# Access name of profile or directory AddOn

**URL:** <https://discourse.mozilla.org/t/access-name-of-profile-or-directory-addon/60250>\
**Category:** Development\
**Created:** [May 18, 2020, 9:03am UTC](https://discourse.mozilla.org/t/access-name-of-profile-or-directory-addon/60250 "2020-05-18T09:03:46Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![tobias.jungnickel](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/user_avatar/discourse.mozilla.org/tobias.jungnickel/32/37371_2.png) [@tobias.jungnickel](https://discourse.mozilla.org/u/tobias.jungnickel)\
**Post date:** [May 18, 2020, 9:03am UTC](https://discourse.mozilla.org/t/access-name-of-profile-or-directory-addon/60250/1 "2020-05-18T09:03:46Z")

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Hello,  
is there a way for an AddOn to read either the name of the current profile or the directory in that it is stored?

Best

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**Author:** ![freaktechnik](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/user_avatar/discourse.mozilla.org/freaktechnik/32/37766_2.png) [@freaktechnik](https://discourse.mozilla.org/u/freaktechnik)\
**Post date:** [May 18, 2020, 5:40pm UTC](https://discourse.mozilla.org/t/access-name-of-profile-or-directory-addon/60250/2 "2020-05-18T17:40:00Z")

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No, profiles are completely invisible to extensions.  
Since extensions operate within a profile it doesn’t make much sense to give it access to information about it, since it can not escape the profile either way.

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**Author:** ![tobias.jungnickel](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/user_avatar/discourse.mozilla.org/tobias.jungnickel/32/37371_2.png) [@tobias.jungnickel](https://discourse.mozilla.org/u/tobias.jungnickel)\
**Post date:** [May 18, 2020, 6:38pm UTC](https://discourse.mozilla.org/t/access-name-of-profile-or-directory-addon/60250/3 "2020-05-18T18:38:48Z")

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as in our environment we have to access distinct external data based on a set of fixed profiles is there any other way?

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**Author:** ![juraj.masiar](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/user_avatar/discourse.mozilla.org/juraj.masiar/32/30587_2.png) [@juraj.masiar](https://discourse.mozilla.org/u/juraj.masiar)\
**Post date:** [May 18, 2020, 9:36pm UTC](https://discourse.mozilla.org/t/access-name-of-profile-or-directory-addon/60250/4 "2020-05-18T21:36:19Z")

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Addons doesn’t really have access to your drive anymore. But if you want to read some external config, then you probably want to use [`browser.storage.managed`](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/Add-ons/WebExtensions/API/storage/managed) which can read some specifically placed manifest files:

> **[Native manifests - Mozilla | MDN](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/Add-ons/WebExtensions/Native_manifests#Manifest_location)**
>
> Native manifests are JSON files provisioned on the user's computer by means other than the extension installation process. For example, a native manifest might be provisioned by a device administrator or native application installer.

But this doesn’t really help with identifying a profile (unless you generate and store some UUID).