Earlier I wrote an article about submitting add-ons with sources attached, which is primarily needed for obfuscated or minified add-ons. I only briefly mentioned the specific cases where attaching sources is in fact NOT recommended. If you’ve determined you do not need to upload sources but you still want to profit from blazing fast review speeds, please read on.

To reiterate, you do not need to upload source code if your add-on only contains (minified) third-party libraries, or if the libraries you are calling via js-ctypes are system libraries or open source. What you need to do instead is provide links to the exact file versions in the repositories of the respective libraries. You should add these links in the “Notes to Reviewers” section when viewing or uploading your new version.

Just as with your add-on code, we review third-party library code for potential issues. When we notice a library is used more often, we can add the (sha256) checksum to a list of known libraries that are specially marked in the editor tools. Reviewers do not need to review this library again, which saves a lot of time.

The downside to using checksums is that the file must match exactly, down to the byte. A common issue we encounter is libraries being retrieved from non-official sites, for example CDNs. These sites may make slight changes, often something simple like white spaces, or adding/removing a source map URL. Similarly, some developers copy/paste the libraries into a text editor, which may result in different line endings.

Now to the important part: how to specify the repository links. You don’t need to do this for the common libraries mentioned in our list (currently: angular, backbone, backbone.localStorage, crypto.js, dojo, jquery, jqueryui, moment, mootools, prototype.js, scriptaculous, swfobject.js, underscore, yui). For all other libraries, we need the link to an exact copy of the file you have submitted, from the official website or repository. Here is an example:

Let’s say you are using the minified version of mousetrap version 1.4.2 because you haven’t had the chance to update to the latest version.

Wrong: https://craig.is/killing/mice

(using the main website, which only shows the latest version)

(using the main website, which only shows the latest version) Wrong: https://github.com/ccampbell/mousetrap/blob/master/mousetrap.min.js

(using the master branch, which may change any time)

(using the master branch, which may change any time) Wrong: https://craig.global.ssl.fastly.net/js/mousetrap/mousetrap.min.js?71631

(using the link to the CDN, which could possibly differ)

(using the link to the CDN, which could possibly differ) Right: https://github.com/ccampbell/mousetrap/blob/1.4.2/mousetrap.min.js

(links to the exact file, using the tag for the version)

If the library is on github, you can usually find this version under the “releases” link, then clicking on the small tag icon next to the version number, then navigating to the file in the repository. For bonus points, if you are using the minifed version, also provide a link to the unminifed version beside it. If the library does not use github releases but instead just gives you a zip to download, provide the link to the zip instead.

Mentioning the links upfront will shorten the review time since we can check the library right away instead of asking you about it, making reviews faster. Leave a comment if you have any questions!