Cross Platform Add-on Tool (XPATool)

CLI tool for developing and maintaining UXP add-ons.

Handles packaging .xpi files, formatting XUL/XML markup while preserving DTD entities, synchronizing locale files, updating target application max versions, and generating profile proxy files for development.

Requirements

• Python 3.10+
• Dependencies listed in requirements.txt (click, rich, lxml)

Install dependencies:

pip install -r requirements.txt

Commands

list

Scan configured directories and list all discovered add-ons.

python src/xpatool.py list
python src/xpatool.py list --rescan

build

Package an add-on directory into a .xpi file. Reads install.rdf, appends target application short codes to the output filename (e.g. -pm+tb), and injects Git commit hashes for development builds.

# Build specific directory or add-on by ID/name
python src/xpatool.py build path/to/addon
python src/xpatool.py build sample-addon

# Build all discovered add-ons
python src/xpatool.py build --all

# Build as tagged release version
python src/xpatool.py build path/to/addon --tag

# Specify custom output directory or base name
python src/xpatool.py build path/to/addon -o ./dist -n custom-name

format

Format XUL, XML, XHTML, and RDF files. Preserves DOCTYPE declarations, DTD entity references, and attribute structures without breaking XML validity.

# Format specific file or directory
python src/xpatool.py format chrome/content/overlay.xul -w
python src/xpatool.py format src/ -w

# Format all discovered add-ons
python src/xpatool.py format --all -w

# Check formatting without writing changes (exits with non-zero status if unformatted)
python src/xpatool.py format src/ --check

# Custom indentation and line width
python src/xpatool.py format src/ -w --tab-width 2 --print-width 120

locale

Manage and synchronize translation files (.dtd and .properties).

locale sync

Sync missing translation keys from a base locale (en-US by default) into all other locale folders declared in chrome.manifest.

python src/xpatool.py locale sync path/to/addon
python src/xpatool.py locale sync --all --sort
python src/xpatool.py locale sync path/to/addon -b en-US

locale sort

Alphabetically sort translation keys in .dtd and .properties files.

python src/xpatool.py locale sort path/to/addon
python src/xpatool.py locale sort --all

update-maxversions

Update <em:maxVersion> values in install.rdf according to configured target application definitions.

python src/xpatool.py update-maxversions path/to/addon
python src/xpatool.py update-maxversions --all

proxy

Generate pointer proxy files pointing to add-on source directories for live profile testing without packaging.

python src/xpatool.py proxy path/to/addon
python src/xpatool.py proxy --all
python src/xpatool.py proxy path/to/addon -o ~/.moonchild\ productions/pale\ moon/profiles/dev/extensions

config

Manage global directories and defaults stored in ~/.config/xpatool/config.json.

# Show current configuration
python src/xpatool.py config list

# Add or remove add-on search directories
python src/xpatool.py config add-dir /path/to/addons
python src/xpatool.py config remove-dir /path/to/addons

# Set default directory for generated proxy files
python src/xpatool.py config set-proxies-dir /path/to/profile/extensions