gpgme.js - JavaScript for GPGME

-------------------------------

Initially developed for integration with the Mailvelope Web Extension.

Overview

--------

gpgme.js is a javascript library for direct use of GnuPG in browsers.

It interacts with GPGME through nativeMessaging and gpgme-json.

It is meant to be distributed directly by its downstream users in

their extension package. As such it is not integrated in the

autotools build system. See build instructions below.

gpgme-json

----------

gpgme-json (see core src/gpgme-json.c) the json to GPGME bridge is

required as native messaging backend for gpgme.js to work.

It needs to be installed and registered as native messaging

backend with the browser.

See gpgme-mozilla.json and gpgme-chrome.json examples in

the top level doc/examples as example manifests.

Any web extension using gpgme.js will need to be whitelisted in the manifest

file by its id.

Distributors are encouraged to create manifest packages for their

distributions.

Building gpgme.js

-----------------

gpgme.js uses webpack, and thus depends on Node.js for building.

All dependencies will be installed (in a local subdirectory) with the command

`npm install`.

To create a current version of the package, the command is

`npx webpack --config webpack.conf.js`.

If you want a more debuggable (i.e. not minified) build, just change the mode

in webpack.conf.js.

Demo and Test WebExtension:

---------------------------

The Demo Extension shows simple examples of the usage of gpgme.js.

The BrowsertestExtension runs more intensive tests (using the mocha and chai

frameworks). Tests from BrowserTestExtension/tests will be run against the

gpgmejs.bundle.js itself. They aim to test the outward facing functionality

and API.

Unittests as defined in ./unittests.js will be bundled in

gpgmejs_unittests.bundle.js, and test the separate components of gpgme.js,

which mostly are not exported.

The file `build_extension.sh` may serve as a pointer on how to build and

assemble these two Extensions and their dependencies. It can directly

be used in most linux systems.

The resulting folders can just be included in the extensions tab of the browser

in questions (extension debug mode needs to be active). For chrome, selecting

the folder is sufficient, for firefox, the manifest.json needs to be selected.

Please note that it is just for demonstration/debug purposes!

For the Extensions to successfully communicate with gpgme-json, a manifest file

is needed.

- `~/.config/chromium/NativeMessagingHosts/gpgmejson.json`

In the browsers' nativeMessaging configuration folder a file 'gpgmejs.json'

is needed, with the following content:

- For Chrome/Chromium:

  ```

  {

    "name": "gpgmejson",

    "description": "This is a test application for gpgme.js",

    "path": "/usr/bin/gpgme-json",

    "type": "stdio",

    "allowed_origins": ["chrome-extension://ExtensionIdentifier/"]

  }

  ```

  The usual path for Linux is similar to:

  `~/.config/chromium/NativeMessagingHosts/gpgmejson.json` for

  For Windows, the path to the manifest needs to be placed in

  `HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Google\Chrome\NativeMessagingHosts\gpgmejson`

  - For firefox:

  ```

  {

    "name": "gpgmejson",

    "description": "This is a test application for gpgme.js",

    "path": "/usr/bin/gpgme-json",

    "type": "stdio",

    "allowed_extensions": ["ExtensionIdentifier@temporary-addon"]

  }

  ```

  The ExtensionIdentifier can be seen as Extension ID on the about:addons page

  if addon-debugging is active. In firefox, the temporary addon is removed once

  firefox exits, and the identifier will need to be changed more often.

  The manifest for linux is usually placed at:

    `~/.mozilla/native-messaging-hosts/gpgmejson.json`

Documentation

-------------

The documentation can be built by jsdoc. It currently uses the command

`./node_modules/.bin/jsdoc -c jsdoc.conf`.