimal Recognition Point (the letter your eye naturally focuses on) in each word

Customization

• Adjustable Reading Speed: Set your preferred words per minute (WPM)
• Customizable Display: Adjust scale, colors (background, text, accent), and timing
• Configurable Hotkeys: Customize trigger and expand keys
• Punctuation Handling: Automatic pauses at sentence endings and commas
• Start Delay: Configurable delay before RSVP begins
• New Line Support: Custom character for representing line breaks

📦 Installation

From Source

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/codyadam/read-it-fast.git
   cd read-it-fast
   

2. Install dependencies:

   bun install
   

   (or npm install if using npm)

3. Build the extension:

   bun run build
   

   (or npm run build)

4. Load in your browser:

   • Chrome/Edge:
     • Open chrome://extensions/
     • Enable "Developer mode"
     • Click "Load unpacked"
     • Select the .output/chrome-mv3 directory
   • Firefox:
     • Open about:debugging
     • Click "This Firefox"
     • Click "Load Temporary Add-on"
     • Select the manifest.json from .output/firefox-mv2 directory

Development Mode

For development with hot-reloading:

# Chrome/Edge
bun run dev

# Firefox
bun run dev:firefox

🎯 Usage

Basic Usage

1. Open the extension popup (click the extension icon) to configure your settings
2. Navigate to any webpage
3. Hold the trigger key (default: CMD on Mac, Alt on Windows/Linux)
4. Hover your mouse over any text element
5. Watch the words appear one at a time at your configured reading speed

Keyboard Shortcuts

• Trigger Key (default: Meta/CMD): Hold to activate RSVP reading
• Expand Key (default: Shift): While holding trigger, press to expand selection to parent element
• Release Trigger: Stops reading and hides the RSVP display

Expanding Text Selection

While holding the trigger key and reading text:

• Press the Expand Key (Shift by default) to include more surrounding text
• The selection expands to the parent element, capturing more context
• A blue outline shows the current text selection

⚙️ Settings

Access settings by clicking the extension icon. All settings are saved automatically.

Reading Settings

| Setting | Description | Default | Range | | -------------------- | ---------------------------------------- | ------- | ------ | | Words Per Minute | Reading speed in words per minute | 200 | 1-9999 | | Start Delay (s) | Delay in seconds before RSVP begins | 0.5 | 0-10 | | End Pause (mult) | Multiplier for pause at sentence endings | 3.0 | 1-20 |

Display Settings

| Setting | Description | Default | | ---------------- | --------------------------------- | ----------- | ------- | | Scale | Size multiplier for the RSVP card | 1.0 | 0.1-5.0 | | Background | Background color (hex with alpha) | #000000f0 | | Text Color | Text color | #FFFFFF | | Accent Color | ORP highlight color | #FB2C36 |

Hotkey Settings

| Setting | Description | Default | | --------------- | ------------------------------------------------------ | ------- | | Trigger Key | Key to hold for RSVP activation | Meta | | Expand Key | Key to press while holding trigger to expand selection | Shift |

Advanced Settings

| Setting | Description | Default | | ----------------- | --------------------------------------- | ------- | | New Line Char | Character used to represent line breaks | › |

Supported Hotkey Values

• Meta - Command key (Mac) / Windows key (Windows)
• Alt - Alt/Option key
• Control or Ctrl - Control key
• Shift - Shift key

🔬 How RSVP Works

RSVP (Rapid Serial Visual Presentation) is a reading technique that displays words one at a time at a fixed location, eliminating the need for eye movement. This extension implements RSVP with:

• Optimal Recognition Point (ORP): Each word highlights the letter where your eye naturally focuses, based on word length:

  • 1-3 letters: First letter
  • 4-5 letters: Second letter
  • 6-9 letters: Third letter
  • 10-12 letters: Fourth letter
  • 13+ letters: Logarithmic calculation

• Smart Timing:

  • Base delay calculated from WPM: 60000ms / WPM
  • Longer pauses at sentence endings (., !, ?, ;, :)
  • Medium pauses at commas
  • Automatic handling of line breaks

• Text Extraction: Intelligently extracts visible text while ignoring:

  • Hidden elements
  • Script and style tags
  • Elements with aria-hidden="true"
  • Elements with display: none or visibility: hidden

🛠️ Development

Project Structure

read-it-fast/
├── components/
│   ├── hover-card.tsx      # RSVP display component
│   └── hover-logic.tsx     # Main hover and keyboard logic
├── entrypoints/
│   ├── background.ts       # Background script
│   ├── content.tsx         # Content script (injected into pages)
│   └── popup/
│       ├── App.tsx         # Settings popup UI
│       ├── main.tsx        # Popup entry point
│       └── index.html      # Popup HTML
├── hooks/
│   └── useSettings.ts      # Settings management hook
├── utils/
│   └── rsvp.ts             # RSVP calculation utilities
├── panda.config.ts         # Panda CSS configuration
└── wxt.config.ts           # WXT extension configuration

Available Scripts

# Development (Chrome/Edge)
bun run dev

# Development (Firefox)
bun run dev:firefox

# Build for production
bun run build

# Build for Firefox
bun run build:firefox

# Create zip for distribution
bun run zip

# Type checking
bun run compile

Tech Stack

• WXT - Browser extension framework
• React - UI library
• TypeScript - Type safety
• Panda CSS - CSS-in-JS styling
• Geist Mono Variable - Monospace font

Building for Distribution

1. Build the extension:

   bun run build
   

2. Create a zip file:

   bun run zip
   

3. The zip file will be created in the project root, ready for submission to browser extension stores.

🎨 Customization Examples

Faster Reading (400 WPM)

Set Words Per Minute to 400 for speed reading.

Slower, More Comfortable Reading (150 WPM)

Set Words Per Minute to 150 for a more relaxed pace.

Custom Color Scheme

• Background: #1a1a1af0 (dark gray)
• Text: #e0e0e0 (light gray)
• Accent: #4a9eff (blue)

Larger Display

Set Scale to 1.5 for a larger, more visible RSVP card.

📝 Notes

• The extension works on all websites (<all_urls>)
• Settings are stored locally in your browser
• The RSVP card is positioned near your cursor but stays within viewport bounds
• Text extraction respects the page's visual structure and ignores hidden content

🔗 Learn More

• RSVP on Wikipedia
• WXT Documentation
• Project Repository

📄 License

This project is private and not licensed for public use.

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Happy fast reading! 🚀