Needle is an open‑source Chrome extension that uses the Jev model to find passages matching a user’s intent rather than producing generated answers. It highlights the source sentences that best answer a query and includes a React playground for searching your own text. The project is released under the Apache‑2.0 license.
How Needle works
Unlike a traditional Cmd+F search for words, Needle lets you ask intent‑focused questions — for example, "what happens if I cancel?" — and then has Jev score each source sentence on the page for relevance. Needle selects and highlights the passages that match the intent in the original text. The extension does not provide an AI‑generated summary; it points straight to the source.
Technical and licensing details
Needle’s source code is available on GitHub and the project is distributed under the Apache‑2.0 license. It includes a React playground so users can test meaning‑based searches on their own documents.
Jev availability and early adoption
The Jev API is free on the Vercel AI Gateway until September 25, 2025. According to Vercel, Jev became the fastest‑adopted model in AI Gateway history, reaching nearly 13% of paid teams within 24 hours. Vercel notes this adoption rate was more than twice that of the GPT‑5.6 family and over six times that of Fable 5.1.
Why this matters
Needle offers an alternative for users who prefer to see relevant source text rather than a generated answer. The rapid initial adoption of Jev on Vercel suggests interest in models that make compact relevance decisions instead of producing full generated text. The temporary free access to Jev on Vercel gives developers and teams a short window to experiment with the model and the Needle implementation.
Where to find it
The Needle repository is available on GitHub, and the Jev API can be accessed via the Vercel AI Gateway during the free period.
