Unable automatically install plugin in the `extensions` directory

racg4869

Hello! I am a newbie in the development of plugin and met some problems with automatic installation of plugins.
According to the steps described in [this page](https://www.zotero.org/support/dev/client_coding/building_the_standalone_client), I created a file named after the `id` and contained the path of source code such as "D:/Code/Zotero/small-plugin/".
But when I restarted Zotero, the plugin was not automatically installed. Are there any other steps that I should try ?

dstillman

(Better to post development questions to zotero-dev — we try to keep technical discussions there.)

Not sure if this is the issue, but did you mean to use slashes instead of back-slashes?

Starting Zotero from the command line with the -jsconsole and -ZoteroDebugText flags might show you something (though possibly only the first time, so you should remove the proxy file and restart once to clear any state). Basically, though, this is just the old Firefox extension proxy file mechanism and works exactly the same way.

emilianoeheyns

FWIW this method hasn't worked for me in years. I use selenium to install my plugin into the profile before start.

racg4869

Thanks for your reply. I tried both slashes and back-slashes, none of them worked.
I posted to the google group.

dstillman

We can just continue this here.

This is working for me (and always has) with a source build. It's not working for me with a stock build, but I'm not sure why.

dstillman

OK, I can get it to work by closing Zotero, opening prefs.js in the Zotero profile directory, and deleting the extensions.lastAppBuildId and extensions.lastAppVersion lines. That seems to force it to re-read the extensions directory and find the proxy file.

racg4869

Great ! The plugin has been installed by deleting the two lines.

But there are still some problems. Firstly, the plugin didn't change after I updated the source code, even after restart ! Secondly, the pref.js will be overwritten after restart.

dstillman

Deleting those lines should only be necessary the first time. Once the extension is installed, it should remain installed.

Changes code in the folder pointed to from a proxy file works for me. Make sure you're editing files in the same folder you're pointing to, and make sure you're fully closing Zotero.

racg4869

Thanks! I'll try it later.

dstillman

Just to add to this, it looks like you also need to start Zotero with the -purgecaches after making changes, at least for some changes.

I've created a new Zotero Plugin Development page with a section for this.