chromium-helper: CLI tool for code search, Gerrit, and issues

[Helmut Januschka]

Hey folks,

  I put together a Node.js CLI tool that makes it easier to work with Chromium's code search, Gerrit, and issue tracker: https://github.com/hjanuschka/chromium-helper

  You can use it without installing anything:
  npx chromium-helper search "LOG(INFO)" --limit 5
  npx chromium-helper gerrit bots 6624568
  npx chromium-helper pdfium status 130850

  The main use case is making it easier for AI coding assistants (Claude, Gemini, Cursor, etc.) to help with Chromium development. Just tell them to run `npx chromium-helper
  --ai` and they'll learn how to search the codebase, check CL status, find issues, etc.

  Some things it can do:
  - Search code with the same syntax as source.chromium.org
  - Check Gerrit CL status, comments, diffs, and try-bot results
  - Search and view issues
  - Full PDFium support
  - Find OWNERS files
  - Search commit history

  It uses the same public APIs that power source.chromium.org, so you get real-time data.

  Originally started building this as an MCP server, but realized a good CLI is more flexible - works with any AI tool without special setup and
  doesn't clutter the context window.

  The code is pretty rough (90% thrown together quickly - slop code!), but it works. Would love to collaborate if anyone's interested in improving it or has ideas for features that would
  be useful.

  regards,
  Helmut