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Can manifest.json be checked/debugged in dev tools?

  • 6 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 3 views
  • Last reply by hellosct1

aallord
aallord
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Chrome dev tools have a tab labeled "Application" here you can view the manifest.json of a PWA and determine if it is installable or if there is a problem with it.

Can this feature be added to the dev tools in Firefox? Especially with so much of the web already being developed for PWA's rather than native apps, it would be a big help in debugging this file without using Chrome.

Chrome dev tools have a tab labeled "Application" here you can view the manifest.json of a PWA and determine if it is installable or if there is a problem with it. Can this feature be added to the dev tools in Firefox? Especially with so much of the web already being developed for PWA's rather than native apps, it would be a big help in debugging this file without using Chrome.

All Replies (6)

cor-el
cor-el
  • Moderator
  • Top 10 Contributor
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You can check a manifest.json file via the about:debugging page.

aallord
aallord Question owner
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about:debugging has the ability to debug Add-ons, Tabs and Workers (service workers) and in Firefox Dev we can do temporary extensions, extensions, service workers, shared workers and other workers... Nowhere could I find anything related to manifest.json in these browsers.

jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
  • Top 25 Contributor
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I don't think Firefox supports PWA's yet on desktop OSes. Or was that added recently?

The Dev Tools team has its own forum over here if you have questions or want to suggest new features specifically for dev tools:

https://discourse.mozilla.org/c/devtools

cor-el
cor-el
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  • Top 10 Contributor
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See also:

aallord
aallord Question owner
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jscher2000,

It isn't about desktop PWA's. Simply about being able to inspect the manifest.json within the developer tools while developing a PWA. Results simply parse the file and display icons, etc. and informs if it meets standards to be installed on a mobile device as a PWA. Just a handy convenience....

I knew we could inspect extension manifest files using about:debugging.

Example of the benefit was the manifest was considered invalid in both Chrome and Safari because of comments in a json file, while Android would accept it and install just fine...

Thanks for your answer and I will add it to the dev tools as a feature request...

hellosct1
hellosct1
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Hi,

the equivalent of "Application" for Chrome in the manifest.json file

is for Firefox

browser_specific_settings

for Firefox

I'm thinking of an idea that is to create your own devtools panel in the form of a web extension

I share with you an example I created

example Devtools panels

and the documentation MDN WebExtensions

best regard

Modified by hellosct1