/web-eid-webextension

The Web eID browser extension for Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Opera and other WebExtensions-compatible browsers

Primary LanguageTypeScriptMIT LicenseMIT

Web-eID WebExtension

European Regional Development Fund

The Web eID extension for the Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Opera web browsers is built using the WebExtensions API, a cross-browser system for developing extensions. The extension communicates with the Web eID native application using Native messaging. Native messaging enables an extension to exchange messages with a native application installed on the user's computer to enable the extension to access resources that are not accessible through WebExtension APIs, like the smart card subsystem.

Setup (for developers/testers)

  1. Install the latest LTS version of Node.js - https://nodejs.org

  2. Clone the project

    git clone git@gitlab.com:web-eid/webextension/web-eid-webextension.git

  3. Install dependencies

    cd web-eid-webextension
npm install

  4. Build the project with zip packages

    npm run clean build package

    For reproducible builds, set the SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH environment variable.
    See https://reproducible-builds.org/docs/source-date-epoch for details.

    SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH=$(git log -1 --pretty=%ct) npm run clean build package

    Alternatively, for reproducible builds, the SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH value can be taken from the SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH file of a previous build.

    SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH=$(cat ../previous-build/dist/firefox/SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH) npm run clean build package

    For backwards compatibility with TokenSigning API, set the TOKEN_SIGNING_BACKWARDS_COMPATIBILITY environment variable to true.

    TOKEN_SIGNING_BACKWARDS_COMPATIBILITY=true npm run clean build package

    During development, for additional logging, set the DEBUG environment variable to true.

    DEBUG=true npm run clean build package

  5. Load in Firefox as a Temporary Extension

    1. Open about:debugging#/runtime/this-firefox
    2. Click "Load temporary Add-on..." and open /web-eid-webextension/dist/manifest.json

Configuration

Make sure the NATIVE_APP_NAME value in src/config.ts matches the one in the Web-eID native application manifest file.