# Is there any way to run an extension for debug on Android FireFox?

**URL:** <https://discourse.mozilla.org/t/is-there-any-way-to-run-an-extension-for-debug-on-android-firefox/58507>\
**Category:** Development\
**Created:** [April 22, 2020, 11:56pm UTC](https://discourse.mozilla.org/t/is-there-any-way-to-run-an-extension-for-debug-on-android-firefox/58507 "2020-04-22T23:56:49Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![loserdev](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/58f4c7/32.png) [@loserdev](https://discourse.mozilla.org/u/loserdev)\
**Post date:** [April 22, 2020, 11:56pm UTC](https://discourse.mozilla.org/t/is-there-any-way-to-run-an-extension-for-debug-on-android-firefox/58507/1 "2020-04-22T23:56:49Z")

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On Desktop FireFox, there is “Debug Add-ons” menu that allows me to load the extension I have been creating but have not published yet. I cannot find such menu in Android FireFox. All I can see is allow remove USB debugging. Is there no way? If not, how can I know if the extension I have been writing works on Android or not before publishing it?

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**Author:** ![sylvaing](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/user_avatar/discourse.mozilla.org/sylvaing/32/19043_2.png) [@sylvaing](https://discourse.mozilla.org/u/sylvaing)\
**Post date:** [April 23, 2020, 12:09am UTC](https://discourse.mozilla.org/t/is-there-any-way-to-run-an-extension-for-debug-on-android-firefox/58507/2 "2020-04-23T00:09:45Z")

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The documentation on how to debug your extension on android can be found at [https://extensionworkshop.com/documentation/develop/developing-extensions-for-firefox-for-android/#debug-your-extension](https://extensionworkshop.com/documentation/develop/developing-extensions-for-firefox-for-android/#debug-your-extension)

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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:** [April 23, 2020, 6:55am UTC](https://discourse.mozilla.org/t/is-there-any-way-to-run-an-extension-for-debug-on-android-firefox/58507/3 "2020-04-23T06:55:00Z")

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Also note that you need to use Firefox ESR 68 in order to debug current Firefox for Android.  
More info:

> [@Is Android debugging still working?](https://discourse.mozilla.org/t/is-android-debugging-still-working/51681/2):
>
> Hi! Yes, remote debugging should still work fine slight_smile If you are trying to debug Firefox for Android on your emulator, be aware that it is based on Firefox ESR (v68), so you need to connect to it from Firefox Desktop ESR68. You can download Firefox ESR at [https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/all/#product-desktop-esr](https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/all/#product-desktop-esr) Our backward compatibility policy only supports a gap of 2 versions. This means that Firefox for Android (aka Fennec) can only be debugged from: Firefox 68, Firefox 6…

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**Author:** ![loserdev](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/58f4c7/32.png) [@loserdev](https://discourse.mozilla.org/u/loserdev)\
**Post date:** [April 23, 2020, 1:45pm UTC](https://discourse.mozilla.org/t/is-there-any-way-to-run-an-extension-for-debug-on-android-firefox/58507/4 "2020-04-23T13:45:45Z")

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I already knew that the API I use `chrome_settings_overrides` is not supported on the current release version of Android FireFox (68.7.0), and I wanted to know if the status of support has changed in the latest nightly version (77.0). I followed the instruction and tried to install the “XPI” but FireFox Nightly only showed a “Download” button, not an “Install” button. Currently, I cannot test an extension on an Android FireFox Nightly?

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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:** [April 23, 2020, 2:36pm UTC](https://discourse.mozilla.org/t/is-there-any-way-to-run-an-extension-for-debug-on-android-firefox/58507/5 "2020-04-23T14:36:08Z")

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If you mean the new **Firefox Preview** for Android then you should be able to test it using the `web-ext` tool. They’ve added support in 4.1.0 version:

> **[Releases · mozilla/web-ext](https://github.com/mozilla/web-ext/releases)**
>
> A command line tool to help build, run, and test web extensions - mozilla/web-ext

```auto
web-ext run -t firefox-android

```

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**Author:** ![loserdev](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/58f4c7/32.png) [@loserdev](https://discourse.mozilla.org/u/loserdev)\
**Post date:** [April 23, 2020, 3:04pm UTC](https://discourse.mozilla.org/t/is-there-any-way-to-run-an-extension-for-debug-on-android-firefox/58507/6 "2020-04-23T15:04:44Z")

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Thanks. I tried that, and I did not see any errors in the Command Prompt, but on the Android-side, FireFox Nightly’s Add-ons page showed “Not yet available 1 add-on” at the bottom, and if I click it, it says “We’re currently building support for an initial selection of Recommanded Extensions.”. I knew that the future versions of FireFox currently support very limited number of extensions, but you can’t even debug an extension on those versions of FireFox?

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**Author:** ![caitlin](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/user_avatar/discourse.mozilla.org/caitlin/32/6091_2.png) [@caitlin](https://discourse.mozilla.org/u/caitlin)\
**Post date:** [April 23, 2020, 9:40pm UTC](https://discourse.mozilla.org/t/is-there-any-way-to-run-an-extension-for-debug-on-android-firefox/58507/7 "2020-04-23T21:40:19Z")

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Hey @loserdev. Go ahead and ignore that warning (there’s a [bug](https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1624410) to fix it). You may need to update [web-ext](https://github.com/mozilla/web-ext) to the latest build, but you should be able to run your extension in [Preview Nightly](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.mozilla.fenix.nightly&hl=en_US). As a quick notes, it looks like you won’t be able to open the extension’s settings page if it has one.