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