Automotive

Historia Szkód - Browser Plugin

Browser extension enabling automatic verification of vehicle damage history while browsing car listings

1 click VIN number detection

3 browsers

Industry Automotive

Project type Browser extension

Cooperation Datazen

Technologies

JavaScript

Chrome API Manifest V3

The challenge

What the client was facing

Users of car listing platforms had to manually copy VIN numbers. The client wanted to automate this.

Approach

What we did structurally

VIN detection

The plugin automatically scans page content and detects vehicle VIN numbers without any user intervention.

Instant verification

With a single click, the user can check a vehicle's damage history without leaving the current page.

Non-invasive integration

The extension runs in the background without affecting the operation of visited websites.

Process

How did the delivery process look?

Requirements analysis

We started with a detailed analysis of the most popular car listing services in Poland and how VIN numbers are presented.

Number detection and API integration

We implemented a VIN number recognition algorithm in various formats and contexts. We integrated the plugin with the Historia Szkód platform API.

Publication and support

After passing Google's review process, the plugin was published on the Chrome Web Store and is publicly available to all users.

Building a product with a similar challenge?

Describe the project

Outcome

Faster vehicle history verification

90% reduction in verification time

Process automation reduced the time needed to check a damage history to a few seconds

Thanks to the Historia Szkód plugin, users can instantly check a vehicle's history without leaving the listing page.

Project context

About the project

The Historia Szkód plugin is a Chrome browser extension that automatically detects VIN numbers on car listing sites and enables instant vehicle damage history checking — with a single click, no copying of numbers, no switching tabs.

The problem was straightforward: users of the HistoriaSzkod.pl platform had to manually copy a VIN from a listing, open the platform in a new tab, paste the number, and wait for the result. Too much friction, too little adoption.

Plugin as a growth tool

A publicly available extension in the Chrome Web Store isn’t just a convenience for existing users — it’s a channel for acquiring new ones. Everyone who installs the plugin experiences the value of the HistoriaSzkod.pl platform first-hand, every day. That’s lead generation that works without an ad budget and scales on its own.

The VIN detection algorithm recognises numbers on various listing services — Otomoto, OLX, mobile.de — regardless of page structure. The user sees the result in the context of the listing, without leaving the page.

Technical implementation

We built the plugin to the Manifest V3 standard — the current Chrome standard. The project was carried out in collaboration with Datazen. We support three browsers: Chrome, Edge, and Firefox. After deployment, we took over maintenance — responding to changes in listing service APIs and browser updates.