JobPilot — Auto-Apply Chrome Extension + Web Dashboard

JobPilot is a Chrome Extension (Manifest V3) + web dashboard that helps users automatically apply to jobs on LinkedIn and Naukri.com. Jobs are queued from the dashboard, and the extension picks them up, opens each job in a background tab, fills the application using the user’s resume data, and submits.

Links

• Live demo: https://jobpilot-wheat.vercel.app/
• LinkedIn post: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/mahijain6384_fullstackdevelopment-reactjs-nodejs-ugcPost-7453365213472661506-YRcb?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_android&rcm=ACoAAD51zQkBjftMrwOLSw88outkeMgJX8PXkrI

What’s included

• Chrome Extension (MV3): service worker orchestration + content scripts for LinkedIn/Naukri (and generic forms)
• Web dashboard (React + Vite): queue jobs and manage account/resume
• Backend API (Node.js + Express): auth, resume data, application queue, status updates
• AI Answers (OpenRouter): LLM-powered answers to application/screening questions (enable via OPENROUTER_API_KEY)

Tech stack

• Frontend: React, Vite, Tailwind CSS
• Backend: Node.js, Express, MongoDB (Mongoose)
• Extension: Chrome Manifest V3, content scripts, chrome.storage, chrome.tabs, chrome.scripting, chrome.alarms
• AI: OpenRouter (optional)

Repo structure

jobpilot/
  client/        # React dashboard (Vite)
  server/        # Node/Express API
  extension/     # Chrome extension (MV3)

Installation & local setup

Prerequisites

• Node.js (LTS recommended) and npm
• MongoDB database (local or Atlas)
• Google OAuth credentials (optional if you want Google sign-in)
• Chrome (to load the extension)

1) Backend (API)

cd server
npm install

Create your env file:

• Copy server/.env.example → server/.env
• Fill in at least: MONGODB_URI, JWT_SECRET, and FRONTEND_URL
• (Optional) Enable AI Answers (OpenRouter): set OPENROUTER_API_KEY in server/.env

Run the server:

npm run dev:server

By default it runs on http://localhost:5000.

2) Frontend (Dashboard)

In a new terminal:

cd client
npm install
npm run dev

This starts the dashboard (typically http://localhost:5173).

If your frontend expects an API base URL, set it via your Vite env (example):

VITE_API_URL=http://localhost:5000

3) Chrome Extension (Load unpacked)

1. Open Chrome → chrome://extensions
2. Enable Developer mode
3. Click Load unpacked
4. Select this folder: jobpilot/extension

The extension communicates with:

• The dashboard (localhost during dev / your deployed site in production)
• The backend API (localhost during dev / your deployed API in production)

Optional: Build a ZIP of the extension for download

The client project includes a script that zips extension/ into client/public/JobPilot-Extension.zip:

cd client
npm run build:ext