search-with-chatgpt-powered-by-openai-extension/docs/superpowers/specs/2026-07-29-extension-options-design.md

# Extension Options Panel — Design

- **Date:** 2026-07-29
- **Status:** Approved for planning
- **Branch:** `feat/extension-options-panel` (cut from `develop` @ `5edb288`)

## Summary

Add an options panel to the extension, reachable from `about:addons` → the
extension's detail card → the **Options** tab (Windows) / **Preferences** tab
(macOS, Linux). The panel configures two new entry points that this change also
introduces: a context-menu item on selected text, and a keyboard shortcut that
does the same for the current selection, falling back to a fresh empty chat when
nothing is selected.

The existing `gpt <query>` address-bar search provider is **not** modified and
does not read the settings. See [Why the search provider is untouched](#why-the-search-provider-is-untouched).

New permissions: `storage`, `menus`, and `activeTab`. All three are in Firefox's
no-prompt class, so the install dialog gains no new lines and
`data_collection_permissions: ["none"]` remains truthful.

## Goals

1. Ship a working options panel embedded in `about:addons`.
2. Ship two new entry points whose behaviour the panel controls.
3. Add no permission-warning lines to the install prompt.
4. Keep `data_collection_permissions: ["none"]` accurate.
5. Introduce unit testing for the pure logic, without new runtime dependencies.
6. Never promise behaviour that ChatGPT does not reliably deliver.

## Non-goals

- Making the `gpt <query>` search provider configurable. The declarative
  `search_url` is fixed at install time, and the three routes around that were
  each rejected: host permissions plus navigation interception (conflicts with
  goals 3 and 4), a bundled extension page as `search_url` (Firefox refuses to
  install), and `browser.omnibox` (works, but moves the transmitter of search
  terms from Firefox to extension code — see Risk 6). `gpt <query>` keeps
  behaving exactly as it does today.
- Auto-submitting the prompt on the user's behalf. Rejected on security grounds
  after dedicated adversarial testing; see
  [Appendix B](#appendix-b-why-auto-submit-was-rejected).
- Moving the `gpt` keyword to `browser.omnibox`. Deliberately declined to
  minimise AMO data-collection exposure, not for lack of a working mechanism.
- A toolbar button.
- Named/multiple prompt templates with add-remove-reorder UI. One template only.
- Migrating to Manifest V3.
- Chrome or other-browser packaging (`AGENTS.md` browser scope).
- User-facing error notifications. The `notifications` permission *does*
  generate an install warning, so every failure path degrades silently instead.

## Background and constraints

The extension is currently manifest-only: no JavaScript exists, and the
manifest declares no `background`, `content_scripts`, or
`web_accessible_resources` key. Its single feature is
`chrome_settings_overrides.search_provider` with
`search_url: "https://chatgpt.com?q={searchTerms}"`.

### Why the search provider is untouched

`chrome_settings_overrides.search_provider` is declarative and fixed at install
time. No WebExtension API can rewrite an installed engine's URL. Making
`gpt <query>` honour the settings would require intercepting the navigation it
starts, which needs host access to `chatgpt.com` plus `webRequest` or `tabs` —
all of which add install-prompt lines. Rejected in favour of goals 3 and 4.

`is_default` stays `false`. Setting it to `true` triggers a second, separate
consent doorhanger (`webext-default-search-description`) outside any permission
list, plus an allowlist requirement.

### ChatGPT URL parameters are undocumented

None of `q`, `model`, `hints`, or `temporary-chat` is documented by OpenAI.
There is no contract and no support channel. The design is therefore resilient
by construction: the URL is built from a template with no runtime dependency on
any parameter being honoured, each parameter is independently removable so a
user can bisect when ChatGPT ignores one, and all user-facing copy is written at
hint strength. See [Appendix A](#appendix-a-verification-findings) for the
evidence behind each parameter's confidence rating.

The one parameter with quasi-official standing is `q`, because OpenAI's own
"ChatGPT search" browser extension uses `https://chatgpt.com/?q=`. Build on it;
treat everything else as best-effort.

**`q` prefills but does not submit — confirmed for this extension.** Auto-submit
was real historically but has been prefill-only since approximately November
2025, after OpenAI gated it on the `Sec-Fetch-Site` header as a prompt-injection
mitigation.

Verified on 2026-07-29 in the maintainer's own logged-in Firefox profile, on
this extension's actual navigation path: the prompt lands in the composer and
waits. The user presses Enter twice — once to leave the address bar, once to
send. The hypothesis that address-bar navigation might still be favoured
(`Sec-Fetch-Site: none` being the most-trusted value) **does not hold in
practice**.

No copy in the options panel, README, or AMO listing may say the query is
*searched*, *sent*, or *asked* — only that ChatGPT opens **with the query filled
in**. The two-keypress behaviour is an upstream ChatGPT change, not a defect in
this extension, and is documented as such rather than worked around; see
[Rejected alternatives](#rejected-alternatives).

## Architecture

Manifest stays **V2**. Mozilla has not announced any MV2 deprecation and
commits to at least 12 months' notice. The repo is MV2 today and has no Chrome
target, so migration is an orthogonal change. The code is nonetheless kept
MV3-portable: ES-module background, `persistent: false`, no `browser_style: true`.

ES modules work in an MV2 background script via
`"background": {"scripts": [...], "type": "module"}`, supported since Firefox
112 and verified empirically in Firefox 153.0.1. No background HTML shim is
needed. The options page is a normal extension page and can use
`<script type="module">` in both the embedded and standalone surfaces.

`strict_min_version` becomes `"112.0"` — the binding floor, above
`storage.sync` quota enforcement (79), `menus` (55), `options_ui` (55), and
`commands` (48).

### File layout

```
manifest.json
background/
  background.js        # registers menu + command, handles clicks. Imports lib/.
lib/
  defaults.js          # DEFAULT_SETTINGS — single source of truth
  build-url.js         # PURE: (settings, rawQuery) -> url string
  settings.js          # mergeSettings() pure; load()/save() wrap browser.storage
                       #   load()  -> storage.sync.get() piped through mergeSettings()
                       #   save()  -> storage.sync.set(), debounced by the caller
options/
  options.html
  options.css
  options.js
test/
  build-url.test.js
  settings.test.js
docs/superpowers/specs/
  2026-07-29-extension-options-design.md
```

`lib/build-url.js` and `lib/defaults.js` have zero browser dependencies, so
`node:test` imports them directly with no stubbing. `lib/settings.js` separates
the pure `mergeSettings()` from the `browser.storage` I/O for the same reason;
only `mergeSettings()` is unit-tested.

`lib/` ships inside the ZIP because the background script imports it at runtime.
`test/` and `docs/` must not ship — see [Packaging](#packaging).

### Manifest additions

```json
"permissions": ["storage", "menus", "activeTab"],
"background": {
  "scripts": ["background/background.js"],
  "type": "module",
  "persistent": false
},
"options_ui": {
  "page": "options/options.html",
  "open_in_tab": false,
  "browser_style": false
},
"commands": {
  "ask-chatgpt": {
    "suggested_key": { "default": "Alt+Shift+G" },
    "description": "Ask ChatGPT about the selected text"
  }
}
```

`browser_specific_settings.gecko` gains `"strict_min_version": "112.0"`. The
existing `id` and `data_collection_permissions` are unchanged.

`browser_style: false` is set **explicitly**. Omitting it is not equivalent — it
defaults to `true` in MV2. Setting it false means the panel renders identically
if the extension ever moves to MV3, where `browser_style: true` is unsupported.

`menus` is the canonical Firefox permission name; `contextMenus` is a
cross-browser alias. Use `menus` and access the API as `browser.menus`.

`Alt+Shift+G` is deliberate. `Ctrl+Shift+G` is Firefox's Find Previous — it
would validate, display in `about:addons`, and never fire.

## Settings

Stored as individual keys in `browser.storage.sync`.

| Key | Type | Default | Maps to |
|---|---|---|---|
| `model` | string | `""` | `model=<value>`, omitted when empty |
| `temporaryChat` | boolean | `false` | `temporary-chat=true` when set |
| `webSearch` | boolean | `false` | `hints=search` when set |
| `openIn` | `"new-tab"` \| `"background-tab"` \| `"new-window"` | `"new-tab"` | tab/window creation |
| `promptTemplate` | string | `"{query}"` | wraps the selection |

Defaults reproduce today's behaviour exactly: an empty `model` and both
toggles off mean the only parameter sent is `q`.

### Model

A **free-text field**, not a dropdown. No authoritative slug list exists and
every published one has rotted (`gpt-4` → `o1-preview` → `gpt-4o` →
`gpt-5-thinking` → `auto`/`instant`/`thinking`). A curated dropdown would be
wrong within a quarter, and each stale entry fails *silently* to the account
default.

- Label: **Model (experimental)**
- Placeholder: `auto`
- Help text: "ChatGPT may ignore this and use your account default. Leave blank
  to always use your account default."
- Default is empty, not `auto`, so the default configuration sends no `model`
  parameter and matches current behaviour.

### Temporary chat

- Label: **Request a temporary chat**
- Help text: "ChatGPT may not honour this. Check ChatGPT's own indicator before
  sending anything sensitive."
- Default **off**.
- The words *private*, *incognito*, and *secure* must not appear near this
  setting. Reports indicate chats can revert to permanent after the first
  message, and OpenAI is actively reworking the feature's semantics.

### Web search

- Label: **Ask ChatGPT to use web search (hint only)**
- Help text: "A hint to ChatGPT's interface, not a guarantee."
- Default **off**. The value is hard-coded to `search`; no mode dropdown.

### Open in

- Label: **Open in**
- Options: `A new tab` / `A new background tab` / `A new window`
- Default `A new tab`.

### Prompt template

- Label: **Prompt template**
- Default `{query}`
- Help text: "`{query}` is replaced with your selected text."

### Panel behaviour

Auto-save on change with a transient "Saved" indicator; no Save button. Writes
are debounced at 400 ms so typing in a text field cannot approach any
write-rate quota.

A **Restore defaults** button resets every key to `DEFAULT_SETTINGS`.

The panel subscribes to `browser.storage.sync.onChanged` and updates its
controls live, so a remote sync landing while the panel is open does not get
clobbered by stale field values.

The embedded surface inside `about:addons` is narrow and inherits that page's
layout. The panel must therefore be responsive down to roughly 400 px, must not
depend on window sizing, and must remain usable as a standalone page — the
`extensions.htmlaboutaddons.inline-options.enabled` pref can degrade it to a
tab. Because `browser_style` is off, the panel is hand-styled and **must
support dark theme via `prefers-color-scheme`**; `about:addons` follows the
system theme.

## URL construction

`buildChatGptUrl(settings, rawQuery) -> string` in `lib/build-url.js`. Pure.

```
BASE           = "https://chatgpt.com/"
MAX_URL_CHARS  = 8000
```

The root path is mandatory. `chatgpt.com/search?q=` began returning 404 in
mid-2025; the root form is what OpenAI's own extension uses.

### Algorithm

1. **Build the prompt.** Let `q = String(rawQuery ?? "").trim()`.
   - If `q === ""` → `prompt = ""` (the template is ignored entirely).
   - Else if the template contains `{query}` → replace **every** occurrence
     (`replaceAll`).
   - Else if the trimmed template is empty → `prompt = q`.
   - Else → `prompt = trimmedTemplate + " " + q` (template treated as a prefix;
     the selection is never silently discarded).

2. **Measure the non-`q` budget.** Build a `URL` from `BASE`, append `model`,
   `temporary-chat`, and `hints` per the rules below, and record
   `baseLength = url.href.length`.

3. **Fit the prompt.** If `prompt !== ""`, find the largest number of *code
   points* of `prompt` (via binary search over `Array.from(prompt)`, so
   surrogate pairs are never split) whose resulting full URL length is
   `<= MAX_URL_CHARS`. Truncation operates on the decoded string and encoding
   happens afterwards, so a percent-escape can never be severed. If the kept
   text contains whitespace within its final 10%, cut at the last such
   whitespace instead, for a cleaner break.

4. **Assemble in final order.** Build a fresh `URL` and set parameters in this
   order, matching the most-cited working examples: `q` (if non-empty), then
   `model`, `temporary-chat`, `hints`.

   Measuring in step 2 without `q` and assembling with `q` first is safe: total
   serialized length is independent of parameter order, since reordering only
   swaps which separator is `?` and which are `&`, never how many there are.

5. Return `url.href`.

### Parameter rules

- `q` — set only when the fitted prompt is non-empty. Never emit `q=` with an
  empty value.
- `model` — set to `settings.model.trim()` only when that is non-empty.
- `temporary-chat` — set to the string `"true"` only when `temporaryChat` is true.
- `hints` — set to the string `"search"` only when `webSearch` is true.

`q` is the parameter to send. ChatGPT canonicalises it to `prompt=` internally;
`prompt=` is the first fallback to try should `q` ever stop working. Never send
both.

## Data flow

1. **Trigger.** Two entry points, both producing a query string:
   - `browser.menus.onClicked` supplies `info.selectionText` directly. No
     injection, no `activeTab` involved.
   - `browser.commands.onCommand` reads the selection itself: resolve the active
     tab with `tabs.query({active: true, currentWindow: true})`, then
     `tabs.executeScript` returning `window.getSelection().toString()`. Read
     **only** `tab.id` from the query result — reading `tab.url` or `tab.title`
     would require the `tabs` permission, which *does* carry an install warning.

     Pass **both** `allFrames: true` (a selection inside an iframe is invisible
     to the top frame) and `matchAboutBlank: true` (needed for `about:blank`
     frames). Have the injected snippet report which frame it came from, and
     take the first non-empty result.

     **Null-check every element of the result array.** `executeScript` does not
     only throw — on parent-process `about:` pages such as `about:addons` and
     `about:preferences` it resolves *silently* to `[null]`, so
     `results[0].text` is a TypeError waiting to happen. If nothing usable comes
     back the query is empty and a blank chat opens.
2. `settings = await load()` — `load()` already pipes the raw
   `storage.sync.get()` result through `mergeSettings()`, so callers always
   receive a complete, validated settings object and never need to merge again.
3. `url = buildChatGptUrl(settings, query)`.
4. Open per `settings.openIn`:
   - `new-tab` → `browser.tabs.create({ url, active: true })`
   - `background-tab` → `browser.tabs.create({ url, active: false })`
   - `new-window` → `browser.windows.create({ url })`

`tabs.create` and `windows.create` require no permissions. The created `Tab`
object's `url`/`title` must not be read — that *would* require the `tabs`
permission, which carries an install warning.

The menu item is registered with `contexts: ["selection"]`, so Firefox shows it
only when text is selected.

## Error handling

Every path resolves to something useful. No path shows an error to the user.

| Case | Behaviour |
|---|---|
| Selection empty or whitespace | Omit `q` entirely; open a blank chat with the other settings applied. |
| `executeScript` fails on a restricted page (`about:`, `addons.mozilla.org`, `accounts.firefox.com`, `view-source:`, the PDF viewer) | Failure has **three** measured shapes, all of which must be handled: a thrown `Missing host permission for the tab`, a thrown variant naming frames, and a **silent resolution to `[null]`** on parent-process `about:` pages. Catch the throws, null-check the array, and treat all three as an empty selection → open a blank chat. The shortcut must never appear broken just because the user pressed it on a Firefox page. |
| Prompt exceeds the URL budget | Truncate per step 3 above. Never sever a percent-escape or split a surrogate pair. |
| `storage.sync` rejects (quota, or a sanitized backend error) | `try`/`catch` → fall back to `DEFAULT_SETTINGS`. Never block opening ChatGPT. Do not branch on error type: Firefox sanitizes all non-quota backend errors to `"An unexpected error occurred"`. |
| Fresh or signed-out profile returns `{}` | `mergeSettings` layers stored values over `DEFAULT_SETTINGS`, so `{}` yields defaults. |
| Template lacks `{query}` | Treat as a prefix and append. |
| Template has several `{query}` | Replace all occurrences. |
| `model` blank or whitespace | Omit the parameter. |
| Stored settings corrupt or partial | `mergeSettings` drops unknown keys and falls back to default on wrong type or out-of-range enum. |
| Background event page wakes and re-registers | `menus.removeAll()` before `menus.create()`, so re-registration is idempotent. |
| `windows.create` fails | Fall back to `tabs.create`. |
| `browser.commands` undefined | Guard before subscribing. The API does not exist on Firefox for Android. |

`storage.sync` needs no capability probe: it works with no Mozilla account,
silently behaving as local storage, and syncs later if the user signs in and has
Add-ons sync enabled. The `gecko.id` (already present) is required and **must
never change** — synced data is keyed by extension ID.

## Testing

### Unit — `node --test`

`test/build-url.test.js`:
- Defaults + a simple query → exactly `https://chatgpt.com/?q=hello`
- Each parameter appears only when its setting is enabled
- All four URL-affecting settings together (`model`, `temporaryChat`,
  `webSearch`, `promptTemplate`), with parameters in the specified order.
  `openIn` never influences the URL and must not appear in these assertions.
- Encoding of `&`, `#`, `?`, `=`, `+`, spaces, newlines, emoji, CJK
- `{query}` substitution: present, absent (prefix fallback), multiple occurrences,
  empty template
- Empty / whitespace-only query → no `q` parameter at all
- Truncation: result `<= MAX_URL_CHARS`; no severed percent-escape; no split
  surrogate pair (assert with an emoji at the boundary); whitespace-boundary
  preference
- `model` empty and whitespace-only → no `model` key

`test/settings.test.js` — `mergeSettings` with: `{}`, `null`, `undefined`,
missing keys, unknown keys, wrong types, out-of-range `openIn` value.

### Manual

Retain the three existing regression checks from `AGENTS.md`: `gpt <query>`
opens ChatGPT, the provider stays non-default, and it remains configurable in
Firefox search settings.

Add:
- The Options/Preferences tab appears on the extension's detail card in
  `about:addons`, and all five settings controls plus **Restore defaults**
  render correctly — **in both light and dark theme**, and at a narrow width
- The page is also usable standalone via `browser.runtime.openOptionsPage()`
- Settings persist across a browser restart
- The context-menu item appears only when text is selected, and is absent otherwise
- `Alt+Shift+G` with text selected opens ChatGPT with that text, matching the
  context menu; with nothing selected it opens a blank chat; on a restricted
  page (`about:config`, an AMO page) it opens a blank chat rather than failing
  visibly. It appears under `about:addons` → gear → Manage Extension Shortcuts
  and can be rebound
- **The shortcut must be verified by actually pressing it.**
  `commands.getAll()` reports a `suggested_key` as registered even when Firefox
  has silently overridden it — measured: `Ctrl+Shift+Y` (Downloads on Linux)
  showed as registered and never fired. A green `getAll()` is not evidence the
  shortcut works.
- A selection inside an iframe is picked up by the shortcut, not just top-level
  page text
- Each of the three `openIn` values behaves correctly
- **A packaged build's install prompt gains no new lines.** This cannot be
  checked with `npm run dev` — install prompts are suppressed for temporary
  installs. Use a packaged build.
- `unzip -l web-ext-artifacts/*.zip` shows no `test/` or `docs/` entries, not
  even empty directory entries

### Parameter reality check

One pass in a real, logged-in Firefox profile to record which parameters are
actually honoured on this extension's navigation path: does `q` prefill only or
also submit; is `model` respected alongside `q`; does `temporary-chat` produce a
temporary chat and does it survive the first message; does `hints=search` engage
web search.

No further desk research substitutes for this. **The outcome adjusts the help
text, not the architecture** — every label is already written at hint strength,
so a negative result requires no redesign.

## Packaging

`web-ext-config.mjs` — add to `ignoreFiles`:

```js
"docs", "docs/**", "test", "test/**",
```

Both forms per directory are required. A glob alone removes the files but leaves
an **empty directory entry** in the ZIP; web-ext's own code pairs the bare name
with the glob for exactly this reason.

`.gitea/` and `.agents/` need **no** entries — web-ext ignores all dotfiles and
dot-directories by default. `web-ext-artifacts/**` is likewise already redundant;
it stays as-is to keep this diff focused.

`web-ext lint` scans `lib/` and `test/` with the **same** file filter as
`build`. With `lint.warningsAsErrors: true`, one addons-linter warning in a test
file is a hard CI failure. Adding `test/` to `ignoreFiles` fixes linting and
packaging together — it is one lever, not two.

`web-ext-config.mjs` must keep its `.mjs` extension. web-ext rejects a `.js`
config file outright.

## Tooling

`package.json`:

```jsonc
"type": "module",                 // NEW — required, see below
"scripts": {
  "test:unit": "node --test",     // NEW
  "test": "npm run lint && npm run test:unit && npm run build"
}
```

`"type": "module"` is **required**, not stylistic. Without it, `node --test`
importing an ES-module `lib/*.js` relies on Node's module-syntax detection,
which:

- emits a permanent `MODULE_TYPELESS_PACKAGE_JSON` warning on every run, and
- **fails outright on Node 22.0–22.6**, since detection only became default in
  22.7. `engines.node` says `>=22` and CI pins the bare major `"22"`, leaving
  the patch to runner resolution — so without this field the project declares
  support for a range in which its own suite does not run.

Using `.mjs` for test files only does **not** fix this; the typeless
`lib/*.js` is the ambiguous file. Adding `"type": "module"` was verified not to
break `web-ext lint` or `web-ext build` on web-ext 10.5.0, which never consults
the consumer package's `type` field.

Ordering is lint → unit → build, so unit failures prevent a ZIP from being
produced. The existing `.gitea` workflow calls `npm test` and needs no edit.

`node --test` **exits 0 when it discovers zero test files.** CI would go green
on a misconfigured path, so acceptance must assert a non-zero test count, not
merely a zero exit code.

Note for implementers: local Node here is v26.5.0 while CI pins 22. Local green
does not imply CI green.

## Documentation changes

- **README** — an Options section listing the five settings and how to reach the
  panel (referring to "Options (Windows) / Preferences (macOS, Linux)", since
  Firefox's label is platform-dependent). Privacy section amended: settings are
  stored in the user's own browser profile and, only if that user has Firefox
  Sync with Add-ons enabled, synced end-to-end encrypted through their own
  Mozilla account. Do **not** write "never leaves your device" unconditionally.
  Nothing reaches Zavage Software, so the zero-data-collection claim stands.

  Revisit the bare sentence "This extension collects zero user data." It is true
  in the plain-English sense and `data_collection_permissions: ["none"]` is
  retained, but AMO's definition of transmission is broader (Policy 6, 6.2.2.1),
  and the context menu does put selected text into a chatgpt.com URL. Prefer
  wording that is specific about what happens — the extension sends the text you
  chose to the ChatGPT URL you asked it to open, stores your settings in your own
  profile, and reports nothing to Zavage Software — over a blanket claim a
  reviewer could read differently. See Risk 6.
- **README** — document the two-keypress behaviour plainly as an upstream
  ChatGPT limitation: ChatGPT stopped auto-submitting prompts passed by URL, so
  the query arrives typed into the composer and the user presses Enter to send.
  State that this is outside the extension's control and that no API key,
  server, or intermediary is involved. Do not describe it as a bug or promise a
  fix.
- **AGENTS.md** — update Project Structure for the new directories, Build/Test
  commands for `test:unit`, and the Testing Guidelines manual checklist.
- **CHANGELOG.md** — entry for the release.
- **Version** — `manifest.json` `1.0` → `1.1`; `package.json` `1.0.0` → `1.1.0`.

## Rejected alternatives

| Alternative | Why rejected |
|---|---|
| Rewrite the `gpt` keyword's navigation to honour settings | Needs host access to `chatgpt.com` plus `webRequest`/`tabs`; adds install-prompt lines. |
| Point `search_url` at a bundled extension page that redirects | Firefox requires an http(s) search URL; also a visible redirect flash. Not pursued. |
| ~~Keyboard shortcut reads the page selection~~ | **No longer rejected — now in scope.** Initially dropped believing `activeTab` carried a permission cost. Verification showed `activeTab` is in Firefox's `OptionalPermissionNoPrompt` class and adds no install warning, and reading a selection on an explicit gesture to build the requested URL transmits nothing, so `data_collection_permissions: ["none"]` holds. The lighter-looking alternatives are all worse: a declared `<all_urls>` content script is a real host permission with a warning. |
| `background.page` HTML shim for ES modules | Works, but unnecessary once `background.type: "module"` was confirmed for MV2. |
| `background.scripts` without `type` | Classic scripts; an `import` statement fails with a compile-time `SyntaxError` and silently kills the script. |
| Curated model dropdown | Slug lists rot within a quarter and every stale entry fails silently to the account default. |
| Migrate to MV3 now | Orthogonal, larger diff. Mozilla has announced no MV2 sunset and promises ≥12 months' notice. |
| Toast/notification on failure | The `notifications` permission adds an install warning. All failure paths degrade silently instead. |
| Content script on `chatgpt.com` that presses Enter for the user | **Rejected on security grounds after dedicated adversarial testing — see [Appendix B](#appendix-b-why-auto-submit-was-rejected). Not a future path; the minimum bar is recorded there so it cannot be revived cheaply.** Three independent attack lenses returned "not viable". The decisive result is that the design authenticates the wrong thing: proving the extension started the navigation is easy, but auto-submit needs to prove the *user authored the prompt*, and a hostile page can smuggle ~16 KB of invisible text into `info.selectionText`. **Decision: document the two-keypress behaviour as an upstream ChatGPT limitation instead.** |
| Opt-in auto-submit via `optional_permissions` | The permission machinery works — verified, `permissions.request()` succeeds from the inline `about:addons` panel and the Firefox install dialog is provably unchanged. It was the *safety* that failed, not the plumbing. Also: an optional host permission is visible on the AMO listing page before install, so it was never free. |
| `browser.omnibox` to make `gpt <query>` honour the settings | **Technically viable and verified working** — needs no permissions, reuses the same `gpt` keyword, lints clean. Rejected for policy exposure: it moves the transmitter of search terms from Firefox to extension code, which is the specific change that puts `data_collection_permissions: ["none"]` at risk (AMO 6.2.2.1 classes search terms as personal data). Declining it keeps Firefox as the transmitter. Revisit only after AMO answers the declaration question. |
| `search_url` pointing at a bundled extension page | Impossible, not merely discouraged. The Firefox schema and addons-linter both constrain `search_url` to `https://` or `http://localhost`, and Firefox 153.0.1 **refuses to install the extension entirely** ("Extension is invalid") for `moz-extension://`, a relative path, or a root-relative path. `search_url_post_params` only changes the method; `search_form` is scheme-restricted and unsupported on Firefox. |

## Risks

1. **Any ChatGPT parameter may stop working without notice.** Mitigated by
   hint-strength copy everywhere, independently removable parameters, and no
   architectural dependence on any of them. The `/search` path's silent move to
   404 in mid-2025 is the precedent.
2. **`model` may never work alongside `q`.** An unresolved report says `q`
   forces the account default; no 2026 source positively confirms otherwise. The
   setting is labelled experimental and defaults to empty, so the default
   configuration is unaffected either way.
3. **`Alt+Shift+G` may collide with an OS or window-manager hotkey.** Verified
   clear of Firefox's own keyset and DevTools only; no registry of other add-ons'
   shortcuts exists. Mitigated by the context menu remaining a full-featured
   path and by documenting Manage Extension Shortcuts.
4. **MV2's long-term future is not guaranteed.** The strongest Mozilla
   commitment is dated March 2024 and nothing newer restates it. Mitigated by
   keeping the code MV3-portable.
5. ~~The shortcut's selection-reading depends on a `commands` invocation
   conferring `activeTab`.~~ **Resolved, positive.** Firefox's
   `ext-commands.js` calls `tabManager.addActiveTabPermission(tabTracker.activeTab)`
   before firing the event, and a real synthesized keypress in Firefox 153.0.1
   read page text with `activeTab` as the only host-ish permission. No longer a
   risk.
6. **`data_collection_permissions: ["none"]` carries residual policy risk for
   the selection paths.** AMO Policy 6 defines transmission as data handled
   outside the add-on or local browser, and 6.2.2.1 names search terms as
   personal data. Once extension code reads page text and puts it in a
   chatgpt.com URL, a reviewer could argue `websiteContent` applies. The
   mitigating reading is 6.2.2.2's implicit consent — a user-initiated action
   through a clearly labelled control — but 6.2.2.2(5) is explicitly
   discretionary and no published Mozilla guidance resolves it. This design
   deliberately minimises exposure by **not** moving the `gpt` keyword to
   `browser.omnibox`, leaving Firefox as the transmitter for the address-bar
   path. If AMO ever requires declaring `searchTerms`, the install prompt gains
   "The developer says this extension collects: search terms" — which would
   conflict with this design's no-new-install-lines goal. Worth asking AMO
   before submission, not at submission.

## Appendix A: Verification findings

Established 2026-07-29 by parallel research with adversarial verification;
64 findings, one overturned by its skeptic. Browser claims were verified by
loading real test extensions into **Firefox 153.0.1**. Repo claims were verified
by running commands against copies under `/tmp`; the repo itself was unmodified.

### Confirmed empirically in Firefox 153.0.1

- MV2 `background: {scripts, type: "module"}` loads real ES modules. Supported
  since Firefox 112 (`bug 1811443`); Firefox's manifest schema puts no
  `min_manifest_version` on `type`.
- MV2 `background: {scripts}` **without** `type` fails on `import` with
  `"SyntaxError: import declarations may only appear at top level of a module"`.
- `options_ui.open_in_tab: false` renders inside `about:addons`
  (`inline-options-browser`), gated on
  `extensions.htmlaboutaddons.inline-options.enabled`, which ships `true`.
- The tab label is platform-dependent:
  `preferences-addon-button = { PLATFORM() -> [windows] Options *[other] Preferences }`.
- Options pages support `<script type="module">` in both surfaces.

### Confirmed from Firefox source

- `PERMISSIONS_WITH_MESSAGE` (26 entries) is the authoritative list of API
  permissions that add a warning line. `storage`, `menus`, and `activeTab` are
  all absent; `tabs` is present. **Caveat established by the overturned finding:**
  it is one of five independent install-prompt inputs (API permissions, host
  permissions, `DATA_COLLECTION_PERMISSIONS`, site permissions, unsigned
  warning), so it is not a complete account of install-time warnings.
- A fresh install **always** shows a prompt; the no-prompt early-return is gated
  on `type == "update"`. This extension's prompt today is "Add …" + the
  data-collection line + the private-windows checkbox — unchanged by this work.
- Install prompts are suppressed for temporary/unpacked installs.
- `storage.sync` throws only for a *temporary* add-on ID
  (`enforceNoTemporaryAddon`); the explicit `gecko.id` satisfies it. No account
  check exists anywhere in the path — the backing store is a plain profile-local
  `storage-sync-v2.sqlite`. Quotas: 102400 total / 8192 per item / 512 items.
  Non-quota backend errors are sanitized to `"An unexpected error occurred"`.
- Sync transport is per-extension encrypted BSOs over the user's own Firefox
  Account; extension IDs are hidden behind random GUIDs.
- `Ctrl+G` is `key_findAgain` and `Ctrl+Shift+G` is `key_findPrevious`.
  `Alt+Shift+G` is unused by `browser-sets.inc` and DevTools.
- `tabs.create` / `windows.create` declare no permissions; only
  `Tab.url`/`title`/`favIconUrl` require `tabs`.
- `commands` is `version_added: false` on Firefox for Android.
- `options_ui.browser_style` is deprecated in **MV3 only** (default flipped in
  Firefox 115, unsupported in 118). Legal in MV2, where it defaults to `true`.

### Confirmed empirically against the repo

- `npx web-ext lint` → 0 errors / 0 warnings / 0 notices, exit 0. Green baseline.
- lint and build share one `FileFilter`; `eval()` planted in `lib/` produced
  `DANGEROUS_EVAL` and exit 1.
- web-ext's default ignore list includes `'**/.*'` and `'**/.*/**/*'`, so
  dotfiles never ship. Confirmed: `.gitea/` and a planted `.agents/note.md` were
  both absent from a build with no dotfile entries in `ignoreFiles`.
- `test/` and `docs/` **do** ship by default. With only `"test/**"`, empty
  `test/` and `docs/` directory entries remained in the ZIP; adding the bare
  names removed them.
- The current shipped ZIP contains only `manifest.json`, `LICENSE.txt`, and
  `icons/` — packaging hygiene is a property to preserve, not a bug to fix.
- `node --test` with no `"type"` field: passes on Node 26.5.0 but warns
  `MODULE_TYPELESS_PACKAGE_JSON`; with `--no-experimental-detect-module` (pre-22.7
  behaviour) it **fails** with `"Cannot use import statement outside a module"`.
- `.mjs` for tests only moves the warning to the typeless `lib/*.js`.
- Adding `"type": "module"`: `node --test` clean, `web-ext lint` 0/0/0,
  `web-ext build` succeeded.
- `node --test` with zero discovered tests: `tests 0`, exit **0**.
- Local Node v26.5.0, npm 12.0.1, web-ext 10.5.0. CI pins node-version `"22"`.

### ChatGPT parameters — confidence ratings

| Parameter | Rating | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| `q` prefills | **Solid** | Dated 2026 sources; maintained tooling; OpenAI's own extension uses it; a live probe returned HTTP 200 with all parameters preserved. |
| `q` auto-submits | **Refuted, and confirmed by first-hand test** | Prefill-only in every dated report since 2025-11-11. Tenable TRA-2025-22 documents OpenAI gating auto-submit on `Sec-Fetch-Site`. Reproduced 2026-07-29 in the maintainer's logged-in Firefox via this extension's own search-provider path. |
| `model` honoured alongside `q` | **Uncertain** | An unresolved 2024-12-28 report says `q` forces GPT-4o regardless; counter-evidence exists from 2024–2025; no 2026 source positively confirms. Maintained tooling grades it experimental. |
| Valid `model` slugs | **Uncertain** | No authoritative list; sightings rot (`gpt-4`, `o1-preview`, `gpt-4o`, `gpt-5-thinking`, `auto`, `instant`, `thinking`). |
| `temporary-chat=true` | **Uncertain** | Community-confirmed originally; multiple reports of it not applying or reverting after the first message; OpenAI reworking the feature. |
| `hints=search` is a hint only | **Confirmed** | Multiple independent sources; "a frontend user interface hint, not a backend trigger". |
| `hints=search` still functions | **Uncertain** | Freshest positive source is provably recycling stale material; freshest negative is 2025-11-11. Costs nothing to append and degrades to a normal chat. |
| Stable set of `hints` values | **Refuted** | Published value sets contradict each other; only `search` has cross-source corroboration. |
| Officially documented by OpenAI | **Refuted** | No documentation for any parameter; primary community threads have zero staff replies. |
| `/search` path | **Refuted** | Began returning 404 mid-2025. |
| `q` canonicalises to `prompt=` | **Confirmed** | Dated 2026 reports; `prompt=` is the fallback if `q` dies. |
| Combining all four | **Structurally safe** | Nothing errors or gets stripped. But "the URL loads" is not "the parameter was honoured". |

### Unresolved

- ~~Whether Firefox search-provider navigations land in the favoured
  `Sec-Fetch-Site: none` bucket for auto-submit.~~ **Resolved 2026-07-29,
  negative.** Tested in the maintainer's logged-in Firefox on this extension's
  own path: the prompt only prefills. Being in the most-trusted navigation
  bucket does not restore auto-submit.
- Whether Firefox enforces Chrome-style `storage.sync` write-rate quotas. The
  constants exist in the schema but no rate-limiting logic appears in the Rust
  backend. Made moot by debouncing writes.
- Whether `Alt+Shift+G` collides with OS-level or other-add-on shortcuts.
- Whether AMO accepts `required: ["none"]` once extension code reads page text
  (Risk 6). Ask AMO; 6.2.2.2(5) is discretionary and unresolved in published
  guidance.

### Round two (2026-07-30)

A second verification pass, again with adversarial challenge. Browser claims
tested by driving real Firefox 153.0.1 under Xvfb via Marionette — real
keypresses, real address-bar input, real permission doorhangers — not headless
approximations.

- **A `commands` keyboard shortcut confers `activeTab`.** Firefox's
  `ext-commands.js` calls `tabManager.addActiveTabPermission(tabTracker.activeTab)`
  before firing `onCommand`. A synthesized real keypress read page text with
  `permissions: ["activeTab", "menus"]` and nothing else; the identical call
  from a no-gesture background path threw `Missing host permission for the tab`.
- **`executeScript` fails in three shapes**, one silent: two distinct throws plus
  a resolution to `[null]` on parent-process `about:` pages.
- **`suggested_key` loses silently to Firefox's built-ins** while
  `commands.getAll()` still reports it registered. `Ctrl+Shift+Y` never fired.
- **`activeTab` adds no install-prompt line** — re-confirmed by running
  Firefox's own `ExtensionData.formatPermissionStrings` inside 153.0.1:
  `["activeTab", "storage", "menus"]` yields `msgs: []`, byte-identical to
  requesting nothing.
- **`search_url` cannot be an extension page.** Schema and addons-linter
  constrain it to `https://` or `http://localhost`; Firefox 153.0.1 refuses to
  install ("Extension is invalid") for `moz-extension://`, relative, and
  root-relative paths.
- **`browser.omnibox` works with zero permissions** and can reuse the `gpt`
  keyword alongside the registered engine, linting clean. Declined for policy
  exposure, not capability — see [Rejected alternatives](#rejected-alternatives).
- **`permissions.request()` works from the inline `about:addons` options page.**
  Bug 1382953 was fixed in Firefox 61. The grant does not reload the inline
  page. It must be the **first statement** in the click handler: awaiting a real
  API call first loses the gesture and rejects with `permissions.request may
  only be called from a user input handler`, and the gesture does not survive
  `runtime.sendMessage` delegation to the background.
- **An optional permission cannot reach the Firefox install dialog** — the
  install prompt's info object has no top-level `optionalPermissions`, the only
  key the string formatter reads for that section. Verified with real XPI
  installs plus an order-reversed control.
- **But the AMO listing page does change.** With an optional host permission the
  listing gains "Optional permissions: Access your data for chatgpt.com",
  *before* install. Confirmed against a live MV2 control (SponsorBlock). Note
  publishing the already-committed `data_collection_permissions` will surface
  that card by itself, independent of anything here.

## Appendix B: Why auto-submit was rejected

Recorded in full so the feature cannot be revived without re-clearing the same
bar. Three adversarial lenses — prompt injection, permission integrity, AMO
policy — independently returned "not viable".

**The design authenticated the wrong invariant.** "Did the user initiate this
navigation?" is provable. "Did the user *author this text*?" is what auto-submit
needs. For the two entry points this spec builds, the text comes from the page
DOM — so extension-initiated provenance is not merely insufficient, it is
inverted: the paths the extension can prove it started are exactly the paths
where a hostile page supplies the payload.

**Selection smuggling (confirmed empirically).** A hostile page can place ~16 KB
of invisible instructions into `menus.onClicked`'s `info.selectionText` while the
user sees only innocuous bait text. The user's click is genuine; the prompt is
the attacker's. The only thing standing between an attacker-chosen prompt and
the user's logged-in ChatGPT account is that the text sits visibly in the
composer until a human presses Enter. **Auto-submit deletes that checkpoint.**
This is also why the context menu and shortcut remain safe *as long as they only
prefill*.

**`webNavigation.transitionType` is not a security boundary.** The signal looks
right — a `gpt` search emits `transitionType: "generated"` with
`transitionQualifiers: ["from_address_bar"]`, and content cannot forge those
values directly. But the marker is stashed per-tab and consumed only when a
document *commits*, so a urlbar navigation that never commits (HTTP 204, a
download, an external-protocol handler, a cancelled load) leaves it armed and
**the next navigation to commit inherits it, whoever started it.** Demonstrated:
a page navigating itself via its own inline timer was reported as `typed` +
`["from_address_bar"]` **10.47 seconds** after the urlbar action, against a
control of `link` + `[]`. The intended 5-second freshness guard is dead code —
`data.time - Date.now() > RECENT_DATA_THRESHOLD` is always false (inverted
subtraction, and a microsecond-scaled constant compared against a millisecond
delta) — so the stale marker never expires and an attacker need win no race: it
arms a timer on blur and waits. Separately, `webNavigation` needs no host
permission to see full URLs, so granting it would expose the user's entire
real-time browsing history for a gate that does not hold.

**Same-tab substitution defeats the pending-record scheme (confirmed).** Even
restricted to omnibox-typed text, `omnibox`'s default disposition is the current
tab. The outgoing hostile document receives `beforeunload` — a deterministic
signal that the extension's navigation has begun, not a race — arms
`setTimeout(…, 0)`, and sets `location.href` to `chatgpt.com/?q=EVIL`. Measured
beacon sequence: `ext-navigate-start[q=HONEST]` → `beforeunload fired` →
`timer0: set location OK` → `chat-loaded[q=EVIL-TIMER]`. The extension believes
it navigated the tab to the user's prompt; the document actually there is the
attacker's, and the pending record is still armed. (Opener-based substitution is
dead in Firefox 153 — chatgpt.com sends `COOP: same-origin`, and cross-origin
location writes are denied regardless.)

**What was *not* the problem.** The plumbing all works: `permissions.request()`
from the inline panel, the unchanged Firefox install dialog, optional
data-collection permissions in Firefox 153. The rejection is about safety, and
secondarily about AMO policy — not about feasibility.

**Minimum bar if ever revisited.** Auto-submit may only ever apply to text the
extension can attest the user typed into browser chrome (an `omnibox`
`onInputEntered` value — a page can neither write the omnibox, fire the event,
nor observe it). Never to `info.selectionText`. It must open a **new** tab, never
navigate the current one. The pending map must stay in memory only — never
persisted, because tab ids restart low at browser start, creating a replay
hazard. Authorization must be re-validated synchronously at the instant of
submit against the live `location.search`, never latched, since chatgpt.com is a
client-routed SPA and the content script survives same-document navigation.
Single attempt, ~1.5–2 s timeout, `allFrames: false` with an explicit top-frame
assertion, abandon permanently on any navigation event, never retry, never a
fallback chain. And the AMO declaration question (Risk 6) must be answered
first, because it decides whether the feature is compatible with a clean install
prompt at all.