Container Looping

[cwolland]

Before submitting a bug report

• [X] I updated to the latest version of Multi-Account Container and tested if I can reproduce the issue
• [X] I searched for existing reports to see if it hasn't already been reported

Step to reproduce

I encountered an issue with my browser's container feature while attempting to manage different websites. Initially, I had a container named "search" with Google's Page Indexing website open. Later, I wanted to explore another site related to Google indexing. In order to maintain separation between the two, I selected the option to always open the new site in a different container.

However, the problem emerged when I closed the browser window and returned to the Google indexing page. To my surprise, a rapid loop began, cycling between the two containers incessantly. This created an unmanageable situation, forcing me to close the browser altogether. After several attempts to resolve the looping issue, I found the only effective solution was to delete the containers entirely and recreate them from scratch.

Actual behavior

please see "Step to reproduce"

Expected behavior

When opting for a default container for a specific website, there should ideally be an a feature that offers the choice to temporarily open the website in the designated container, particularly when the "Only use this container" option is selected. This would provide greater flexibility to users, enabling them to navigate websites outside of the default container on a temporary basis without needing to modify their permanent preferences.

Additional informations

No response

Provide a copy of Troubleshooting Information page (optional)

No response

[patienttruth]

I've found this happens when you have "limit to designated sites" turned on. My theory is that what's happening is that the link is redirecting to a page that isn't within the container, authentication cookies aren't being passed, the new page redirects with a "try to authenticate again" page that is within the container scope, and then the loop continues. I'm running through the same problem right now. I think if there were a little more open access to the container lists we could probably sort this out.

My issue example is with Google Photos.

Google Photos is working properly within my Google container. When I click "download photo", some part of the process must be redirecting outside the scope of the Google container. I tried shutting off my network and adding the additional domain (googleusercontent.com), however that didn't solve it entirely. Maybe there is a third domain involved that I'm unable to capture.

[patienttruth]

I believe this issue is related to "Site Redirect" breaks "Always Open Container #X" #2372

[patienttruth]

It seems that there is a Pull request that might help with this issue, #2114, however it could use some time to get it through final review.

As a workaround, you can manually add a site to your container list with this workaround:

I had to turn my network adapter on and off a few times to get all the right URLs to get this working. I am concerned about Google changing the subdomain they're using from "lh3" to something else if they reconfigure something...

https://github.com/mozilla/multi-account-containers/pull/2114#issuecomment-1004056712

To get my issue working (Google Photos Download) I had to have the following URLs within the container list: https://lh3.google.com/ https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/ https://accounts.google.com/ https://google.com/ https://photos.google.com/

It took a moment to figure out every single one.

FYI, you can check the list of domains in your container here. Mine only has one container populated # 6 which is the "Google" container. I haven't tested it, but I believe by right clicking on an entry you could delete it from the database.

[stewSquared]

@patienttruth Sometimes, the redirect loops happen so fast, I can't figure out which sites need to be added manually. Got any tips and tricks for that?

[patienttruth]

@patienttruth Sometimes, the redirect loops happen so fast, I can't figure out which sites need to be added manually. Got any tips and tricks for that?

@stewSquared , There is probably a way to watch for the DNS requests, but I haven't looked into that. What I did was shut off the network connection while Firefox was looping. Each time I would get a new domain to add to the list. Eventually it cleared up. Lately I've been finding with Google that it's only one new domain and it doesn't go into a loop. I think I have got most of the loop sorted out now.