ipprotection-review

name	ipprotection-review
description	Durable review guidance for Firefox's built-in IP Protection (VPN) module, covering panel UI, proxy/channel filtering, authentication, telemetry, and localization.

Module Scope

• Paths: browser/components/ipprotection/**/*, toolkit/components/ipprotection/**/*
• Bugzilla components: Firefox::IP Protection

Core Reviewers

• Owner: fchasen
• Peers: kpatenio, rking, niklas

Standing Conventions

State & Data Flow

• Route state mutations through IPProtectionPanel.setState({...}) rather than having child components mutate panel state directly; keep IPProtectionPanel as the single source of truth for panel state, and prefer batched setState calls over property-by-property assignment.
• Prefer communicating across components via CustomEvent dispatched from the shared root and consumed by the panel/manager, rather than sharing state between sibling files. Use Services.obs observers (e.g. perm-changed) instead of calling into internal callbacks when the platform already emits the signal.
• When adding/removing addObserver/removeObserver or addEventListener pairs, bind the handler once in the constructor (or use handleEvent) — do not pass .bind(this) at registration time, since the two bindings won't match on removal.

Constants, Prefs & Magic Numbers

• Centralize shared values (bandwidth thresholds, max bandwidth, support URLs, pref names) in ipprotection-constants.mjs or the relevant *Helpers.sys.mjs, and import them everywhere they're referenced. Literals like 50, 150, 0.75, 0.9 in component code or Fluent strings are review-blocking.
• Pass user-visible numeric values (bandwidth caps, remaining usage) through Fluent $variables; never hardcode units or amounts inside .ftl messages. Units (MB, GB) must be hardcoded into the message text, not passed as variables, since localizers translate them differently.
• Every new pref should be documented under browser/components/ipprotection/docs/Preferences.rst (or the toolkit equivalent) with correct type.

Localization

• Any semantic change to a Fluent string requires a new ID and a Fluent migration under python/l10n/fluent_migrations/ so translations aren't lost. Dropping an old ID is a separate, deliberate step once no callers remain.
• Don't hardcode country or region names; use Intl.DisplayNames / Services.intl.DisplayNames and a single parameterized string.
• Fluent comments attach only to the immediately following message — copy the comment for each message that needs it, and use standalone/group comments appropriately.
• New user-facing strings belong in browser/locales/en-US/browser/ipProtection.ftl and must be wired into browser.xhtml outside the "Untranslated FTL" block.

Panel UI, Theming & Accessibility

• Use design-system tokens (--space-*, --border-color-card, --icon-color, --font-weight-*, --dimension-*) instead of raw pixel values or hardcoded colors; SVG assets that need theming must use context-fill / context-stroke and let CSS set the color.
• Prefer logical properties (padding-block-*, padding-inline-*, margin-block-*) so layouts work in RTL. Any directional glyph (arrow-right, etc.) or hand-rolled class like left/right is a red flag.
• Reuse existing shared icons under toolkit/themes/shared/icons/ before adding new SVGs; optimize any new SVG (e.g. via SVGOMG) and place module illustrations under browser/components/ipprotection/assets/ (not browser/base/content/logos/).
• Prefer moz-button / moz-card and existing panel conventions (subviewbutton-nav, overflow attributes) over re-implementing styles; avoid overriding --arrowpanel-* variables when a local margin/padding change will do.
• Toolbar-button state must not rely on overflows="true" to detect overflow — check overflowedItem="true" or cui-areatype="panel" (or set subviewbutton-nav at creation time).
• Keyboard focus, screen-reader announcements, and HCM outlines are required for every new interactive element. For toggles and buttons inside the panel, verify the accessible name and pressed state with NVDA/VoiceOver/Orca before r+.

Testing

• Manage prefs in tests with SpecialPowers.pushPrefEnv; it auto-reverts on teardown, so don't add manual clearUserPref cleanup for prefs it set.
• Do not use TestUtils.waitForCondition to await things that can be observed deterministically; resolve a promise from inside the stub/handler you care about. This is a 100 ms-per-check polling cost that compounds across CI.
• New panel/state/service behavior needs a corresponding browser/xpcshell test. Use the project tag testing-approved, or one of the documented exceptions with a one-line justification, on every revision.
• When stubbing manager state, use the existing patterns in browser_ipprotection_* tests (e.g. sandbox.stub(IPPProxyManager, "state").value(...)) and setupVpnPrefs / cleanupStatusCardTest helpers rather than reinventing setup.

Data Collection

• Any change touching metrics.yaml must carry a #data-classification-* tag with a one-line justification, and the data_sensitivity property must match. Add [e-mail] to notification_emails for new IPP metrics.
• Prefer counter/event metrics over bespoke aggregation; record state transitions (e.g. "was active before pause") rather than current state when the event already implies it.

Proxy & Channel Filtering

• When excluding a channel from IPP, pass through defaultProxyInfo to onProxyFilterResult — never null — so the user's system proxy is honored.
• Prefer nsIIOService::hostnameIsLocalIPAddress (and related platform APIs) over regex for IP/host classification.
• Lifecycle pairing: any code path that starts a channel filter, connection, or abort controller must have a matching teardown (cancelChannelFilter, stop, abort reason) in every exit path, including error and paused transitions.

Active Campaigns (transient)

• Move IPP into toolkit/: New non-UI logic (state machine, proxy manager, guardian client, auth provider) should land in toolkit/components/ipprotection/ and avoid depending on desktop-only singletons (CustomizableUI, EveryWindow, etc.); platform-specific glue lives under fxa/ or android/ subdirs. Context: likely to fade once the Android/Fenix integration is fully wired up and the browser/ → toolkit/ migration is complete.
• Auth provider abstraction: New FxA/Guardian code should go through IPPAuthProvider rather than reaching into GuardianClient singletons; avoid introducing cycles between IPPService and auth helpers. Context: likely to fade once the provider refactor lands and stabilizes.
• Bandwidth rounding consolidation: Remaining/used bandwidth is currently rounded in several places (bandwidth-usage, ipprotection-content, IPProtectionInfobarManager); new callers should factor through a shared helper rather than re-implementing Math.floor / toFixed logic. Context: likely to fade once a single rounding utility is extracted.

Common Pitfalls

• Using Math.floor for remaining bandwidth where UX expects one-decimal precision (notably at the 75% bucket), or inverting the progress bar by binding it to remaining instead of used.
• Dispatching events from one component while mutating the same state property directly in another, leading to drift between the panel and child components.
• Adding a new button/toggle without wiring data-l10n-id accessibility attributes, or duplicating an aria-label that's already provided by tooltiptext.
• Firing an ASRouter trigger unconditionally and encoding the gating logic in JS, instead of passing context properties and letting targeting decide.
• Adding feature callouts without the cfr group, without previousSessionEnd, or without !hasActiveEnterprisePolicies && !activeNotifications. Omitting dismiss: true on CTA button actions.
• Landing a permanent promotional message in-tree without a lifetime frequency cap and without considering a Nimbus rollout for safe kill-switching.
• Starting an abort controller / channel filter but not clearing it on every exit path (error, paused, stop-while-activating).
• Creating new icon SVGs that duplicate existing ones in toolkit/themes/shared/icons/; placing state illustrations in browser/base/content/logos/.
• Forgetting the Fluent migration when renaming a user-facing string ID, or leaving the old ID around after all call sites are updated.
• Running mach lint failures (fluent-lint, eslint, stylelint, file-whitespace) through to review; these should be clean before requesting review.
• Editing mots.yaml without running mots clean.

File-Glob Guidance

• browser/components/ipprotection/content/*.mjs — Components must read from this.state populated by IPProtectionPanel; they should dispatch CustomEvents upward rather than mutating panel state. Use logical CSS properties and design tokens.
• browser/components/ipprotection/IPProtection*.sys.mjs — Panel/manager/alert code owns state mutations and pref observers. Prefer setState batching; document new prefs in docs/Preferences.rst.
• toolkit/components/ipprotection/** — Keep cross-platform-safe (no CustomizableUI, EveryWindow, browser/-only imports). Platform-specific glue goes in fxa/ or android/ subdirs (campaign).
• browser/components/ipprotection/IPPChannelFilter.sys.mjs — Always pass defaultProxyInfo through to excluded channels; store it alongside pending channels so reprocessing preserves it.
• browser/components/ipprotection/content/*.css + browser/themes/shared/** — Use design tokens and logical properties; prefer .toolbarbutton-icon over raw image; reuse subviewbutton-nav for subview arrows.
• browser/locales/en-US/browser/ipProtection.ftl — New/changed IDs require a migration. Pass numbers as $variables; hardcode units. Comments attach only to the next message.
• browser/components/asrouter/modules/FeatureCalloutMessages.sys.mjs — New callouts belong in the cfr group with previousSessionEnd, !hasActiveEnterprisePolicies && !activeNotifications, and dismiss: true on CTA buttons.
• **/metrics.yaml — New metrics need data-classification tag, matching data_sensitivity, and [e-mail] in notifications.
• browser/components/ipprotection/tests/** — Prefer SpecialPowers.pushPrefEnv and promise-resolving stubs over waitForCondition; reuse existing head.js helpers.
• browser/components/ipprotection/docs/** — Keep StateMachine.rst, Preferences.rst, , in sync with code changes in the same patch.

Review Checklist

• mach lint --outgoing clean (eslint, stylelint, fluent-lint, file-whitespace, rejected-words).
• State mutations go through setState; no cross-file direct state writes.
• No magic numbers for thresholds/caps/URLs — constants imported from the shared module.
• New/changed Fluent IDs have a migration; units hardcoded; numbers passed as $variables.
• New prefs documented in docs/Preferences.rst and use matching constants in code.
• SVGs use context-fill/context-stroke; tokens (not pixel literals) drive spacing and color; logical properties used.
• Accessibility verified: accessible name, pressed/toggled state, keyboard focus, HCM outlines.
• Lifecycle balanced: every start/addObserver/addEventListener/AbortController has a matching teardown on all paths.
• Tests use pushPrefEnv and promise-based stubs; no waitForCondition unless truly necessary; testing-policy tag applied.
• metrics.yaml changes carry a data-classification tag and correct data_sensitivity; notification emails include [e-mail].
• Docs (StateMachine.rst, Components.rst, etc.) updated in the same patch when behavior changes.
• mots.yaml run through mots clean if touched.