# "This add-on's source code is publicly viewable." Is it?

**URL:** <https://discourse.mozilla.org/t/this-add-ons-source-code-is-publicly-viewable-is-it/45292>\
**Category:** addons.mozilla.org\
**Created:** [September 19, 2019, 5:06am UTC](https://discourse.mozilla.org/t/this-add-ons-source-code-is-publicly-viewable-is-it/45292 "2019-09-19T05:06:52Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![suhail.sherif](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba8739/32.png) [@suhail.sherif](https://discourse.mozilla.org/u/suhail.sherif)\
**Post date:** [September 19, 2019, 5:06am UTC](https://discourse.mozilla.org/t/this-add-ons-source-code-is-publicly-viewable-is-it/45292/1 "2019-09-19T05:06:52Z")

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When I look at the details of my addon, I see the following detail under Technical Details:

> View Source? (Long description: Whether the source of your add-on can be displayed in our online viewer. It is only relevant for listed add-ons.)

The value of this detail is

> This add-on’s source code is publicly viewable.

However I could not find any such online viewer and I couldn’t find a link to my add-on’s source code. Can somebody help me out? I would like to link to the source code in the description for the wary add-on downloader.

Thanks in advance,  
Suhail

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**Author:** ![jscher2000](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/user_avatar/discourse.mozilla.org/jscher2000/32/28202_2.png) [@jscher2000](https://discourse.mozilla.org/u/jscher2000)\
**Post date:** [September 20, 2019, 12:06am UTC](https://discourse.mozilla.org/t/this-add-ons-source-code-is-publicly-viewable-is-it/45292/2 "2019-09-20T00:06:05Z")

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> [@suhail.sherif](#):
>
> I could not find any such online viewer

There used to be one in the old design, but I’m not sure there is one in the current design.

You can host your extension source on Github (free account) – for example:

> **[GitHub - jscher2000/printable-print-doctor-extension: Firefox extension to tweak print styles to work...](https://github.com/jscher2000/printable-print-doctor-extension)**
>
> Firefox extension to tweak print styles to work around printing problems

– and then use that as the support link or home page link for the extension.

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**Author:** ![suhail.sherif](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba8739/32.png) [@suhail.sherif](https://discourse.mozilla.org/u/suhail.sherif)\
**Post date:** [September 20, 2019, 7:30am UTC](https://discourse.mozilla.org/t/this-add-ons-source-code-is-publicly-viewable-is-it/45292/3 "2019-09-20T07:30:13Z")

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Thanks for the informative reply. I was originally planning to host the code somewhere, but after seeing the “View Source?” detail I thought that the better solution would be for Mozilla itself to conveniently verify to the user that the add-on they are downloading runs the code that they are displaying. I find it sad that they no longer do that, but at least I have some closure now and I can stop searching for the link.

Is there a way we can request them to reintroduce the feature?

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**Author:** ![jscher2000](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/user_avatar/discourse.mozilla.org/jscher2000/32/28202_2.png) [@jscher2000](https://discourse.mozilla.org/u/jscher2000)\
**Post date:** [September 20, 2019, 4:01pm UTC](https://discourse.mozilla.org/t/this-add-ons-source-code-is-publicly-viewable-is-it/45292/4 "2019-09-20T16:01:17Z")

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> [@suhail.sherif](#):
>
> Is there a way we can request them to reintroduce the feature?

There were some discussions on the AMO site board a few years ago: [Search results for 'source viewer category:109' - Mozilla Discourse](https://discourse.mozilla.org/search?q=source%20viewer%20category%3A109)

Anyway, I think that is the best board to raise this issue.

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**Author:** ![jorgev](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/71c47a/32.png) [@jorgev](https://discourse.mozilla.org/u/jorgev)\
**Post date:** [September 23, 2019, 5:38pm UTC](https://discourse.mozilla.org/t/this-add-ons-source-code-is-publicly-viewable-is-it/45292/5 "2019-09-23T17:38:49Z")

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Thanks for bringing this to our attention. I filed an issue to remove the unused setting [https://github.com/mozilla/addons-server/issues/12418](https://github.com/mozilla/addons-server/issues/12418)