XDEBUG_PROFILE (cookie trigger)

Firefox addon for setting XDEBUG_PROFILE cookie

Install: Firefox Add-ons (AMO) (desktop and Android) · Chrome Web Store — under review

Now works in Firefox 140+, Firefox for Android 142+ and Chrome / Chromium 121+ (one Manifest V3 codebase). On Android there are no keyboard shortcuts (the browser has no commands API); every browser API is checked before use, so missing APIs only switch off the related feature.

The toolbar popup toggles Xdebug trigger cookies for the current site:

Trigger	Cookie (default)	Xdebug mode	Badge
Debug	XDEBUG_SESSION=vsc (IDE key)	debug	D
Profile	XDEBUG_PROFILE=Y	profile	P
Trace	XDEBUG_TRACE=Y	trace	T

The cookie can be set for the current host only or for a parent domain with all its subdomains (e.g. .example.com for api.example.com and www.example.com). The choice is remembered per host.

Click the IDE name in the popup to set an own IDE key for the current site (e.g. a project behind a DBGp proxy). Other sites keep the global key.

Interface languages: English, Russian, Kazakh (follows the browser language).

Keyboard shortcuts

• Alt+Shift+K - open popup
• Alt+Shift+F - toggle profiler cookie
• Alt+Shift+D - toggle debugger cookie

(Alt+Shift+P and Alt+Shift+X are reserved by Chrome for tab groups.)

• toggle trace cookie - no default shortcut

Firefox: about:addons → gear → "Manage Extension Shortcuts". Chrome: chrome://extensions/shortcuts.

Installation from sources

Firefox: about:debugging#/runtime/this-firefox → "Load Temporary Add-on…" → select manifest.json. Firefox may treat host permissions as optional: if the popup shows "Grant access", click it.

Chrome: chrome://extensions → enable "Developer mode" → "Load unpacked" → select the repository folder.

Package: npm install && npm run build → web-ext-artifacts/*.zip (works for both browsers).

Development

npm install
npm run lint          # web-ext lint
npm run test:unit     # no browser: API helpers, Firefox for Android-like environment
npm run test:chrome   # Playwright, Chromium (CHROMIUM_PATH can point to a custom binary)
npm run test:firefox  # Selenium + geckodriver, needs Firefox
                      # (FIREFOX_PATH / GECKODRIVER_PATH can point to custom binaries)

GitHub Actions run lint and both browser tests on every push and pull request.

Release

Bump version in manifest.json, merge to master, then push a tag with the same version:

git tag v1.1 && git push origin v1.1

The Release workflow checks the version, builds the zip and creates a GitHub release with it. Store listing texts, privacy policy and images are in store/.

Server setup (php.ini)

Xdebug 3:

xdebug.mode = debug,profile,trace
xdebug.start_with_request = trigger
xdebug.output_dir = /tmp/xdebug
; optional: if set, cookie values in addon options must be the same
; xdebug.trigger_value = Y

Xdebug 2:

xdebug.remote_enable = 1
xdebug.profiler_enable_trigger = 1
xdebug.trace_enable_trigger = 1
xdebug.profiler_output_dir = /tmp/xdebug

Open the generated cachegrind.out.* files in KCachegrind / QCachegrind.

Options

• IDE for step debugging: the XDEBUG_SESSION value is passed to the IDE as IDE key. Presets: VS Code vsc (default, php.debug.ideKey of the PHP Debug extension), PhpStorm PHPSTORM, NetBeans netbeans-xdebug, Eclipse XDEBUG_ECLIPSE, MacGDBp macgdbp, or a custom key (e.g. VSCODE). Without DBGp proxy and xdebug.trigger_value any key works; with DBGp proxy it must match the key configured in your IDE. The options page asks to choose the IDE after installation;
• cookie name and value for every trigger (value must match one of xdebug.trigger_value values if it is set, since Xdebug 3.1 it can be a comma separated list);
• icon colors for "on" and "off" states.

After renaming a cookie in options, cookies with the old name/value are removed from all sites.

Debug

All scripts log with the [XDEBUG_PROFILE] prefix (enable "Debug"/"Verbose" level in the console):

• Firefox: about:debugging#/runtime/this-firefox → this addon → "Inspect";
• Chrome: chrome://extensions → this addon → "service worker".

Popup can be opened in a regular tab for a given tab: popup.html?tabId=N.

Files

• common.js - shared code (triggers, cookies, settings), used by all pages;
• background.js - icon, badge, shortcuts, sync with cookie/settings changes;
• popup.html/js/css - toolbar popup;
• options.html/js/css - settings page;
• _locales/ - translations (en, ru, kk);
• tests/ - browser tests, store/ - store listing materials.

Screenshots