I've wanted to install an extension from outside addons.mozilla.org, but Firefox didn't let me do it
So I've did a small research and looks like there are 3 ways to sideload extensions, but all of them suck
- Using FF Developer Edition
In the Dev Edition you can set xpinstall.signatures.required
to false in about:config, but the problem is that the Dev Edition isn't as stable as standard FF
- Temporarily load the extension
In about:debugging#/runtime/this-firefox
you can temporarily sideload extensions, but they will be removed next time you open FF, which is annoying
- Modify FF code
Lastly, I found this script which modifies the FF code, but this can break things so I don't want to use it
I'm really annoyed that Mozilla gets to decide which extensions I can install. So... what's the best way to sideload extensions?
Edit: thanks everyone, I'm now using a FF fork (Librewolf) which lets me sideload extensions after disabling xpinstall.signatures.required
not exaclty an answer to you question ... but just fyi you could also just create an AMO account (it's free) and upload your addon for self distribution (to not have them appear on addons.mozilla.org) and then you can download and install them into stable version persistently.
sidenote: i think instead of nightly you can also use the
unbranded
builds to have a stable version which allows you to usexpinstall.signatures.required
. ref. https://wiki.mozilla.org/Add-ons/Extension_Signing#Unbranded_BuildsI was going to do the unbranded build option but from what I could find, unbranded builds don't get updates.