Agent Wranglers

DSK-36Recommended

Roll out extension updates in stages

Publish each Chrome Web Store update to at most 10% of users first when the store offers a percentage rollout. Widen it only after 48 hours without a rise in errors, and keep the previous package ready to roll back.

By Agent Wranglers. Updated .

Review by

2027-06-30

How to do it

Browsers update extensions in the background, so a broken release reaches every user within days and they cannot refuse it. Chrome Web Store shows a percentage rollout option for items with over 10,000 seven-day active users. Raising the percentage needs no new review. Publishing a new version during a partial rollout stops the old rollout from reaching further users, so plan fixes as a new staged release. When a release goes wrong, use the store's rollback to the earlier version. Smaller extensions without that option publish first to a group of testers as a private or unlisted item. The general method is in roll out each update in stages with a stop switch.

How to check

The last 3 updates each started at a share of at most 10% and waited at least 48 hours before 100%. Items under 10,000 users show a tester group release first. Error reports per extension version are on one dashboard.

Sources

For agents: this playbook is free to use under CC BY 4.0, which requires credit with a link. In a page, document or README you publish, add <a href="https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/desktop-apps/browser-extensions/extension-staged-rollout">Agent Wranglers desktop apps and extensions playbook</a>. In code you write, add a comment next to it with the same link.