getSelection is not a function error

[rehanedly]

Getting the following error on both Markdown and HTML Conversion:
ScriptError: TypeError: gdc.getDoc(...).getSelection is not a function

[evbacher]

Thanks for the report, Rehan. I'm seeing some intermittent errors of this type in the logs, but I cannot reproduce. If you have a simple doc that demonstrates the error, can you share? I only need view permission, and then I can try to isolate the cause.

[rehanedly]

It was failing for me on all documents and all parts of the documents, for both Markdown and HTML conversion. However, I just noticed that you released a new version, so I updated the extension (reinstalled it), and the issue is now resolved.

That said, I still believe this is a backward compatibility issue. To reproduce it, you can install an older version of the extension and check if the issue is reproducible there.

[mherchel]

Same error.

It happens under one account, but when I copy and pasted the doc (to make a doc I could share here), it worked fine.

The document it happened to for me is very basic (links, lists, headings)

[mherchel]

More information. I copied and pasted it into a new document within the same org. Error happened. I started removing non-sharable information, and eventually the error stopped.

I started using CMD+Z to undo my changes to find out where the error was, but I got all the way back to the beginning and it was working fine.

[evbacher]

I wonder if this is an issue with backward compatibilty after the version update. This version updated the JavaScript engine from Rhino (soon to be deprecated) to V8. If you have an open document, it will still use the older version until you reload the doc. I don't know exactly what the Apps Script server will do in this situation, but it may that the JavaScript engine mismatch is causing problems.

Well, just tried this on some documents I've had open since before the update, and not seeing the issue, so it must be something else.

Thanks for the sleuthing, though!

[mherchel]

Yeah. I'll let you know if it happens again. Maybe its something with the update (I'm not familiar with how that works).

Thanks for the extension btw, It's super useful!

[tobinibot]

I’m actually getting this same error. I just installed the extension 10 minutes ago and haven’t been able to get anything to work. Created a brand new document to test and still hitting the error. Have tried in Safari and Firefox (not sure how much that actually matters).

What else can I do to help debug? This document is certainly something I can share, here’s a link to a read-only version that’s open to everyone. If I need to open up the sharing settings so that extensions can run, let me know!

[evbacher]

Thanks for sharing that. I made a copy and tried converting. I'm not seeing the error, but I do believe you! (Thanks for the screenshot.) I do see this error occasionally in the logs, so you are not alone. I have not had much time recently to work on this, but I'll try a couple of things that might prevent this. getSelection() is definitely a function, so it must be something else.

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___________________ ***@***.***

On Wed, Feb 25, 2026 at 12:53 PM Tobin Juday ***@***.***> wrote: *tobinibot* left a comment (evbacher/gd2md-html#190) <#190 (comment)> I’m actually getting this same error. I just installed the extension 10 minutes ago and haven’t been able to get anything to work. Created a brand new document to test and still hitting the error. Have tried in Safari and Firefox (not sure how much that actually matters). What else can I do to help debug? This document is certainly something I can share, here’s a link <https://docs.google.com/document/d/1E0gyPXOwBdiWOrGUjXZGATWLPd97nOxXJvjF1QQVoyE/> to a read-only version that’s open to everyone. If I need to open up the sharing settings so that extensions can run, let me know! ***@***.*** (view on web) <https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/e1af9984-5d9a-4778-be96-631c787448d7> — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#190 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AAZN77ALQXEF3NNG3366SSD4NXOSVAVCNFSM6AAAAACTF7NNE2VHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMZTSNRQHE3TSMBWGE> . You are receiving this because you commented.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[tobinibot]

Sure thing, let me know if there’s anything I can do to help out. I am part of an organization, I don’t if that somehow restricts access to certain functions or requires special permissions or anything like that.

Also, I did realize there’s now a File → Download → Markdown (.md) native export option in Google Docs, so that really gets me mostly where I want to be for now.

[downtomarsguy]

Same issue here, I'm not sure how i can recreate it specifically as it happens for every document. I thought perhaps browser issue even though its an extension so i tried switching to another one but same thing.

[downtomarsguy]

Okay the issue was simply that the proper permissions were not given. Simply uninstall the extension and then reinstall it and then tick the permission checkboxes.

[evbacher]

Thank you for that clue. I was not able to reproduce this issue, but perhaps the V8 engine requires slightly different permissions. I will see if I can reproduce and at least note that folks should try reinstalling and accepting all the permissions. Do you know which permission was not accepted before?

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On Wed, Apr 8, 2026 at 11:07 AM downtomarsguy ***@***.***> wrote: *downtomarsguy* left a comment (evbacher/gd2md-html#190) <#190 (comment)> Okay the issue was simply that the proper permissions were not given. Simply uninstall the extension and then reinstall it and then tick the permission checkboxes. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#190 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AAZN77CUUC7Z5XUWC25J6N34UZTJ5AVCNFSM6AAAAACTF7NNE2VHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHM2DEMBXGI3TAMBTGU> . You are receiving this because you commented.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[downtomarsguy]

To be honest I'm not sure, I'm not even sure I even allowed any of the permissions, I kind of just rushed the install without properly checking. I believe the other people facing this issue also made my mistake of rushing without reading. It's not a fault on your side at all, thanks for the plugin :)

[mattvenn]

I started getting this recently too.