Firefox

Install on Firefox

Firefox needs its own package: it has no service workers in Manifest V3, so the background script is built differently. Everything else behaves the same.

Download for Firefox

A 20KB zip, for Firefox 140 or newer. Do not use the Chromium one — Firefox will refuse it.

  1. 1

    Unzip it.

    Anywhere is fine for this one, for the reason in the warning below.
  2. 2

    Open about:debugging#/runtime/this-firefox.

    Type it into the address bar. Firefox has no Developer-mode toggle to find first.
  3. 3

    Choose Load Temporary Add-on, and select manifest.json.

    Pick the manifest.json file inside the folder — not the folder. This is the opposite of what Chromium wants, and the most common way to get stuck here.
  4. 4

    Click the icon and choose Connect to Locus.

    You need to be signed in to Locus in the same browser.

Firefox removes a temporary add-on when it restarts. You will have to load it again each session. That is how Firefox treats unsigned extensions, not something the package can change — the permanent route is a signed build from addons.mozilla.org, which we are working towards. Ask us if you would rather have a signed copy now.

When it does not work

Firefox says the add-on could not be installed or is corrupt.

Almost always the Chromium package. Firefox rejects a manifest whose background is declared as a service worker. Download the Firefox zip above and try again.

It refuses to install and mentions the version.

This build declares Firefox 140 as its minimum, because it uses the data-collection declaration Mozilla now requires and that key did not exist before 140. Update Firefox, or ask us for a build without it.

The extension asks for permission on every publisher.

Firefox treats host permissions as optional by default and confirms them per site. Granting it once per publisher is expected; it is not asking again for the same site.

It says the publisher refused the download.

That is an access answer, not a bug. If the page shows Get access or Purchase PDF, or the URL carries redirectedFrom=fulltext, you are looking at an abstract. The extension uses your session and nothing more, so if you cannot open the PDF yourself it cannot either.

No paper found on this page.

The page does not publish citation_* metadata, which is what nearly every publisher emits for Google Scholar. Send us the URL and we will add a fallback for that site.

Nothing changed after I updated the extension.

The popup is re-read from disk every time it opens, but the background script is not — it is only re-registered when you reload the extension from your browser’s extensions page. A fix to the download can look like it did nothing while the new popup sits in front of you. The version number on the extension’s card is the visible sign the reload took.