How to release a build to a panel of test users

[Julien Vouillaume]

Hi there ! 

We have just fully revamped our extension, doing some deep modification of architecture, apis, frontend etc... 

We would like to test it internally in the company before releasing it fully to our 70k weekly active users. 

I searched for a way to do this properly through the web store but could find some clear info about such a beta flag release. Private mode publish + "BETA" name tagging seems to be the way but I'm scared to overwrite the public one and screw everything. 
(We'll also use the percentage rollout once this first test phase is ok)

Does anyone has experience with such a situation ? or some good practice/documentation to share ? 

Sharing custom builds accros the company is a solution, but it will a mess to maintain versioning once the first bug is fixed :/

Thanks a lot for your help

[Oliver Dunk]

Hi Julien,

The best compromise between simplicity and control here is usually to create an entirely separate item listing in the Chrome Web Store. As you mentioned, you can use the "BETA" tag or similar to avoid a repetitive content policy violation. You can also use the various visibility settings (unlisted / trusted testers / published to domain) to control who can install the extension.

If you want more control, and to avoid the review process, it is possible to set up your own update server by setting up a web server with an XML file and the CRX files you want to distribute. This also requires policy on the machine of any users. It is non-trivial, so not usually what I would suggest, but I like to mention it for completeness. That process is mentioned in more detail here: https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/9296680?hl=en

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

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[Julien Vouillaume]

Thanks for you reply Oliver ! 

I think we'll go for a manual solution, it seems like the most agile way