[web] How to start a 'normal' Chrome instance? Chrome extensions are needed for development.

[modulovalue]

Some use-cases need extensions for development (e.g. the MetaMask extension injects a web3 object into every page).

Is there a way to start the 'normal' Chrome instance with flutter run -d chrome?

[modulovalue]

I found a temporary fix:

The relevant lines for this are here:

flutter/packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/web/chrome.dart

Lines 96 to 112 in 450a724

	final List<String> args = <String>[
	chromeExecutable,
	// Using a tmp directory ensures that a new instance of chrome launches
	// allowing for the remote debug port to be enabled.
	'--user-data-dir=${dataDir.path}',
	'--remote-debugging-port=$port',
	// When the DevTools has focus we don't want to slow down the application.
	'--disable-background-timer-throttling',
	// Since we are using a temp profile, disable features that slow the
	// Chrome launch.
	'--disable-extensions',
	'--disable-popup-blocking',
	'--bwsi',
	'--no-first-run',
	'--no-default-browser-check',
	'--disable-default-apps',
	'--disable-translate',

To rebuild the flutter tool see here https://stackoverflow.com/questions/44487204/alternative-methods-for-rebuilding-flutter-tools

[yjbanov]

We have two options of running an app without automatically starting Chrome for you:

• flutter run -d web-server will run a plain server for you to open in your own browser.
• flutter run -d chrome --no-web-browser-launch will run in debug mode and requires Dart debug extension (@jonahwilliams might have more details).

/cc @sfshaza2 - this might be a good thing to document

[modulovalue]

flutter run -d web-server will run a plain server for you to open in your own browser.

Performing hot restart... 0,9s
Recompile complete. Page requires refresh.

That's quite inconvenient as the user has to manually refresh the page on each change and is forced to set a custom port if he doesn't want to also copy the url on each build. Speed during development is of utmost importance to me and this is not optimal.

flutter run -d chrome --no-web-browser-launch

I did not manage to get that to work. All I get from the Dart Debug Extension is "Unable to launch DevTools. This is not Dart application.".

[tomasdev]

Just copy the URL and paste it in your regular Chrome window -- much more efficient.

[tarekbazine]

@tomasdev I am not sure how you see this efficient ( I might miss something here ), since when you open the link in another Chrome instance you won't be able to use the dev-tools because the debugger is attached to the opened Chrome ...

[davelewicki]

1. @modulovalue - that's a great fix. Easy enough to do (and git stash/pop when upgrading flutter). -- thanks!
2. the default of a fresh chrome profile every time breaks using Android Studio launch along w/ local storage. Would be great to see a less 'temporary' fix by allowing an option to set the profile

[github-actions]

This thread has been automatically locked since there has not been any recent activity after it was closed. If you are still experiencing a similar issue, please open a new bug, including the output of flutter doctor -v and a minimal reproduction of the issue.