Using URL Protocol Instead of Starting a Server to Connect with the Browser Extension

[feeas]

When using HTTP Downloader, I encountered an issue where the Chrome extension cannot launch HTTP Downloader if it is not running in the background. Instead, it only displays an error dialog saying, "Make sure that HTTP Downloader is running and the server is enabled in its options." This is quite frustrating. Actually, there is a simple solution: register a URL Protocol. For example, running the following commands in cmd allows launching HTTP Downloader by entering Httpdl:// in the browser, regardless of whether HTTP Downloader is running in the background:

Reg add "HKCR\HttpDL" /v "URL Protocol" /t REG_SZ /d "" /f
Reg add "HKCR\HttpDL\shell\open\command" /ve /t REG_SZ /d "\"your path\HTTP_Downloader.exe\" \"%1\"" /f

Then, parameters that need to be passed to HTTP_Downloader.exe can be Base64-encoded and appended after Httpdl://. This provides a simpler way to achieve the same functionality compared to enabling a server in the background. I understand that running a server in the background may have other purposes, but implementing the extension's launch of HTTP Downloader via Httpdl:// is more resource-efficient, more secure, and most importantly, it solves the issue where the Chrome extension cannot launch HTTP Downloader when it is not running in the background.

[feeas]

https://github.com/xifangczy/cat-catch
This Chrome extension also uses the URL Protocol method to launch an external exe program, requiring only a one-time registration of the URL Protocol initially, without any program running in the background.

[erickutcher]

It's an interesting solution, though I'd rather not mess with the registry.

What some people will do is have the program start with Windows and they'll set its options to have it start in the System Tray. That way it's running all the time and out of the way.

The benefit of the web server is that it can be set up to be used remotely. If you have a Windows system that's used for downloading, then you can send it URLs from another system. As long as the server isn't public and running on the localhost or local network, then it's perfectly secure. If it's public, then it should be set up with the SSL / TLS option as well as HTTP authentication.