Feature Request: Browser Extension Support for Basic Auth Prefill
Q1. What is the problem that you are trying to solve?
The primary problem is friction and wasted time when accessing environments protected by HTTP Basic Authentication. Currently, developers and testers must manually enter a username and password (or copy/paste from a password manager or documentation) every time a new browser session starts or the credentials expire. This constant interruption breaks the workflow, especially when frequently navigating between multiple protected staging sites or during automated testing setup.
- Measurement: The problem is solved when the time taken to successfully access a Basic Auth-protected resource is reduced to nearly zero (i.e., instant access) without user interaction, indicated by a reduction in reported time spent on authentication barriers. A successful implementation would measure the usage of the feature after deployment.
Q2 - Who is impacted?
This feature impacts anyone who frequently interacts with environments secured by HTTP Basic Authentication. This primarily includes:
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Developers: Need fast access to test code on staging/development servers.
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Quality Assurance (QA) Testers: Need to quickly and repeatedly access various test environments for verification.
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Anyone interacting with internal tools that use Basic Auth for quick access control.
It is a universal benefit for teams working on applications deployed in environments requiring Basic Auth for access control.
Q3 - Why is it important and/or urgent?
This is an important quality-of-life improvement that directly affects team efficiency and velocity.
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Strategic: It improves the developer/tester experience, making internal workflows smoother and faster. Less friction in the environment access process means more time spent on actual development and testing tasks.
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Community Objectives: High-velocity teams rely on minimizing repetitive tasks. This feature aligns with objectives to automate common access barriers.
Q4 - What is your proposed solution? (optional)
The solution involves extending the browser extension’s capability to recognize and inject HTTP Basic Auth credentials for configured domains.
User Stories
- As a Developer, I can configure a Basic Auth username and password for a specific domain/URL pattern within the extension, so that Basic Auth fields are prefilled when I visit that site.
Test Scenario
| Component | Description |
|---|---|
| Given | A domain (https://staging.example.com) is protected by HTTP Basic Auth. |
| And | If the password and username, and url exist in the dashboard, the extension should be configured with valid credentials for that domain. |
| When | A user navigates to https://staging.example.com. |
| Then | The passbolt icon appears, and I should prefill those fields in the window of basic auth |
| Else | If the credentials fail, the user should be presented with the Basic Auth prompt again. |
Q5. Community support
People can vote for this idea to show traction:
Must have: this is critical for me to have this
Should have: this is important for me to have this
Could have: this could be nice to have
Won’t have: we should not schedule this (explain why)