youtube-transcript-to-pdf

Runbook: submitting to the Chrome Web Store

Every value below is copy-paste ready from CHROMEWEBSTORE.md. Work through this in order; the dashboard will not let you submit until every required field is filled.

Budget about 45 minutes for a first submission, most of it the one-time account setup. Review then takes anywhere from a few hours to a couple of weeks.

This cannot be automated. Chrome blocks all scripting of the extensions gallery origin — both chrome.google.com/webstore/* and chromewebstore.google.com return “The extensions gallery cannot be scripted” to any extension that tries, including browser-automation tools. That protection exists precisely so an extension cannot publish or install things on your behalf, so there is no flag or permission that lifts it. Every step below is done by hand.

Before you start

You need:

Step 0 — Verify the build one last time

cd /Users/mitch/dev/youtube-transcript-to-pdf
git pull
npm run check

Expect: manifest OK, 31 tests passing, doc indexes OK.

Then reload the unpacked extension at chrome://extensions and run it once against a real video. The packaged build is the same code, so if the unpacked one works, the zip works.

Confirm the privacy policy is live — a dead URL is an automatic rejection:

curl -sI https://mithudso.github.io/youtube-transcript-to-pdf/PRIVACY.html | head -1

Expect HTTP/2 200.

Step 1 — Build the archive

npm run build
unzip -l dist/youtube-transcript-to-pdf-1.0.0.zip

Expect 24 files: manifest.json, icons/, src/, LICENSE. If you see docs/, test/, scripts/, or store-assets/, stop — something changed in the packaging script.

The file you will upload is:

dist/youtube-transcript-to-pdf-1.0.0.zip

Step 2 — Register as a developer (one time)

  1. Go to https://chrome.google.com/webstore/devconsole.
  2. Sign in with the Google account you chose.
  3. Accept the Developer Agreement.
  4. Pay the US$5 registration fee.
  5. Under Account → set your Publisher name to Mitchell Hudson and your Contact email to mitch@tsiser.net, then verify the email. Google sends takedown and policy notices there, so it has to stay monitored.

Publishing is blocked until the contact email is verified.

Step 3 — Create the item

  1. Items → Add new item.
  2. Drag in dist/youtube-transcript-to-pdf-1.0.0.zip.
  3. Wait for the upload to parse. It reads manifest.json, so the name and version populate themselves.

If it rejects the upload, the message names the manifest field at fault.

Step 4 — Store listing tab

Field Value
Name Transcript to PDF for YouTube (already filled from the manifest)
Short description The 117-character line under Short Description in CHROMEWEBSTORE.md
Detailed description The whole Detailed Description block. Paste as plain text — the store strips markdown, which is why it is already written without bullets
Category Productivity
Language English

Graphics, all from store-assets/:

Slot File
Store icon (128×128) icons/icon-128.png
Screenshot 1 store-assets/screenshot-1-popup.png
Screenshot 2 store-assets/screenshot-2-pdf.png
Screenshot 3 store-assets/screenshot-3-viewer.png
Small promo tile (440×280) store-assets/promo-tile-small.png

Leave the marquee tile empty; it is only used for featured placements.

Additional fields:

Step 5 — Privacy tab

This is where submissions usually fail. Take it slowly.

Single purpose — one sentence:

Exports the transcript of a YouTube video as a PDF file.

Permission justifications — one box per permission. Paste from the Permissions Justification table in CHROMEWEBSTORE.md. Every box needs a specific reason; “required for functionality” is rejected. The six are:

tabs, scripting, storage, downloads, and host access to https://www.youtube.com/* and https://m.youtube.com/*.

Are you using remote code? → No, I am not using remote code.

Everything the extension runs is in the package. There are no dependencies, no CDN scripts, and no eval.

Data usage — leave every checkbox unchecked. The extension collects nothing. Then tick all three certifications:

Privacy policy URL:

https://mithudso.github.io/youtube-transcript-to-pdf/PRIVACY.html

The policy text and these checkboxes must agree. Both say “nothing is collected”, so they do.

Step 6 — Distribution tab

Step 7 — Submit

  1. Click Submit for review.
  2. If it offers deferred publishing, decide whether you want it to go live automatically on approval or to publish it yourself. Automatic is fine here.
  3. Confirm.

The item moves to Pending review.

Step 8 — After submitting

If it is rejected

The rejection email names a policy section. Common causes for an extension shaped like this one, and what to do:

Rejection Fix
Trademark / brand confusion Already mitigated: the name is “for YouTube” rather than leading with it, and the icon is a document rather than a play triangle. If it still trips, the next lever is dropping “YouTube” from the name entirely.
Permission not justified Expand the specific box the email names. Say which user-visible feature breaks without it.
Privacy policy mismatch Re-read PRIVACY.md against the data-usage checkboxes. They must say the same thing.
Screenshots do not show the product Screenshot 1 is a capture of the running extension. If they want more, add a second live capture showing the saved PDF.
Single purpose too broad The stated purpose is already one sentence and narrow. Do not broaden it.

Fix, bump the version in both manifest.json and package.json, rebuild, and upload again. Record the rejection and the fix in the Rejection History table in CHROMEWEBSTORE.md.

Publishing an update later

  1. Bump the version in manifest.json and package.json.
  2. npm run check && npm run build
  3. Dashboard → the item → Package → upload the new zip.
  4. Update anything on the listing that changed, especially permissions.
  5. Submit for review again.

The version must be strictly higher than the published one, or the upload is rejected.

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