fix about:blank gray icon and add auto-recovery after extension replacement

extension/manifest.json

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "manifest_version": 3,
   "name": "Playwriter MCP",
-  "version": "0.0.54",
+  "version": "0.0.55",
   "description": "Automate your Browser using Cursor, Claude, VS Code. More capable and context efficient than Playwright MCP.",
   "permissions": ["debugger", "tabGroups"],
   "host_permissions": ["<all_urls>"],

extension/package.json

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
     "name": "mcp-extension",
-    "version": "0.0.54",
+    "version": "0.0.55",
     "description": "Playwright MCP Browser Extension",
     "private": true,
     "repository": {

extension/src/background.ts

@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ let childSessions: Map<string, number> = new Map()
 let nextSessionId = 1
 let playwriterGroupId: number | null = null
 let syncTabGroupQueue: Promise<void> = Promise.resolve()
+let replacedRetryInterval: ReturnType<typeof setInterval> | null = null
 
 const store = createStore<ExtensionState>(() => ({
   tabs: new Map(),
@@ -450,6 +451,31 @@ function closeConnection(reason: string): void {
   }
 }
 
+function startReplacedRetryLoop(): void {
+  if (replacedRetryInterval) return
+  logger.debug('Starting replaced retry loop (every 3 seconds)')
+  replacedRetryInterval = setInterval(async () => {
+    if (ws?.readyState === WebSocket.OPEN || store.getState().connectionState !== 'error') {
+      clearInterval(replacedRetryInterval!)
+      replacedRetryInterval = null
+      logger.debug('Stopped replaced retry loop')
+      return
+    }
+    try {
+      const response = await fetch('http://localhost:19988/extension/status')
+      const data = await response.json()
+      if (!data.connected) {
+        store.setState({ connectionState: 'disconnected', errorText: undefined })
+        logger.debug('Extension slot is free, cleared error state')
+      } else {
+        logger.debug('Extension slot still taken, will retry...')
+      }
+    } catch {
+      logger.debug('Server not available, will retry...')
+    }
+  }, 3000)
+}
+
 function handleConnectionClose(reason: string, code: number): void {
   logger.debug('Connection closed:', { reason, code })
 
@@ -474,6 +500,7 @@ function handleConnectionClose(reason: string, code: number): void {
       connectionState: 'error',
       errorText: 'Disconnected: Replaced by another extension',
     })
+    startReplacedRetryLoop()
     return
   }
 

playwriter/CHANGELOG.md

@@ -1,5 +1,12 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## 0.0.27
+
+### Patch Changes
+
+- **Fixed gray icon on about:blank pages**: `about:blank` pages now show the black (clickable) icon instead of gray (restricted). Chrome returns `undefined` for `tab.url` on blank pages, which was incorrectly treated as restricted.
+- **Auto-recovery after extension replacement**: When another extension instance takes over the connection, the replaced extension now polls `/extension/status` every 3 seconds. When the slot becomes free, it clears the error state so the user can click to reconnect.
+
 ## 0.0.26
 
 ### Patch Changes

playwriter/package.json

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "name": "playwriter",
   "description": "",
-  "version": "0.0.26",
+  "version": "0.0.27",
   "type": "module",
   "main": "dist/index.js",
   "types": "dist/index.d.ts",

playwriter/src/extension/cdp-relay.ts

@@ -281,6 +281,10 @@ export async function startPlayWriterCDPRelayServer({ port = 19988, host = '127.
     return c.json({ version: VERSION })
   })
 
+  app.get('/extension/status', (c) => {
+    return c.json({ connected: extensionWs !== null })
+  })
+
   app.post('/mcp-log', async (c) => {
     try {
       const { level, args } = await c.req.json()