Extension version reported by relay does not match installed manifest version

Summary

The Chrome extension version reported through Playwriter does not match the actual installed extension version on disk.

This issue is only about version reporting / version context. I am not claiming it is the root cause of a separate disconnect/stability problem.

Environment

• macOS
• Chrome 147.0.7727.56
• npm / CLI package: playwriter 0.0.105
• Chrome extension id: jfeammnjpkecdekppnclgkkffahnhfhe

What I observed

1) Installed extension on disk

Path:

~/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome/Profile 1/Extensions/jfeammnjpkecdekppnclgkkffahnhfhe/0.0.79_0/manifest.json

The manifest shows:

• version = 0.0.79

2) Relay status endpoint

http://127.0.0.1:19988/extension/status

returns:

• playwriterVersion = 0.0.102

3) Same installed extension bundle

Inside the installed extension bundle, background.js contains:

• relayUrl.searchParams.set("v", "0.0.102")

Why this seems wrong

At the same time, I have:

• actual installed extension manifest: 0.0.79
• relay-reported extension version: 0.0.102
• npm/CLI package: 0.0.105

So there are effectively three different version numbers in play.

Questions

1. Is this expected?
2. What is playwriterVersion supposed to represent exactly?
   • Chrome Web Store extension manifest version?
   • internal protocol version?
   • extension bundle build version?
3. If it is not supposed to match the manifest version, could the CLI warning/error text be made clearer so users know which version is being compared?

Repro notes

This was observed on April 15, 2026.

I re-checked the installed extension directory and there is only:

• 0.0.79_0

So this does not appear to be caused by multiple installed extension folders on disk.