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feat!: Replace web-ext with @wxt-dev/runner#1700

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aklinker1 wants to merge 10 commits intomajorfrom
wxt-runner
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feat!: Replace web-ext with @wxt-dev/runner#1700
aklinker1 wants to merge 10 commits intomajorfrom
wxt-runner

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@aklinker1 aklinker1 commented Jun 2, 2025 •
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Overview

web-ext has few problems:

  1. ~20MB install footprint (20% of WXT's total install footprint, even after using my lighter fork, web-ext-run)
  2. Relies on --load-extension, which has been deprecated (there are plans to upgrade to using the CDP
  3. A little slower (see ./scripts/benchmarks/browser-startup.sh)
    Package Time to open browser (mean, N=20)
    web-ext 634ms
    @wxt-dev/runner 594ms

TODO

  • Can you connect a remote debugger to it?

Manual Testing

cd pacakges/wxt-demo
pnpm dev

This should open your browser.

Related Issue

N/A

@aklinker1 aklinker1 requested a review from Timeraa as a code owner June 2, 2025 21:59
@aklinker1 aklinker1 self-assigned this Jun 2, 2025
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@aklinker1 aklinker1 added the chore label Jun 2, 2025
@aklinker1 aklinker1 marked this pull request as draft June 2, 2025 21:59
aklinker1
aklinker1 commented Jun 2, 2025
View reviewed changes
packages/wxt/src/core/runners/index.ts
Comment on lines +10 to +14
if (wxt.config.browser === 'firefox' && wxt.config.manifestVersion === 3) {
throw Error(
'Dev mode does not support Firefox MV3. For alternatives, see https://github.com/wxt-dev/wxt/issues/230#issuecomment-1806881653',
);
}
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@aklinker1 aklinker1 Jun 2, 2025

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TODO: Extract to own PR.

aklinker1
aklinker1 commented Jun 2, 2025
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packages/runner/src/bidi.ts

const debugBidi = debug.scoped('bidi');

export interface BidiConnection extends Disposable {
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TODO: Extract disposable changes to own PR.

@aklinker1 aklinker1 mentioned this pull request Jun 2, 2025
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aklinker1 commented Jun 2, 2025
View reviewed changes
packages/wxt/src/core/runners/web-ext.ts
DEFAULT_CHROMIUM_PREFS,
),
args: [
'--unsafely-disable-devtools-self-xss-warnings',
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@aklinker1 aklinker1 Jun 2, 2025 •
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TODO: Add this flag?

3481313

This was referenced Jun 5, 2025
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@aklinker1 aklinker1 changed the base branch from main to major August 3, 2025 14:32
@PatrykKuniczak
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PatrykKuniczak commented Dec 21, 2025

This could also fix #137
If you are able to implement feature for this, in your package :)

@aklinker1
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aklinker1 commented Feb 7, 2026

This could also fix #137

If you are able to implement feature for this, in your package :)

Nope, not something I can implement for the same reasons mentioned in the issue.

@aklinker1 aklinker1 mentioned this pull request Feb 7, 2026
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@aklinker1 aklinker1 mentioned this pull request Feb 7, 2026
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PatrykKuniczak commented Feb 9, 2026

@aklinker1 If you've decided to back to using web-ext this PR still have sense?
Or web-ext is better than web-ext-run but anyway in the future, you want to avoid using it?

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aklinker1 commented Feb 9, 2026

I realized there was a better way to eventually add support for this while I continue developing it - hence #2078 and the accompanying PR. We don't need to hard-cut over like this PR originally did, this package isn't a full replacement for web-ext and may never be.

This PR needs changed to support @wxt-dev/runner as a peer similar to what I did to web-ext in #2079. specifically just add another try/catch statement and dynamic import for @wxt-dev/runner to let people use it over web-ext.

wxt/packages/wxt/src/core/resolve-config.ts

Lines 674 to 685 in 19c1d0a

try {
// This module imports `web-ext`, so if it fails, we know `web-ext` isn't installed
const { createWebExtRunner } = await import('./runners/web-ext');
return mergedConfig.webExt?.disabled
? createManualRunner()
: createWebExtRunner();
} catch (err: any) {
if (err?.code !== 'ERR_MODULE_NOT_FOUND') throw err;
console.log('error', err);
logger.debug('Error loading the web-ext runner', err);
}

The goal with this package is to be a super light-weight, zero dependency alternative to web-ext, which is quite heavy.

It probably will never support all the features of web-ext or replace it, but for people that like smaller node_modules (like me), web-ext is just too big for what WXT needs it to do.

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PatrykKuniczak commented Feb 9, 2026

@aklinker1 I don't want to open new thread for this, but i want to know.
Are you able to reduce amount of branches, or you'll be working on it someday or you've archived it on purpose?

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aklinker1 commented Feb 9, 2026

The 36 branches? I could clean them up if it's bothering you.

@aklinker1 aklinker1 closed this Feb 21, 2026
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PatrykKuniczak commented Feb 22, 2026

@aklinker1 This can be helpful, if you're able to clean it a little 😄

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