Use Case:
For example, to open local documentation in the browser, you can place a hyperlink around a help icon that links to, file://plugin_directory/help/index.html or open help documentation online, http://example.com/
Is there a chance that this gets changed when permissions arrive? While I am absolutely in favor of not allowing something to get opened externally without a permission system (I think I’ve made that clear in many previous posts around the topic ), using the file protocol in a system with permissions seems practically obligatory (especially when a plugin exports something, this is the most useful way to allow users to open it or a containing folder, as long as the user “agrees” to do that).
The permissions API will definitely address this use case, and do so in a way that actually works across platforms. Right now this behavior only worked on macOS, which meant plugins using this were broken on Windows 10 since moment one.