Chrome extension to export, share, and publish your YC application as Markdown, PDF, or a shareable web link.
The Y Combinator application portal (apply.ycombinator.com) has no built-in export, download, or share option. If you want to back up your YC application, share it with co-founders for review, or save it before the deadline — you're stuck copy-pasting question by question.
YC Exporter is a free Chrome extension that extracts your entire Y Combinator application from apply.ycombinator.com and lets you:
- 🌐 Publish to Web — Instantly create a shareable link (via Telegraph) and copy it to your clipboard
- 📋 Copy as Markdown — One-click copy of your full application in clean Markdown
- 📄 Download .md — Save a Markdown file to your computer
- 🖨️ Download PDF — Open a styled print view for PDF export
All with a single click — no manual copy-pasting, no formatting headaches.
- YC applicants who want to back up their application before the deadline
- Co-founders reviewing each other's answers before submitting
- Repeat applicants who want to compare their answers across batches
- Startup communities sharing anonymized applications for feedback
- Mentors and advisors reviewing a founder's YC application
-
Clone this repository:
git clone https://github.com/undeemed/yc-exporter.git cd yc-exporter -
Install dependencies and build:
bun install bun run build
-
Load into Chrome:
- Open
chrome://extensionsin Chrome - Enable Developer mode (toggle in top right)
- Click Load unpacked → select the
dist/folder
- Open
- Navigate to your application at
https://apply.ycombinator.com/apps/... - Expand all founder profiles by clicking on each founder's name — the extension reads visible content from the page
- Click the YC Exporter extension icon in your toolbar
- Choose your export format:
| Action | Description |
|---|---|
| 🌐 Publish to Web | Creates a shareable Telegraph page and copies the URL |
| 📋 Copy as Markdown | Copies formatted Markdown to your clipboard |
| 📄 Download .md | Saves a .md file locally |
| 🖨️ Download PDF | Opens a styled print view for Save as PDF |
⚠️ Important: The extension reads what's currently rendered on the page. Make sure all accordion sections (especially founder profiles) are expanded before exporting, otherwise those answers will be missing from the export.
YC Exporter is a Chrome Extension (Manifest V3) with two components:
-
Content Script (
content.js) — Injected intoapply.ycombinator.com/apps/*. It reads the rendered React DOM, finding each section (.apply-section-header) and question-answer pair ([data-q]elements), and extracts the text. -
Popup (
popup.js) — The extension UI. Sends a message to the content script to extract data, then offers export options including Markdown conversion, file download, PDF print view, and one-click web publishing via the Telegraph API.
No data is sent to any server except Telegraph (only when you click "Publish to Web"). Your application data never leaves your browser otherwise.
| Technology | Purpose |
|---|---|
| TypeScript | Type-safe extension code |
| Vite | IIFE bundling for Chrome extension compatibility |
| Chrome Manifest V3 | Modern extension platform |
| Bun | Fast package manager and runtime |
| Telegraph API | Free, no-auth web publishing |
# Install dependencies
bun install
# Auto-rebuild on file changes
bun run watch
# Production build
bun run buildAfter making changes, reload the extension in chrome://extensions and refresh the YC application page.
Yes. YC Exporter is built to work with the current apply.ycombinator.com application format (as of Spring 2026). The application page uses a React component that renders Q&A in [data-q] elements, which the extension reads directly.
No — unless you click "Publish to Web," your data stays entirely in your browser. The Publish feature uses the Telegraph API to create a shareable page. No other data is collected or transmitted.
The extension can only read content that's visible in the DOM. If your founder profiles are collapsed (accordion closed), those answers won't be in the export. Expand all sections before exporting.
You can only export applications you have access to view at apply.ycombinator.com. The extension simply reads the page you're on.
Currently Chrome only (Manifest V3). Firefox support may be added in the future.
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Contributions are welcome! Feel free to open issues or submit pull requests.
Built for YC applicants, by YC applicants.
If this saved you time, give it a ⭐