Skip to main content

Chrome extension

The Chrome extension shows your practice review on the GitHub or GitLab page of the work you view. It links to the comments posted for you, lists your observations, and shows when the work was last reviewed. You read the feedback itself in the comment, on your Practice profile, or with Hephaestus.

What the extension shows​

The extension adds context to the work page. Feedback appears on the work, on your Practice profile, and in Hephaestus, as Practice feedback describes.

Open in Hephaestus opens your records in the app, on the page called Your feedback on this work. That page also shows each earlier review of the work. Workspace admins can also reach everyone’s records in Practice reviews.

What you need​

  • Chrome on a desktop computer. Chrome on Android and iOS cannot run desktop extensions.
  • A Hephaestus account on an instance that allows the extension.
  • Membership in a workspace that monitors the repository you view.

The extension is not yet in the Chrome Web Store. Instance operators either install it through your organization’s Chrome settings or supply a package with installation instructions. The package method requires Chrome developer mode.

The review line​

On supported pages, the review uses the page’s content column:

  • On a GitHub pull request, after its description and before the conversation.
  • On a GitHub issue, after its description and before the activity.
  • On a GitLab merge request, with its reports and before the activity.
  • On a GitLab issue or work item, at the top of its activity.
  • On pull request or merge request changes, above the changed files.

The review starts as one line, and the line has the same height in every state. It shows, in order:

  1. Review waiting or Review running, while a review of the work is in progress.
  2. The number of comments Hephaestus recorded as posted for you on this work.
  3. The latest review time, or review status unavailable when your account has no review history for this work.
  4. review partial or review failed, if the latest review did not finish.

For example: 3 comments for you · reviewed 2 hr. ago.

While the report loads, the line reads Loading…. The report belongs to the extension, so the page cannot read its content. It follows the page’s light and dark modes, including GitHub’s dimmed and high-contrast themes.

What the report shows​

The expanded report shows:

  • Your comments. Each row is a comment Hephaestus posted for you on this work. The summary comment, or the file and lines, link to the comment on the page. You read the comment there. To respond to the feedback, follow its Hephaestus link. Below the link, the row shows the practices and the delivery time.
  • Your observations. Each row names the practice, the outcome, the severity for Not met, and a one-sentence summary. A Not met row also counts its problems, for example Not met · 2 problems. It lists each problem in one line. Where each problem is, and why, is in Hephaestus. The outcomes are Met, Not met, Does not apply, and Could not determine. An observation from before a change to the practice or the work says it is no longer current. The first five appear, and Show … more reveals the rest.
  • When, and where to read more. The exact time of the latest review, and its commit if known. Open in Hephaestus opens your feedback and observations on the work.

On the changes page, comments on lines appear first. The comment list shows what Hephaestus recorded when it posted. Someone may have changed or deleted a comment since then. A comment with no recorded address says no link recorded. A comment posted while the rest of its feedback could not be posted names no practice.

No recorded comments for you means only that Hephaestus recorded no comment for you on this work. It is not a clean result. The work may be unreviewed, or no practice may check the event that occurred. review status unavailable means that your account has no review history for this work. The work may still have been reviewed.

Workspace admins also get Review details, including instance admins who work in the workspace. It shows each developer’s observations, each piece of feedback’s delivery state, and each review. A run there can be canceled or its observations retried.

Previews in lists​

On GitHub repository lists of pull requests or issues, each row has a small Hephaestus button after its title. GitLab project lists of merge requests, issues, or work items get the same button. Nothing is looked up until you select one.

The preview shows one quiet line below the row title. It uses the first sentence of the work’s report and links to your first comments there. Nothing else expands in the row, and no changes happen from the list. Only one preview is open at a time.

Review requests​

The only change you can make from the page is a review request. Request review appears on the work page when you may request a review, as author, assignee, or workspace admin. It appears only when no review of that work is queued or running. You always confirm the request in a separate small Hephaestus window, which the page cannot cover or read. The extension sends nothing before you confirm.

You cancel a review, retry its observations, and approve or reject feedback in Hephaestus, through Review details.

Sign-in​

You stay signed in until you close Chrome or seven days pass, whichever comes first. Your instance may set a shorter limit. Under User settings in Hephaestus, the session appears as Browser extension in Chrome on …. Ending that session there, signing out everywhere, or an instance admin ending your sessions also signs the extension out. Signing out, or changing the Hephaestus address, clears the extension’s content from every tab. After sign-in ends, sign in again from extension settings.

Privacy​

The extension sends Hephaestus the address of each work page you open on an allowed site, and of each list row you preview. It reads no page text. Chrome extension privacy lists what it reads, sends, and stores, and Your data in Hephaestus explains the recorded data.

Connect it to your Hephaestus​

  1. If you cannot see the Hephaestus icon, pin it from Chrome’s puzzle-piece menu.
  2. Select the Hephaestus toolbar icon to open extension settings.
  3. For hephaestus.build, select Connect to Hephaestus. For your organization’s own instance, open Use a self-hosted instance, enter its HTTPS address, and select Connect instance.
  4. Allow Chrome’s request for access to that address.
  5. Select the sign-in button for your usual provider, such as Sign in with GitHub.

The sign-in window opens on your Hephaestus and sends you on to GitHub or GitLab, as the web app does. It uses your normal Chrome profile, so you may not need to sign in to the provider again. After sign-in, the window closes, and settings show who you’re signed in as. If you close the window before you finish, nothing changes, and you can try again. You can change the instance later on the same page.

You can also paste a workspace address for a self-hosted instance. The extension reads its instance address and asks you to connect there. Chrome asks for access to that address before sign-in. Access granted only to read the workspace address is removed after that check. Access that you had already granted stays unchanged.

Allow it on GitHub and GitLab​

The extension reads nothing on a site until you allow it. Settings list sites connected to your workspaces: github.com, gitlab.com, or your organization’s GitLab address. Each site needs its own permission, and Chrome asks each time.

  1. In extension settings, select Allow beside each site you need.

Each pull request, merge request, or issue you then open on that site shows its review line. To stop the extension on a site, select Remove beside it, or remove it in Chrome’s extension settings.

Read the review of a work page​

  1. Open a pull request, merge request, or issue on an allowed site.
  2. Select the review line to expand the report in place.
  3. Select it again to close the report.

The page moves down to make room, without an overlay. The extension remembers that the report is open while you stay on the same work in that tab. This includes when you switch to the changes and back.

Preview work from a list​

  1. Select a row’s Hephaestus button.
  2. To open the full report, select the row’s title.

Another row’s button moves the preview. The same button, or a list filter or page change, closes it. To request a review, open the work.

Request a review​

  1. On the work page, select Request review.
  2. Check the work and workspace named in the confirmation window.
  3. Select Request review in that window.

If Hephaestus does not start a review, the window shows the reason Hephaestus gave. If no answer arrives, the window says the request may or may not have gone through. It does not retry. Check the page report before you ask again.

Sign out​

Select Sign out in extension settings. The extension clears its content from every tab.

Troubleshooting​

This instance does not know this extension​

Sign-in shows this when the instance does not allow the extension. Ask its operators to allow it.

No GitHub or GitLab site to allow yet​

You do not yet belong to a workspace that is connected to GitHub or GitLab. Select Open Hephaestus to see your workspaces, or ask to join one.

One step left in Hephaestus​

Your account needs a web-app step, such as acceptance of the current notice.

  1. Select Open Hephaestus.
  2. Finish the step shown.
  3. Return to extension settings, and select Check again.

We could not load here​

The report did not start.

  1. Reload the page.
  2. If the problem continues, open settings from the toolbar icon.
  3. Check that you are signed in.

We could not load​

Your Hephaestus did not answer. Check your connection, then select Retry.

We could not load your comments​

The report loaded, but your comments did not. Open the report, then select Retry.

Connect the extension to Hephaestus​

The extension is not connected yet. Select Set up.

Sign in to … to see it​

Your sign-in ended. Select Sign in.

Not available for this work​

No workspace connects to this site, or the work is not in an accessible workspace. On a page that is not a single pull request, merge request, or issue, the report asks you to open one. Open the report. It gives the reason if it can tell.

Followed in 2 workspaces​

More than one workspace follows this work, so you choose one. Open the report, then choose a workspace.

Not refreshed​

Hephaestus did not answer the latest refresh. The report shows its last answer and that answer’s time. In a list preview, select Retry.