Allow Bitwarden

The Bitwarden extension can reach the Bitwarden app in Dia, so you can unlock it with Touch ID. Without it, a Mac that has never had Chrome can get "Browser integration is not set up". It's experimental and hasn't been confirmed against every Bitwarden version, so if the extension doesn't connect, please say so on the issue tracker.

Why use it

Bitwarden's extension talks to its app through a small helper file. The app only sets that file up for the browsers it knows, and Dia isn't one of them. Dia reads it from Chrome's folder, so on a Mac that has never had Chrome the file can be missing, and the extension says browser integration isn't set up.

Turn it on if Bitwarden is your password manager and you want to unlock it with Touch ID. If the extension already connects to the app in Dia, you don't need it. If you only type your master password, you don't need it either.

Turn it on

It's off by default. Open Dia → Settings → Patches and switch on Allow Bitwarden. Or run:

diatweaks enable bitwarden

It needs the Bitwarden app installed. Then set up Touch ID the way Bitwarden does for other browsers:

1. Open the Bitwarden app, log in, and switch on Touch ID unlock in its settings. Leave the app running.
2. In the Bitwarden extension in Dia, open Settings → Account security and switch on Unlock with biometrics.
3. Press Continue. Dia should ask for permission to talk to the Bitwarden app, so press Allow.

If your Bitwarden app has an Allow browser integration switch under Settings → Options, switch it on too.

FAQ

I press Continue and nothing happens

Dia doesn't show the permission question when the extension is in its small window, and this tweak can't change that. Open the extension in a normal tab instead: choose Pop out in the extension, copy the address of the window it opens, and open that address in a normal Dia tab. Press Continue there and press Allow.

What does it change?

It writes one file, ~/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome/NativeMessagingHosts/com.8bit.bitwarden.json, which points at the helper inside the installed Bitwarden app. It creates the folders on the way if they aren't there.

It only writes the file when it's missing. If Bitwarden already wrote that file, it leaves it alone and never changes it.

Does it open a second Dia like Allow 1Password?

No. This tweak only writes the one file and starts nothing.

What happens when I turn it off?

It deletes only the file it wrote. A file written by Bitwarden stays, and so do the folders.

It says "Couldn't write … NativeMessagingHosts: You don't have permission"

Dia only reads extension helpers from ~/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome, and on your Mac that folder, or the Google folder it sits in, isn't yours to write to, usually because an installer or a command run with sudo made it. Take it back by running the command the alert shows in Terminal and typing your Mac password when asked. This one works whether or not Chrome is installed:

sudo chown -R "$(whoami)" "$HOME/Library/Application Support/Google" && chmod -R u+rwX "$HOME/Library/Application Support/Google"

Then turn the switch on again. Chrome keeps working as before, since the folder still belongs to you.

It says the Bitwarden app isn't installed

The alert says "The Bitwarden desktop app isn't installed. Install it, then try again." DiaTweaks asks macOS where Bitwarden is installed and looks for its helper inside the app. If it can't find the app, it switches itself off. Install Bitwarden, then turn this on again.

It says Bitwarden's file points to something that isn't there

The file in Chrome's folder isn't the one this tweak wrote, and it points to a helper that isn't there, usually because the Bitwarden app was moved or replaced. This tweak leaves files it didn't write alone, so quit and reopen Bitwarden, as the alert says, then turn this on again.

Does it work with tabs at the top?

Yes. It doesn't change anything you see in Dia.

Why did it switch itself off?

It checks its setup when you turn it on and each time Dia opens: the Bitwarden app, and the file that tells the extension where to connect. If something's missing, it sets it up again, up to three times. If that doesn't fix it, it switches itself off and an alert says what's wrong, like the Bitwarden app not being installed or the folder not being writable.