QRCGen Extension Guide

QRCGen is a browser extension that generates QR codes directly in a side panel. It creates ultra-lightweight SVG QR codes (~5 KB), share links, and embed snippets — all without leaving your current page.

Getting Started

1. Click the QRCGen icon in the browser toolbar
2. The side panel opens with a QR code for your current page
3. Copy the share link, download the SVG, or switch to the Embed tab for code snippets

Tabs

Generate

The main tab. Choose between:

• Current page — automatically uses the URL of your active browser tab. Hit the refresh button when you navigate to a new page.
• Custom input — type or paste any URL or text (up to 4,096 characters).

Options:

• Size — choose from 4 presets: 125, 200, 250, or 300 pixels.
• ECC (Error Correction) — L (7%), M (15%), Q (25%), or H (30%). Higher ECC makes codes more resilient to damage but denser.

Actions:

• Copy Share Link — copies a permanent URL to the QR code image hosted on our CDN. This is the primary action — share this link anywhere.
• Copy SVG — copies the raw SVG markup to clipboard.
• Download SVG — saves the QR code as an .svg file.

Embed

Get ready-to-use code snippets for embedding the QR code in your projects:

• HTML <img> — simple image tag
• HTML <object> — preserves SVG interactivity
• Markdown — for README files, docs, wikis
• React — functional component
• Vue — single-file component (SFC)

All snippets use the canonical CDN URL, so the QR code loads fast from the nearest edge server.

History

Recent QR codes are saved automatically when you copy a share link. Each entry shows:

• Domain or text preview
• Timestamp
• Size and ECC settings

Actions per item: copy the share link or open it in the browser.

Use “Clear all” to remove history. History is stored locally in your browser — nothing is sent to any server.

Settings

• Default size — preset used when generating new QR codes
• Default ECC — error correction level used by default
• Auto-generate on open — when enabled, a QR code is generated for the current page as soon as the panel opens
• History limit — maximum number of items to keep (25, 50, or 100)
• Theme — Dark, Light, or Auto (follows your system preference)

How It Works

QR codes are generated locally in your browser using the uqr library. No data is sent over the network for the preview.

When you copy a share link, the extension builds a canonical URL using the same SHA-256 hash algorithm as the API server. This means the URL is deterministic — the same input always produces the same link.

The extension sends a background request to warm the CDN cache, so when someone opens your share link, the QR code loads instantly from the nearest edge server.

Privacy

• QR data and generation parameters are sent to qr.qrcgen.com only to cache the QR image on the CDN edge.
• No accounts required.
• No tracking or analytics.
• History and settings are stored locally in your browser via browser.storage.local.

Permissions

• Side Panel — to display the extension UI
• Storage — to save your settings and history locally
• Active Tab + Tabs — to read the URL of your current page

Install