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I've built a chrome extension or two but am new to the Firefox add-on world. My custom Firefox add-on doesn't persist when Firefox is reopened. I don't see a straightforward way to self sign, or otherwise install an extension permanently. Is there one?

This is a different question than: Install a personal firefox web extension permanently, because:

  • I don't want a MDN account
  • I don't want to install "blueish" Firefox (unstable developer edition)
sadtank
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  • This appears to be a duplicate of https://stackoverflow.com/questions/47363481/install-a-personal-firefox-web-extension-permanently/67501680#67501680, please read my answer there, if it can help you. – Ida May 12 '21 at 10:19
  • Does this answer your question? [Install a personal firefox web extension permanently](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/47363481/install-a-personal-firefox-web-extension-permanently) – Ida May 12 '21 at 10:20
  • ^ That doesn't completely answer the question, it remains necessary to follow the instructions in the answer below; *however* if it still does not work then it's possible that an ID value is missing, see the answer in the linked question above. – user202729 Sep 26 '21 at 02:24

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Try this (worked for me):

  • Install Firefox Developer Edition
  • Open it, but first make sure the stable Firefox is not running
  • In the page about:profiles open the default profile (the one you use with your stable Firefox)
  • Install the add-on (xpinstall.signatures.required, web-ext build, ...)

Edit (warning): see @user202729 's comment below.

eiro
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  • That seems a lot like installing developer edition, which I would like to avoid... is there more to the answer? – sadtank Jan 21 '19 at 08:29
  • You install Developer Edition just to install the addons in the profile of the stable edition, and then you can open your stable edition with the addons installed. – eiro Jan 21 '19 at 14:03
  • Oh... that is not clear based on the developer documentation I’ve seen. I’ll play around with that and get back to you. – sadtank Jan 21 '19 at 17:26
  • So I installed developer edition and the web-ext CLI tool. Switched xpinstall.signatures.required to false. I get an inexplicable error saying my extension is corrupted. My Google fu is turning up diddly on why a web-ext zipped extension would be corrupted. Tried several times since other people report that is sometimes “just works.” Let me know if I’m supposed to sacrifice the cat before or after the incantation, or if the ceremonial add-on dance requires more vigor... – sadtank Jan 21 '19 at 19:25
  • Try this. Install the addons in the dev edition; close the dev ed and lauch the stable edition. In about:profiles, open the dev edition profile. This should work. – eiro Jan 22 '19 at 10:27
  • I'm only able to install as a temporary add-on (about:debugging) due to the web-ext zip "corruption" error on import. – sadtank Jan 22 '19 at 17:24
  • If you can't install your addon in the developer edition, then the problem may be in the step where how you call web-ext. Do you use the command "web-ext build" for creating your addon? – eiro Jan 22 '19 at 20:45
  • Yes, after `ls` to the folder containing the extension files (and only those files), I evoke `web-ext build`. When loading it as a temporary add-on those same files work just fine. – sadtank Jan 23 '19 at 00:52
  • Up voting your answer since the issue has shifted. Will mark as answer when I can confirm. – sadtank Jan 23 '19 at 04:44
  • I forget to up voting your question. I have the same concerns about installing addons permanenetly in Firefox. I try to develop some addons for managing ~1000 opened tabs. I have many ideas and addons is one of them. Using differents versions of Firefox is another. Using many profiles is another one. – eiro Jan 23 '19 at 05:52
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    Unfortunately this method no longer works (error message: *" could not be verified for use in Firefox and has been disabled."*) (also **warning** make sure that the Firefox version is the same, otherwise the profile will no longer be usable unless you manually edit `(profile root directory)/compatibility.ini`, but the risk is obvious) – user202729 Sep 26 '21 at 02:31