Web Sockets

This page serves as a central place for collecting information about required WebSocket platform API. The goal is extending RDP inspector to track also WebSocket connections and data sent over it.

Requirements

• Get list of existing WS connections (we need to filter per tab)
• Track opening and closing of WS connections (we need to filter per tab)
• Intercept all sent/received frames for specific connection
• Access full frame data (both frame meta data as well as the payload)

Questions:

• Why tracking messages isn't enough?

Bugzilla

List of existing bugzilla reports

• Bug 885508 - Allow developers to inspect websocket connections
  • Patch monkey patching WebSocket JS API availble, but it's dead end, platform API needed
  • Comment #28, great WS background introduction
• Bug 927481 - observe in-content WebSocket frames
  • Request to observer WS frames. Observing messages doesn't seem to be enough (a message can span more frames).
• Bug 977858 - Should be able to attach an nsiWebSocketListener to a web socket that's already open
  • Suggested API: .SetObserver(nsIWebsocketListener, nsIEventTarget);
  • Comment #3 suggests that only a single observer will be supported. No way, there can be more extensions observing the WS connections.
• Bug 720176 - WebConsole should be able to log WebSocket messages
• Bug 765651 - WebSocket connections are listed with the "http:" protocol in the console.
• Jim: Bug 1103189 - WebSockets should allow developer tools code to observe socket activity
  • This is very much like bug 977858, although that suggests a very different approach.
  • Mentored by Jim, but doesn't seem to be finished
• Jim: Bug 1103257 - The Firefox Devtools need a WebSockets inspector panel
  • Suggesting a new WS panel, but original idea was to put WS into Network panel, but a comment in bug 885508 says that Network panel isn't suitable.
• Jim: Bug 1103263 - The DevTools needs WebSocket Manager and Inspector actors.
  • Suggested new RDP protocol packet types (the architecture: Panel <--> Actors <--> Web Socket Objects)

Articles

• Inspecting WebSocket Traffic with Chrome Developer Tools

Further Resources

• https://etherpad.mozilla.org/extending-devtools