JAjavatuts·Jul 19, 2026Submission
Web-ext 10.5 – A command line tool to help build, run, and test web extensions
3 points · Open discussionmozilla
web-ext
JavaScript2017–2026
mozilla / web-ext
web-ext
A command line tool to help build, run, and test web extensions
11Distinct people
13Mentions
0Explicit recommenders
3.2KGitHub stars
What to know before exploring
What it is
A command line tool to help build, run, and test web extensions
GitHub
Where it is used
No documented product use was verified in the last source check.
What people are saying
No recommendation phrase was found in the indexed comments.
No classified warning is attached to this page. Read the discussions before treating silence as approval.
Also in these discussions
No other repository is repeatedly linked in the same discussions.
This week on Hacker News
Nov 7–Nov 14 UTC · Direct repository links and separately labeled related project stories. Indexed through 11/14/2026, 1:49:46 PM UTC.
No direct repository links were found in the indexed HN discussions over the past seven days. Older discussions are available below.
Mentions over time
HN mentions by year13 dated mentions
Observed mentions: 2017-08-12 15:07:20 UTC to 2026-07-19 10:29:33 UTC.
* An incomplete calendar period is marked with an outlined bar. Its count is not directly comparable with a full period.
Counts come from the repository’s dated source evidence. Index cutoff: 2026-11-02 08:16:59 UTC.
View mention counts and date ranges
| Period | Start (UTC) | End (exclusive, UTC) | Mentions | Submissions | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 2017-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2018-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2018 | 2018-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2019-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2019 | 2019-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | 2020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 4 | 1 | 3 |
| 2021 | 2021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 2022 | 2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| 2023 | 2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2024 | 2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2025 | 2025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2026-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2026 (partial) | 2026-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2027-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 1 | 1 | 0 |
What Hacker News says
13 sourcesI’ve been pretty happy with web-ext, I’m curious what abstractions and configurations Extensions.js avoids comparatively. I’m assuming you’ll still need a manifest.json, and it looks like both use npm/package.json for dependencies.
https://github.com/mozilla/web-ext
In Show HN: I made a CLI tool to create web extensions with no build configuration> I hope FF gets service workers going soon
As of October 2022, that’s “not planned”:
https://github.com/mozilla/web-ext/issues/2532
In Mozilla solves the Manifest V3 puzzle to save ad blockersWeb-ext: A command line tool to help build, run, and test Firefox web extensions
3 points · Open discussionAnyone used this and could compare/contrast with web-ext https://github.com/mozilla/web-ext ?
In The CLI for your next Chrome Extension> On a side node, if anyone has resource about how to dev/debug userscript properly, I'm all ears. I found it super inconvenient and tedious when doing it myself, and I often have to manually copy paste stuff back and forth.
Develop it as an extension with the script as your content_script, and use web-ext [1] to run it. You can then develop in your regular editor, use your browser's extension debugging tools, and web-ext will automatically reload it when you change stuff.
Most of my extensions use a .user.js file as their content_script, which I can also publish directly to Greasy Fork.
[1] https://github.com/mozilla/web-ext#web-ext
In Curated list of userscriptsHere you go https://github.com/mozilla/web-ext
In Firefox Addons Unable to Update, Undisclosed AMO IssuesMozilla/web-ext: A command line tool to help build, run, and test web extensions
177 points · Open discussionSorry, I just remember reading it somewhere and I think it was more likely I got confused with the announcement that web-ext supports Fenix: https://github.com/mozilla/web-ext/releases/tag/4.1.0
So developers can now test for Fenix but there's no permanent solution yet, unless there was something else and I just can't for the life of me find it anywhere. Sorry for getting your hopes up!
In uBlock Origin on Firefox PreviewLooks like it's only in the release notes [1] - I only spotted it recently myself while updating an extension, it's:
web-ext run --target chromium
[1] https://github.com/mozilla/web-ext/releases
In Userscripts Are Fun and Are Still Very Much Relevant> We could create a browser extension, but that means developing one for all major browsers.
Personally, I use most of the extensions I've written in userscript form via Greasemonkey for the convenience of being able to drop straight into editing and testing it when I spot something which could be added or needs to be fixed.
If your userscript doesn't depend on any APIs provided by the userscript manager you're using, you can package it up as a WebExtension by adding a manifest.json:
{
"manifest_version": 2,
"name": "Your Userscript",
"version": "1.0",
"content_scripts": [
{
"matches": [
"https://example.com/*",
],
"js": [
"./your-userscript.user.js"
]
}
]
}
Once you've dropped a manifest.json in, web-ext [1] is handy for
Read the rest
running extensions in Firefox and Chrome in a temporary profile/developer mode. It also reloads the extension when you make changes.
This is particularly useful if your script grows to the point where it could benefit from an options screen, as you can configure `"options_ui": {"page": "options.html"}` instead of having to hack an options UI into the target site yourself.
[1] https://github.com/mozilla/web-ext
You can use web-ext[1] to simplify development process
[1] https://github.com/mozilla/web-ext
In Mozilla pulls Bypass Paywalls from Firefox add-ons storeFirefox also supports webextensions.
Please consider publishing a version at addons.mozilla.org too.
The tool web-ext makes this almost effortless.
https://github.com/mozilla/web-ext
In Show HN: Extension-blocking domains removed by threat from other blacklists