What is "OVFinder" project and how can I use it?

The "OVFinder" project serves as a user-friendly interface for accessing a public API provided by an academic research team at the Graduate School of the University of Tsukuba, Japan. Its primary purpose is to assist users in discovering "Global Distributed Public Relay Servers" config files. Upon installation of the add-on, an action button becomes available (you may need to pin it from the browser extension's popup). By clicking this button and allowing a brief moment for data retrieval, the extension will present a country-specific list of accessible servers. Additionally, the extension provides information about their public IP address, server status, and health condition (the server's responsiveness). Once you've chosen a server, you can use the download button to obtain a configuration file prepared by the extension. This file can then be employed in compatible applications to modify your online identity.

Why does the extension take a few seconds to show the list of available servers?

The extension fetches the raw list of available servers from the public API each time the action panel is opened. Afterward, it proceeds to parse the raw data. This operation typically takes about 10 seconds. It's worth noting that caching the results is not practical due to the constant updates of server information, rendering cached data quickly outdated and less useful. Note that this extension caches the responses for 5 minutes. So if you want to download multiple files, you can reopen the popup interface without refetching.

Is it possible to locate a server in a specific country?

Certainly! You can use the search box located at the top of the list. Type the name of the desired country, and the extension will find the best matches for you.

Is it feasible to sort the results based on server speed?

Click on the speed column to sort the servers based on their speeds. Clicking once will arrange them in ascending order, and clicking again will change the order to descending.

What's new in this version?

Please check the Logs section.

If the API server is not accessible from my location, can I still use this extension?

The extension has been updated to support fetching data from mirror servers (starting from version 0.2.2). Initially, it attempts to retrieve information from the official API address. In case this attempt fails, the extension will request the user's permission to use a mirror server. If the mirror server proves functional, it will be set as the default endpoint for data retrieval. However, if the first mirror also fails, the extension will try other mirrors. Currently, the extension includes four mirrors as alternatives.