1504338 - Provide an alternative to AddSearchProvider for extensions

Status: NEW

(Firefox :: Search, enhancement, P3)

Description

[Tom S [:evilpie]]

Bug 1503551 disabled window.external.AddSearchProvider. However AddSearchProvider was the only reasonable convenient way of offering people to install new search engines.

As used in my extension: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/add-custom-search-engine/ or https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/search-engines-helper/

It would be great to offer an alternative API. Or maybe allow extensions to continue using AddSearchProvider.

Comment 1

[Andrew Swan [:aswan]]

I think the search team needs to make a policy decision here before we can do any extensions work, re-classifying to put it on their radar.

Comment 2

[Drew Willcoxon :adw]

Seems like it should be OK to let webextensions install engines...  That decision is all that's needed by the search team, right?  The APIs are already there if the webextensions side wants to hook into them.  Mike, what do you think?

Comment 3

[Mike Kaply [:mkaply]]

> Seems like it should be OK to let webextensions install engines...  That decision is all that's needed by the search team, right?  The APIs are already there if the webextensions side wants to hook into them.  Mike, what do you think?

We're putting AddSearchProvider back for now. We don't have a good long-term story here.

As far as providing an API for WebExtensions, that would be up to the search PM and WebExtensions PM to decide.

Comment 4

[Roy Orbitson]

(In reply to Mike Kaply [:mkaply] from comment #3)

We're putting AddSearchProvider back for now. We don't have a good long-term story here.

Has it been removed again? I'm on Dev Edition and just found I was unable to add another engine from mycroftproject.com (I have many already installed), and installing the only relevant add-on I can find did not help.

Comment 5

[Roy Orbitson]

Toggling pref dom.sidebar.enabled back to true fixed it.

Comment 6

[Mark Banner (:standard8)]

(In reply to Roy Orbison from comment #4)

(In reply to Mike Kaply [:mkaply] from comment #3)

We're putting AddSearchProvider back for now. We don't have a good long-term story here.

Has it been removed again?

Yes, this was announced and discussed here and that was noted in various related bugs. Unfortunately I missed commenting in this bug.

To note at the end of the thread, the customisation of search engines (e.g. user-additions) is currently something we're discussing amongst the search team and I'd expect us to have a better idea of where we want to go in a couple of months.

Comment 7

[Roy Orbitson]

That's disappointing. Having a good feature disappear, essentially because it's poorly promoted, disadvantages Firefox. I really like being able search things on specific sites without telling privacy-violating, tax-evading mega corporations every detail about me, and having those tools keep themselves updated. I know that's not being dropped completely from Firefox, but previous OpenSearch support was great.

Citing parity with Chrome is absurd because using other search engines represents a conflict of interest to Google. The DoS security aspect seems tenuous because (a) I've never once encountered a malicious search engine trying to use this API, and (b) if it is an issue, its invocation could be limited to genuine user-interaction events (in the same vein as preventing media autoplay) and have the same "prevent this site from creating more pop-ups" logic as alert().

Why not extend the existing <link> functionality to <a> tags (attributes are compatible) so engines may be added from user interaction without being relegated to hidden/subtle browser UI?

<a rel="search"
      type="application/opensearchdescription+xml"
      title="searchTitle"
      href="pluginURL">Add a this site to your search providers</a>

Comment 8

[Mark Banner (:standard8)]

(In reply to Roy Orbison from comment #7)

I really like being able search things on specific sites without telling privacy-violating, tax-evading mega corporations every detail about me, and having those tools keep themselves updated.

Most OpenSearch definitions I've seen don't actually use the update functionality, so they wouldn't be keeping up to date. They can still provide their own engines via the <link rel="search">.

Citing parity with Chrome is absurd because using other search engines represents a conflict of interest to Google.

It has already been proven lots of times in the past that having differing implementations across browser hurts the open internet.

The DoS security aspect seems tenuous because...

That was just one of the contributing reasons.

Why not extend the existing <link> functionality to <a> tags (attributes are compatible) so engines may be added from user interaction without being relegated to hidden/subtle browser UI?

Sites can already do this by providing WebExtensions with search engines defined within them. Hence sites still have two methods of providing engines.

In any case, this is getting off-topic for this bug as this is about allowing extensions to define custom engines. If you have other concerns please discuss in the previously cited thread.

Comment 9

[Roy Orbitson]

(In reply to Roy Orbison from comment #7)

Why not extend the existing <link> functionality to <a> tags (attributes are compatible) so engines may be added from user interaction without being relegated to hidden/subtle browser UI?

Sites can already do this by providing WebExtensions with search engines defined within them. Hence sites still have two methods of providing engines.

To clarify your point, are you stating that Mozilla's current alternative to the (minimal) browser UI is for individual websites to offer & maintain a WebExtension in order to install OpenSearch engines?

Comment 10

[diamondavocado22]

I just got stung by this and find it extremely frustrating that this functionality, which has been integral to Firefox for almost a decade, has been removed.

Search in Firefox has regressed so unbelievably far it's honestly depressing.

In "the good old days" search engines were stored as single XML files in the user's Firefox profile folder. This made sense. This made it incredibly easy to manage, backup, install, and modify search engines. Firefox had a separate search bar with a sensible interface which actually worked for the user rather than against them.

Nowadays the fad of the "omnibar" has taken over. The separate search bar, when enabled, is a Fisher Price kids' version of what it used to be.

Search engines are now abstracted away in an obscure, non-user-editable "mozlz4"-formatted file, for some inexplicable reason.

And now this - in one fell swoop, the Firefox team yet again gives a middle finger to years worth of user-made content such as the Mycroft Project.

As a lifetime Firefox user, I can't tell you how much this SUCKS. I'm a sensible person but it's very difficult not to start believing in the conspiracy theories that Mozilla is being bribed by Google to deliberately hobble this browser in an attempt to create a monopoly for Chrome.

It's easy to believe theories like that when you see how stunted Firefox has been made, from the power-user-friendly powerhouse it formerly was to this pale, locked-down imitation of its former self.

Take a look at the many frustrated Firefox users on this related GHacks article: https://www.ghacks.net/2018/11/22/firefox-search-providers/

All this is to say... +1; provide an alternative to AddSearchProvider for extensions.

Comment 11

[Mycroft Project (CC)]

(In reply to Mark Banner (:standard8) from comment #8)

Most OpenSearch definitions I've seen don't actually use the update functionality, so they wouldn't be keeping up to date. They can still provide their own engines via the <link rel="search">.

There's 24000 that have update defined here if you want to look a bit harder:
https://mycroftproject.com/
(Yes, self promotion disclaimer...)

Comment 12

[Roy Orbitson]

(In reply to Mycroft Project (CC) from comment #11)

There's 24000 that have update defined here if you want to look a bit harder:
https://mycroftproject.com/
(Yes, self promotion disclaimer...)

I'm convinced Mozilla just doesn't care. The comments on bugs related to this feature seem to be mainly from devs who don't even use it themselves. I created bug 1655653 in the hope that some usable functionality could be returned to allow Mycroft Project to work again (without extensions) but it got WONTFIX'd.

They've even dropped the basic functionality from Firefox mobile and termed the bug to bring it back a "feature request". Technically it is because Fenix isn't Firefox for Android, but to the user, one replaces the other so the functionality has been lost. You have to manually type in a URL and update it yourself if you want any custom engines.