Chrome 137 removed the--load-extension option. (Major situation!)

Specifically, Chrome-branded Chromium removed the--load-extension option in Chrome 137. (This doesn't affect Chrome-for-Testing, unbranded Chromium, or other Chromium browsers such as Brave.)Note that Chrome extensions are used for various functionality, such as auth proxy, the Recorder, and other major features!

Required reading on the situation:

• [🐛 Bug]: Chrome team removes--load-extension switch on Chrome builds SeleniumHQ/selenium#15788

• https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/7679408?sjid=11437610768047552203-NA#chromeBrsrE137

• https://groups.google.com/a/chromium.org/g/chromium-extensions/c/aEHdhDZ-V0E/m/UWP4-k32AgAJ

• https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromium/src/+/290ed8046692651ce76088914750cb659b65fb17%5E%21/chrome/browser/extensions/extension_service.cc

Obviously, this is a major problem because regular Chrome is the stealthiest for UC Mode / CDP Mode, and many users (including myself) use UC Mode / CDP Mode with an authenticatedproxy, which is set via extension. Going to need to find a workaround for this.

The good news is that the next version of Selenium will have BiDi-protocol, which should be able to work around this issue (SeleniumHQ/selenium#15788 (comment)). However, the bad news is that that release may be a month away. If people can, hold onto Chrome 136 in the meantime so that you can set the authproxy with regular Chrome.

We appreciate your patience during this chaotic situation.

If you'renot using UC Mode / CDP Mode (and you need to set theproxy), then you can useChrome-for-Testing, (which is a Chromium browser), and that can be activated via--cft /cft=True.

And if youare using UC Mode / CDP Mode (and you need to set theproxy), then you may need to downgrade to Chrome 136 (if you can) in the meantime. I'll be working on a better workaround. You can also try using Brave by setting thebinary_location. On a Mac, that would bebinary_location="/Applications/Brave Browser.app/Contents/MacOS/Brave Browser". (It'll be in a different location on Linux and Windows.)

If you have other ideas, please add to this thread.
Major situation unfolding... All hands on deck!