I would like to be able to perform the following actions from outside the browser, for example from a script
‘’’ Obtain a list of all tabs, and which URL is open Obtain a list of all firefox windows and which tab is in each and in what order Obtain a list of firefox running instances Actions on tabs Close a tab Open a new tab and enter URL move a tab in a window’s tab order move a tab to another window mute/unmute a tab make a tab hidden or unhide pin/unpin a tab select/unselect a tab discard a tab reload a tab copy tab body or a specific xpath run a javascript cmdlet, (bookmarklet ? ) Run a function of a script in somethingmonkey bookmarks list all bookmarks folder and bookmarks move a bookmark to another folder delete a bookmark create a bookmark get/change position of a firefox window close a window/ open a new window list installed addons turn an addon on or off ‘’’
I would love to be able to write script, from outside firefox, and do these actions
I have found about the remote debugger, but I can’t figure out if it’s only for debugging firefox on android via adb ? Or can I use that directly from a script ?
https://wiki.mozilla.org/Firefox_OS/Remote_Control
https://wiki.mozilla.org/Firefox/CommandLineOptions
devtools.debugger.remote-enabled -start-debugger-server ?
Is any of this possible ?
thanks !
Your question reminded me of TabFS https://omar.website/tabfs
Examples of stuff you can do!
- List the titles of all the tabs you have open
- Cull tabs like any other files
- Close all Stack Overflow tabs
- Save text of all tabs to a file
- Evaluate JavaScript on a page / watch expressions: demo
- Get images / scripts / other resource files from page
- Retrieve what’s playing on YouTube Music: youtube-music-tabfs
- Reload an extension when you edit its source code
- TODO: Live edit a running Web page
- TODO: Import data (JSON? XLS? JS?)
That is amazing
Wow, I never knew I needed this. :)
There’s a bunch of stuff I have wanted to do, but it’s been too annoying:
- copy URLs from a list of tabs - e.g. to send to a friend/coworker
- close tabs with a common theme - Github, Confluence, Jira, etc
- search across open tabs
I’m going to play with this today.
Sounds like you want Webdriver (aka what Selenium uses).
How can I use it from the console with my firefox portable instance ?
Try: https://www.selenium.dev/documentation/webdriver/getting_started/
It requires programming knowledge though.
Thanks that is a great lead ! So webdriver is a common interface of browser remote control.
Firefox has geckodriver which is a bridge from webdriver protocol to “marionette” which is firefox’ internal remote control protocol.
Apparently, marionette is an open TCP port where you send a command and it replies in json.
I could make a batch script that uses netcat to send my commands ! I just need to figure put how to open that port and what the commands are.
Yes, IIRC there’s a pref or env that needs to be set too… I want to say MOZ_ENABLE_MARIONETTE, but it’s been awhile.
I just need to figure put how to open that port
I’m not sure what you mean by this, but you should not need to open any ports here, especially to the internet.
Even more, if you can find a setting for it, make firefox listen only on localhost, and not on your network interfaces, because this can quickly become a security nightmare.
I don’t think firefox is that. At least not on purpose in that context.