fix: switching the network in Settings tells open pages (closes #500)

Once Settings has saved the new network it asks the background to send
chainChanged with the new chain id to every open tab, through the same
function an approved site switch request uses. Only the extension's own
pages can ask for that. Choosing the network already active changes
nothing and sends nothing.

Model: opus-5-5

README.md

@@ -422,11 +422,12 @@ captured at `eth_sendRawTransaction` rather than against anything the extension
 reported, rejecting each prompt is required to return a rejection to the page
 rather than hang or resolve, a network switch request is required to leave the
 stored network unchanged and send no `chainChanged` until it is approved, a
-prompt raised while another approval window has focus is required to open a
-window of its own, and the password is required to be absent from every message
-the approval window sends to the background — with the message that would carry
-it required to be present, so that check cannot pass by observing nothing. That
-last one is the standing floor under
+network switch in Settings is required to send the page `chainChanged` with the
+new chain id, a prompt raised while another approval window has focus is
+required to open a window of its own, and the password is required to be absent
+from every message the approval window sends to the background — with the
+message that would carry it required to be present, so that check cannot pass by
+observing nothing. That last one is the standing floor under
 [#157](https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/AutistMask/issues/157).
 
 The limits of that coverage and of the rest of the Chrome suite, none of them
@@ -1789,7 +1790,8 @@ view would leave a wallet one click from deletion.
       network changes only here, or when the user approves a site's request on
       **NetworkApproval**; either way, switching restores the RPC and Blockscout
       endpoints last used on that network, or that network's defaults if it has
-      none
+      none, and sends `chainChanged` with the new chain id to every open tab.
+      Choosing the network already active changes nothing and sends nothing
     - Ethereum RPC: endpoint URL input + "Save" button (validated against
       `eth_chainId` before being saved)
     - Blockscout API: endpoint URL input + "Save" button (validated against

TODO.md

@@ -44,6 +44,15 @@ then continue tagging as milestones land.
 
 # Completed Steps
 
+- 2026-10-08: Switching the network in Settings now tells open pages
+  ([#500](https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/AutistMask/issues/500)). Once the switch is
+  saved, Settings asks the background to send `chainChanged` with the new chain
+  id to every open tab, through the same function an approved site request uses.
+  Choosing the network already active changes nothing and sends nothing. Only
+  the extension's own pages can ask for this. `tests/chainSwitchGate.test.js`
+  drives the real Settings view against the background, and the Chrome suite
+  checks that the test page hears both switches.
+
 - 2026-10-07: A site can no longer switch the wallet's network by itself
   ([#408](https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/AutistMask/issues/408)). A connected site's
   `wallet_switchEthereumChain` request for the other supported network opens a

src/background/index.js

@@ -1471,6 +1471,7 @@ runtime.onMessage.addListener((msg, sender, sendResponse) => {
         "AUTISTMASK_ADDRESSES_REMOVED",
         "AUTISTMASK_GET_CONNECTED_SITES",
         "AUTISTMASK_REMOVE_SITE",
+        "AUTISTMASK_NETWORK_CHANGED",
     ];
     if (POPUP_ONLY_TYPES.includes(msg.type) && !isExtensionSender(sender)) {
         sendResponse({ error: "Unauthorized sender" });
@@ -1854,6 +1855,13 @@ runtime.onMessage.addListener((msg, sender, sendResponse) => {
         broadcastSiteRemoved(msg.origin);
         return false;
     }
+
+    // Settings switched the network and has saved it. Open tabs are told the
+    // new chain id the same way as after a site's approved switch request.
+    if (msg.type === "AUTISTMASK_NETWORK_CHANGED") {
+        broadcastChainChanged(msg.chainId);
+        return false;
+    }
 });
 
 module.exports = { PROXY_METHODS };

src/popup/views/settings.js

@@ -316,7 +316,11 @@ function init(ctx) {
     const networkSelect = $("settings-network");
     networkSelect.addEventListener("change", async () => {
         const newId = networkSelect.value;
+        if (newId === state.networkId) return;
         const net = await onChainSwitch(newId);
+        // Open pages are told by the background, as after a site's approved
+        // switch request.
+        notify({ type: "AUTISTMASK_NETWORK_CHANGED", chainId: net.chainId });
         $("settings-rpc").value = state.rpcUrl;
         $("settings-blockscout").value = state.blockscoutUrl;
         showFlash("Switched to " + net.name + ".");

tests/chainSwitchGate.test.js

@@ -16,7 +16,9 @@
 //
 // The endpoint half of #308 lives in tests/networkEndpoints.test.js, which
 // covers the popup's chain switch; this file covers the background's, which
-// goes through storage rather than the shared state singleton.
+// goes through storage rather than the shared state singleton. The last block
+// covers what the background tells open tabs when the user switches the
+// network in Settings.
 
 const { networkById } = require("../src/shared/networks");
 const { makeStorageStub } = require("./support/storageStub");
@@ -225,6 +227,14 @@ function loadBackground() {
         answerPrompt,
         closePrompt,
         opened,
+        // A message to the background from `sender`, and its answer.
+        send: (msg, sender) => {
+            let reply = null;
+            messageListener(msg, sender, (r) => {
+                reply = r;
+            });
+            return reply;
+        },
         walletState: () => storage.read("autistmask"),
         chainChangedEvents: () =>
             toTabs.filter((m) => m.eventName === "chainChanged"),
@@ -390,3 +400,109 @@ describe("only the user switches the network", () => {
         expect(bg.walletState().rpcUrl).toBe(CUSTOM_RPC);
     });
 });
+
+// Switching the network in Settings tells open pages, as an approved site
+// request does (https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/AutistMask/issues/500). These drive
+// the real Settings view over the background's storage, with what it sends
+// delivered to the background from the extension's own page.
+describe("switching the network in Settings tells every open tab", () => {
+    const POPUP = { url: EXT_URL + "src/popup/index.html" };
+
+    // A stand-in for one DOM node: enough of an element for init() to set
+    // properties on it and hang listeners off it.
+    function fakeElement() {
+        return {
+            value: "",
+            checked: false,
+            textContent: "",
+            style: {},
+            dataset: {},
+            classList: { add() {}, remove() {} },
+            listeners: {},
+            addEventListener(event, handler) {
+                this.listeners[event] = handler;
+            },
+            querySelectorAll: () => [],
+        };
+    }
+
+    // Settings, opened the way the popup opens it. Returns its network
+    // selector.
+    async function openSettings(bg) {
+        const elements = {};
+        const element = (id) => (elements[id] ||= fakeElement());
+        jest.doMock("../src/popup/views/helpers", () => ({
+            $: element,
+            showView: () => {},
+            updateDebugBanner: () => {},
+            showFlash: () => {},
+            escapeHtml: (s) => s,
+            flashCopyFeedback: () => {},
+            goBack: () => {},
+            pushCurrentView: () => {},
+            onViewLeave: () => {},
+            VIEWS: [],
+        }));
+        global.chrome.runtime.sendMessage = (msg) => {
+            bg.send(msg, POPUP);
+        };
+        await require("../src/shared/state").loadState();
+        require("../src/popup/views/settings").init({
+            pageClosed: new AbortController().signal,
+        });
+        const select = element("settings-network");
+        select.value = "mainnet";
+        return select;
+    }
+
+    // The user picks `networkId` in the selector.
+    async function choose(select, networkId) {
+        select.value = networkId;
+        await select.listeners.change();
+        await settle();
+    }
+
+    afterEach(() => {
+        jest.dontMock("../src/popup/views/helpers");
+    });
+
+    test("switching to the other network sends chainChanged once, with its chain id", async () => {
+        const bg = loadBackground();
+        const select = await openSettings(bg);
+
+        await choose(select, "sepolia");
+
+        expect(bg.walletState().networkId).toBe("sepolia");
+        expect(bg.chainChangedEvents()).toEqual([
+            {
+                type: "AUTISTMASK_EVENT",
+                eventName: "chainChanged",
+                data: SEPOLIA.chainId,
+            },
+        ]);
+    });
+
+    test("choosing the network already active changes nothing and sends nothing", async () => {
+        const bg = loadBackground();
+        const select = await openSettings(bg);
+        const before = bg.walletState();
+
+        await choose(select, "mainnet");
+
+        expect(bg.walletState()).toEqual(before);
+        expect(bg.chainChangedEvents()).toEqual([]);
+    });
+
+    test("a page cannot make the background send chainChanged", async () => {
+        const bg = loadBackground();
+
+        const reply = bg.send(
+            { type: "AUTISTMASK_NETWORK_CHANGED", chainId: SEPOLIA.chainId },
+            { url: CONNECTED_ORIGIN + "/" },
+        );
+        await settle();
+
+        expect(reply).toEqual({ error: "Unauthorized sender" });
+        expect(bg.chainChangedEvents()).toEqual([]);
+    });
+});

tests/e2e/run.js

@@ -4538,6 +4538,42 @@ test("a site's network switch changes nothing until the user approves it (#408)"
     );
 });
 
+// Switching the network in Settings tells the page too, as an approved site
+// request does (https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/AutistMask/issues/500). The wallet
+// goes back to mainnet the same way at the end.
+test("a network switch in Settings tells the page (#500)", async (env) => {
+    const { mainnet, sepolia } = NETWORKS;
+    const before = await storedNetwork(env.page);
+    assert(
+        before.networkId === "mainnet",
+        "this test starts on mainnet, not on " + before.networkId,
+    );
+    const eventsBefore = (await chainChangedEvents(env.dapp)).length;
+    await openSettings(env.page);
+
+    await env.page.selectOption("#settings-network", "sepolia");
+    let events = await chainChangedEvents(env.dapp, eventsBefore + 1);
+    assert(
+        events.length === eventsBefore + 1 &&
+            events[events.length - 1].data === sepolia.chainId,
+        "the page was not told of the switch to Sepolia: " +
+            JSON.stringify(events),
+    );
+
+    await env.page.selectOption("#settings-network", "mainnet");
+    events = await chainChangedEvents(env.dapp, eventsBefore + 2);
+    assert(
+        events.length === eventsBefore + 2 &&
+            events[events.length - 1].data === mainnet.chainId,
+        "the page was not told of the switch back to mainnet: " +
+            JSON.stringify(events),
+    );
+    assert(
+        isDeepStrictEqual(await storedNetwork(env.page), before),
+        "switching back did not restore the mainnet network and endpoints",
+    );
+});
+
 // The closing pass over both boundaries at once. Every message the section
 // put on either channel is re-read here and required to be free of the
 // password — and required to be there at all, method by method, so the