Firefox Publish

Arguments: [path] [--channel listed|unlisted] [--version <semver>] [--dry-run]. Wherever <arguments> appears below, substitute the text the user typed after the skill name.

Firefox Extension Publish

Signed publication to AMO. Covers pre-flight validation, signing via web-ext sign, and post-submission follow-up.

CRITICAL RULES

1. Run lint first. Never submit unlinted -- Mozilla's AMO reviewers reject submissions for issues web-ext lint catches in 30 seconds.
2. Never commit API credentials. Credentials live in env vars or a gitignored .env; refuse to proceed if they appear in the repo.
3. Choose the right channel:
   • listed -- public AMO listing, goes through Mozilla review (1-14 days, sometimes longer)
   • unlisted -- self-distribution, auto-signed in seconds, not shown on AMO
4. Bump version before submission. AMO rejects resubmissions with the same version string.
5. Confirm with the user before upload. Signing is fast to revert; a listed review that starts is annoying to withdraw.

Procedure

1. Pre-flight

# Check credentials
test -n "$WEB_EXT_API_KEY" || fail "WEB_EXT_API_KEY not set"
test -n "$WEB_EXT_API_SECRET" || fail "WEB_EXT_API_SECRET not set"

# Check .env or credential files are gitignored
git check-ignore -v .env || fail ".env is not gitignored"

If credentials are missing, guide the user to https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/developers/addon/api/key/ to generate them.

2. Run lint

Invoke /browser-extensions:firefox-lint first. If any blockers, stop.

3. Bump version

Read current version from manifest.json. If --version is supplied, use it; otherwise ask the user for:

• patch (0.1.0 -> 0.1.1) -- bug fixes
• minor (0.1.0 -> 0.2.0) -- new features
• major (0.1.0 -> 1.0.0) -- breaking change (first public release is traditionally 1.0.0)

Update both manifest.json and package.json. Stage these edits but DO NOT commit automatically -- the user may want to do a final review.

4. Build

cd "$TARGET"
npx web-ext build --overwrite-dest
# Artifact: .web-ext-artifacts/<name>-<version>.zip

Verify the artifact exists and is reasonably sized (warn if > 10 MB -- large extensions get slower AMO review).

5. Sign / upload

Listed channel (public review):

npx web-ext sign \
  --api-key="$WEB_EXT_API_KEY" \
  --api-secret="$WEB_EXT_API_SECRET" \
  --channel=listed

Unlisted channel (self-distribution, auto-signed):

npx web-ext sign \
  --api-key="$WEB_EXT_API_KEY" \
  --api-secret="$WEB_EXT_API_SECRET" \
  --channel=unlisted

With --dry-run, stop before signing and print the command the user would run.

6. Post-submission

For listed:

• Tell the user the submission ID
• Link to the AMO developer dashboard: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/developers/addon/<slug>/versions
• Review typically takes 1-14 days; expect extra time for extensions with broad host_permissions or native messaging
• If rejected, Mozilla emails a reason; common causes: obfuscated code, remote-hosted code, unjustified permissions, missing source code submission (required for bundlers)

For unlisted:

• Signed XPI is written to .web-ext-artifacts/; user hosts it themselves
• For auto-update, add an updates.json or update_url in manifest.json pointing to a signed update feed

7. Tag release

Suggest (do not auto-execute):

git tag v<new-version>
git push origin v<new-version>

Optionally open a GitHub release with the signed XPI attached.

8. Source code submission reminder (listed only)

If the project uses a bundler (webpack, Vite, Rollup, esbuild), Mozilla requires the original source code plus build instructions to be submitted alongside the signed XPI. web-ext sign --channel=listed will prompt; otherwise manually attach via the AMO dashboard.

Minimum source-upload contents:

• Original source (src/, package.json, lockfile)
• Build config (webpack.config.js, vite.config.ts, etc.)
• README.md explaining how to reproduce the build from source
• No node_modules/ or build artifacts

Synergies

• Scaffolding a new extension -> /browser-extensions:firefox-scaffold
• Pre-submission lint -> /browser-extensions:firefox-lint
• API / manifest / MDN lookups -> browser-extensions:firefox-extension-dev agent