Will Firefox Deprecate blocking webRequest in Manifest V3 or Keep It as a Permanent Differentiator?

Background

Firefox currently supports Manifest V3 while retaining the blocking webRequest API alongside declarativeNetRequest, a divergence from Chromium's removal of synchronous request modification. This allows content blockers to migrate incrementally, but the API is not part of the Manifest V3 specification and Mozilla has not committed to its long-term availability.

Unresolved Decision

The core uncertainty is whether Firefox will eventually align with Chromium and deprecate webRequestBlocking, or maintain it as a permanent differentiation for privacy tools. Firefox's higher dynamic rule limit (30,000 vs. 5,000) reduces migration friction, yet extensions requiring complex matching conditions still depend on webRequest. No firm Manifest V2 deprecation deadline exists, and enterprise policy controls can manage rollout timing, but the strategic direction remains unpublished.

Questions

1. Has Mozilla signaled any intent to eventually remove blocking webRequest from Firefox's Manifest V3 implementation?
2. What criteria would trigger a deprecation decision—alignment with Chromium, specification compliance, or enterprise demand?
3. Should extension authors plan for a dual-API maintenance burden indefinitely, or is a convergence timeline plausible?