# Temp add-on fail to load when UUID specified for ID

**URL:** <https://discourse.mozilla.org/t/temp-add-on-fail-to-load-when-uuid-specified-for-id/25926>\
**Category:** Development\
**Created:** [February 23, 2018, 8:43am UTC](https://discourse.mozilla.org/t/temp-add-on-fail-to-load-when-uuid-specified-for-id/25926 "2018-02-23T08:43:25Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 8\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![cgarnant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c67d28/32.png) [@cgarnant](https://discourse.mozilla.org/u/cgarnant)\
**Post date:** [February 23, 2018, 8:43am UTC](https://discourse.mozilla.org/t/temp-add-on-fail-to-load-when-uuid-specified-for-id/25926/1 "2018-02-23T08:43:25Z")

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because I still have to use create… to open the extension gui from the back ground page, I \>have to\< use an id to communicate with the tab. HOWEVER, when specifying  
an id in the manifest, the add-on loader burps with INVALID EXTENSION.  
This appears to be hogwash as it loads WITHOUT the id (applications.gecko.id)  
in the manifest ( It just has a ‘what we got here is failure to communicate’)

SO, HOW pray tell do I get it to accept a properly formatted UUID as an ID???  
Thank you

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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:** [February 23, 2018, 12:10pm UTC](https://discourse.mozilla.org/t/temp-add-on-fail-to-load-when-uuid-specified-for-id/25926/2 "2018-02-23T12:10:50Z")

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Could you show us you manifest.json with the ID set?

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**Author:** ![cgarnant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c67d28/32.png) [@cgarnant](https://discourse.mozilla.org/u/cgarnant)\
**Post date:** [February 24, 2018, 2:51am UTC](https://discourse.mozilla.org/t/temp-add-on-fail-to-load-when-uuid-specified-for-id/25926/3 "2018-02-24T02:51:22Z")

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Martin: Thank you for the response. Here is the manifest.  
If applications.gecko.id is removed it loads, otherwise ‘invalid’.

{  
“manifest\_version”: 2,

“name”: “dflibg/js dfirefly”,  
“description”: “dflibg/js lightning bug dataflow developer tools”,  
“version”: “0.7.14.51”,

“applications”: {  
“gecko”: { “id”: “49fe582f-2b98-407b-881b-f4680af94065” }

},

“page\_action”: {  
“browser\_style”: true,  
“default\_icon”: { “19”: “flowbug0\_19x19b.png”,  
“38”: “dflowbugG38.png”,  
“48”: “flowbug0\_48x48b.png”,  
“96”: “flowbug0\_96x96b.png”  
},  
“default\_title” : “dflibg/js dfirefly (dataflow sdk)”  
},

“background”: {  
“scripts”: [“daemon.js”]  
},

“content\_scripts”: [{  
“run\_at”: “document\_start”,  
“matches”: [“http://_/_”],  
“js”: [“dfcontent.js”]  
}] ,

“web\_accessible\_resources” : [  
"/sdkfirefly.html",  
"/dflibg/include/_",  
"/shared/include/_",  
"/shared/graphlib/_",  
"/shared/iconlib/_",  
"/shared/fontlib/_",  
"/dflibg/sdk/images/_"  
],

“permissions”: [  
“activeTab”, “tabs”,  
“[http://192.168.2.35/](http://192.168.2.35/)_",  
"_://www.chrysalis-systems.net/\*”  
]  
}

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<div class="post-metadata">

**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:** [February 24, 2018, 12:43pm UTC](https://discourse.mozilla.org/t/temp-add-on-fail-to-load-when-uuid-specified-for-id/25926/4 "2018-02-24T12:43:59Z")

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That is not the proper format for a UUID. It needs to be inside `{` `}` like it used to with an install.rdf.

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**Author:** ![cgarnant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c67d28/32.png) [@cgarnant](https://discourse.mozilla.org/u/cgarnant)\
**Post date:** [February 25, 2018, 12:54am UTC](https://discourse.mozilla.org/t/temp-add-on-fail-to-load-when-uuid-specified-for-id/25926/5 "2018-02-25T00:54:45Z")

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Thanks, Martin:  
I think I’m about ready to “give up hope all ye who enter” in trying to get this web extension  
to work as it does with Chrome 26-5x+. It used to work with FF dev edition 45,46,47.  
I don’t know if something in FF48 that was added to remove the necessity for id’s being  
assigned had some unforeseen side-effect. I can only imagine.

The general/communication architecture of the extension uses the port interface.  
It does not use anything else fancy - the background (persistent daemon) is just  
a message forwarder/bridge from the GUI page it starts (on pageAction) to  
the embedded content script in the active Tab. It uses the port facility to bridge  
these realms [port=(chrome.runtime.connect({name:})]

Could something have changed in the support for the ports in chrome.runtime??  
I can not anymore even open dev tools/inspect on the GUI page that the daemon opens correctly,  
a window opens but is blank - and a spinner keeps spinning in the GUI page.  
[FF developer edition opens a debugger session with the background page just fine]  
As I said, it works all seamlessly in Google Chrome. (and once upon a time in a FFox galaxy far far away )

Oy vey.  
Thanks, Chrys  
aka ‘confused in jersey’

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![cgarnant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c67d28/32.png) [@cgarnant](https://discourse.mozilla.org/u/cgarnant)\
**Post date:** [February 25, 2018, 8:05am UTC](https://discourse.mozilla.org/t/temp-add-on-fail-to-load-when-uuid-specified-for-id/25926/6 "2018-02-25T08:05:42Z")

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An update:  
One of the communication disconnects/misconnects is occurring because FF regenerates  
the ‘hostname’ internal id and it has no relationship to the id known to the manifest.  
The embedded library compares window.location.hostname against the extension id  
to determine whether it needs to use a cross-extension protocol or exxtension-\>daemon-\>tab  
protocol… Chrome uses the extension id as its internal id and the hostname. So for  
firefox I have to figure out some other way to access the developer-assigned id.

Thanks for the help

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![cgarnant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c67d28/32.png) [@cgarnant](https://discourse.mozilla.org/u/cgarnant)\
**Post date:** [February 25, 2018, 9:42am UTC](https://discourse.mozilla.org/t/temp-add-on-fail-to-load-when-uuid-specified-for-id/25926/7 "2018-02-25T09:42:12Z")

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An update 2:  
chrome.runtime.id did the trick – I remember giving up on finding an api for acquiring the active extension id many moon’s ago when the hyperlink in the google chrome runtime api page for id went to some other place. oh well, thanks for your patience.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**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:** [February 25, 2018, 12:40pm UTC](https://discourse.mozilla.org/t/temp-add-on-fail-to-load-when-uuid-specified-for-id/25926/8 "2018-02-25T12:40:34Z")

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Just as a heads up, I’m not sure how stable this is, I think there is work being done to mitigate fingerprinting issues with the current extension URI system while also avoiding leaking information of installed extensions.