firefox-client

firefox-client

firefox-client is a node library for remote debugging Firefox.

Install

With node.js npm package manager:

npm install firefox-client

Connecting

Desktop Firefox

1. Enable remote debugging (You'll only have to do this once)

2. Open the DevTools. Web Developer > Toggle Tools

3. Visit the settings panel (gear icon)

4. Check "Enable remote debugging" under Advanced Settings

5. Listen for a connection

6. Open the Firefox command line with Tools > Web Developer > Developer Toolbar.

7. Start a server by entering this command: listen 6000 (where 6000 is the port number)

Firefox for Android

Follow the instructions in this Hacks video

Usage

Use firefox-client from your node program with:

var FirefoxClient = require("firefox-client");

var client = new FirefoxClient();

client.connect(6000, function() {
  client.listTabs(function(err, tabs) {
    console.log("first tab:", tabs[0].url);
  });
});

Compatibility

This library is compatible with Firefox Nightly.

API

A FirefoxClient is the entry point to the API. After connecting, get a Tab object with listTabs() or selectedTab(). Once you have a Tab, you can call methods and listen to events from the tab's modules, Console or Network. There are also experimental DOM and StyleSheets tab modules.

Methods

Almost all API calls take a callback that will get called with an error as the first argument (or null if there is no error), and a return value as the second:

tab.Console.evaluateJS("6 + 7", function(err, resp) {
  if (err) throw err;

  console.log(resp.result);
});

Events

The modules are EventEmitters, listen for events with on or once, and stop listening with off:

tab.Console.on("page-error", function(event) {
  console.log("new error from tab:", event.errorMessage);
});

Summary of the offerings of the modules and objects:

FirefoxClient

Methods: connect(), disconnect(), listTabs(), selectedTab()

Events: "error", "timeout", "end"

Tab

Properties: url, title

Methods: reload(), navigateTo(), attach(), detach()

Events: "navigate", "before-navigate"

Tab.Console

Methods: evaluateJS(), startListening(), stopListening(), getCachedLogs()

Events: "page-error", "console-api-call"

JSObject

Properties: class, name, displayName

Methods: ownPropertyNames(), ownPropertyDescriptor(), ownProperties(), prototype()

Tab.Network

Methods: startLogging(), stopLogging(), sendHTTPRequest()

Events: "network-event"

NetworkEvent

Properties: url, method, isXHR

Methods: getRequestHeaders(), getRequestCookies(), getRequestPostData(), getResponseHeaders(), getResponseCookies(), getResponseContent(), getEventTimings()

Events: "request-headers", "request-cookies", "request-postdata", "response-start", "response-headers", "response-cookies", "event-timings"

Tab.DOM

Methods: document(), documentElement(), querySelector(), querySelectorAll()

DOMNode

Properties: nodeValue, nodeName, namespaceURI

Methods: parentNode(), parents(), siblings(), nextSibling(), previousSibling(), querySelector(), querySelectorAll(), innerHTML(), outerHTML(), setAttribute(), remove(), release()

Tab.StyleSheets

Methods: getStyleSheets(), addStyleSheet()

StyleSheet

Properties: href, disabled, ruleCount

Methods: update(), toggleDisabled()

Events: "disabled-changed", "ruleCount-changed"

Examples

fxconsole - a remote JavaScript console for Firefox

Feedback

What do you need from the API? File an issue.