Cannot load extension with file or directory name _metadata. Filenames starting with "_" are reserved for use by the system.

[Juraj M.]

I've seen this warning today when I updated my extension.

The extension works fine, so I'm not sure what's wrong or why the warning...

But I can see my package indeed contains "_metadata" folder which is probably added by the web-store.

https://robwu.nl/crxviewer/?crx=https%3A%2F%2Fchrome.google.com%2Fwebstore%2Fdetail%2Fgroup-speed-dial%2Fimfeikbeimbfpmgfkkmjekabdehiiajc%2F

BTW, there is also "_locales" folder, so that should be a "problem" too.

[Juraj M.]

[Oliver Dunk]

Hi Juraj,

Thanks for flagging this.

The _metadata folder can sometimes be created locally when an unpacked extension is loaded in Chrome - it's used to store some things including compiled declarativeNetRequest rules. I would be surprised if it was created by the web store - as far as I know it doesn't have any knowledge of that folder.

Do you still have the file you uploaded to the Chrome Web Store still and could you check the contents of that? (e.g `unzip -l file.zip` or `ls -lah folder`)? My first guess would be that perhaps it got created during testing and then ended up as part of your upload.

Oliver Dunk | DevRel, Chrome Extensions | https://developer.chrome.com/ | London, GB

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Chromium Extensions" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to chromium-extens...@chromium.org.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/a/chromium.org/d/msgid/chromium-extensions/c91f20e8-6efb-4f78-8df3-9be113f6a0dcn%40chromium.org.

[Juraj M.]

I'm look at the zipped file I've uploaded last Friday and there is no _metadata inside it.

Also, since I'm using Webpack to create the zip file, I doubt the _metadata would get inside it :)

[Oliver Dunk]

Alright, thanks for checking.

Looking more closely, I see that the only file in the CRX viewer is verified_contents.json. That one is actually ok and is expected as part of the signing process.

If you remove the extension from Chrome and add it back, do you see the same issue? If not I suspect this may be a bug with the update process in Chrome.

Oliver Dunk | DevRel, Chrome Extensions | https://developer.chrome.com/ | London, GB

[Pavel Aronovich]

I have this error constantly appearing. I'm sure my package is clean. Usually the error occurs when manually updating the extension from CWS.

[wOxxOm]

_metadata folder was always created by Chrome locally inside the extension's folder when it's installed from CWS regardless of its permissions/APIs. Normally it doesn't interfere with an update, so you've clearly encountered a bug. It may be caused by an antivirus or some other external issue e.g. if this is a network folder.

[wOxxOm]

Maybe this folder is locked by some running app in the OS. In Windows you can check it using downloadable apps like System Informer or handles.

Maybe this folder's permissions are messed up so it can't be auto-removed by the updater.

Try removing the extension, verify its local folder is fully removed, then install it again.

[Oliver Dunk]

Yeah, all of wOxxOm's suggestions seem good. This isn't happening for me installing your extension so it does seem like it might be something local, or at least related to the state you are in before the update starts.

Failing all of those, I would definitely suggest opening a bug. While it might be a hard one to address without a better idea of how to reproduce, it at least makes it possible to track how many people are hitting it :)

Oliver Dunk | DevRel, Chrome Extensions | https://developer.chrome.com/ | London, GB

[Juraj M.]

As Pavel said, this happened to me as well when I manually clicked "Update" button on the extensions page. You see, I've received an email that my extension update was approved so I wanted to see if it works, and the moment it updated, I saw an Error button appear next to my extension with this warning inside. And same thing happened this morning on my work PC where I wanted to see if I get the same error.

But if I disable / enable extension, the error is not there.

And I don't use any special antivirus, just default Windows defender.

But the update button was "always" buggy :), in the past it often showed "Updating" toast message that never went away - this usually meant the service worker got broken, you know, the famous bug: https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=1271154
At least this time it doesn't break extension.

[Roberto Oneto]

The same happens periodically to me too.

I had also already reported it in this group

T