Announcement: Upcoming Studio Web Browser Extensions Upgrade

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We are planning an important upgrade to our Studio Web browser extensions for early June in response to Google’s transition to Manifest V3.

As part of this transition, Chrome will begin disabling Manifest V2 extensions in pre-stable versions of Chrome (Dev, Canary, and Beta) starting June 2024, beginning with Chrome 127 and later versions. More details on Manifest V2 support timeline page.

What does this mean for users

Our existing Studio Web extensions for Chrome and Edge have been updated to be fully compatible with Manifest V3, while retaining the same extension IDs for both browsers (Chrome and Edge).

This means that once the extensions are updated in the Web Stores, no further action is required from users to receive the new MV3 extensions. They will be automatically updated when the browser is reopened.

Debugger banner

After the upgrade of the Studio Web extension to version 24.10 the debugger banner with the message “UiPath Studio Web Automation” started debugging this browser is displayed at workflow design every time the user starts an interactive selection.

debugger-banner
debugger-banner835×281 28.2 KB

The debugger banner is displayed because the chrome.debugger API is used to load the UIAutomation selection screen code in the target tab.

This banner is a security feature designed by Chrome to inform users when a debugger is active. Users can safely close it by clicking the Cancel button. This action does not affect the functionality of the extension.

Even if dismissed, the debugger banner reappears every time the user starts an interactive selection via the “Indicate target on screen”, “Edit target” options or when selecting a browser tab for the “Use Browser” activity.

When the automation runs on serverless robots, the MV2 extension is still used. The robot serverless image will also be updated to include the pre-installed the MV3 extension for Chrome before Chrome MV2 deprecation in stable versions.

Workarounds for hiding the debugger banner

1. Install extension via group policy

When an extension is installed via group policy in Chrome or Edge, it typically does not trigger the debugger banner (“started debugging this browser”) associated with the use of the chrome.debugger API.

This can be done by adding to the ExtensionInstallForceList group policy the values with the appropriate Extension ID:

  • for Chrome: conkfbpnllelocpogdmbilgmnkabjfmf;https://clients2.google.com/service/update2/crx
  • for Edge: hmpkmollbbcoopahpbplbdaapacncbbc;https://edge.microsoft.com/extensionwebstorebase/v1/crx

2. Start the browser with the --silent-debugger-extension-api switch

The debugger banner can also be hidden by adding this command line switch when starting the browser: –silent-debugger-extension-api.

When Chrome or Edge is started with this switch, it silences the debugger warnings that typically appear when an extension uses the chrome.debugger API.

Example for Chrome:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" --silent-debugger-extension-api

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Thanks for the heads up!