runtime

This module provides information about your extension and the environment it's running in.

It also provides messaging APIs enabling you to:

Types

runtime.Port
Represents one end of a connection between two specific contexts, which can be used to exchange messages.
runtime.MessageSender

Contains information about the sender of a message or connection request.

runtime.PlatformOs
Identifies the browser's operating system.
runtime.PlatformArch
Identifies the browser's processor architecture.
runtime.PlatformInfo
Contains information about the platform the browser is running on.
runtime.RequestUpdateCheckStatus
Result of a call to runtime.requestUpdateCheck().
runtime.OnInstalledReason
The reason that the runtime.onInstalled event is being dispatched.
runtime.OnRestartRequiredReason
The reason that the runtime.onRestartRequired event is being dispatched.

Properties

runtime.lastError
This value is set when an asynchronous function has an error condition that it needs to report to its caller.
runtime.id
The ID of the extension.

Functions

runtime.getBackgroundPage()
Retrieves the Window object for the background page running inside the current extension.
runtime.openOptionsPage()

Opens your extension's options page.

runtime.getManifest()
Gets the complete manifest.json file, serialized as an object.
runtime.getURL()
Given a relative path from the manifest.json to a resource packaged with the extension, returns a fully-qualified URL.
runtime.setUninstallURL()
Sets a URL to be visited when the extension is uninstalled.
runtime.reload()
Reloads the extension.
runtime.requestUpdateCheck()
Checks for updates to this extension.
runtime.connect()
Establishes a connection from a content script to the main extension process, or from one extension to a different extension.
runtime.connectNative()
Connects the extension to a native application on the user's computer.
runtime.sendMessage()
Sends a single message to event listeners within your extension or a different extension. Similar to runtime.connect but only sends a single message, with an optional response.
runtime.sendNativeMessage()
Sends a single message from an extension to a native application.
runtime.getPlatformInfo()
Returns information about the current platform.
runtime.getBrowserInfo()
Returns information about the browser in which this extension is installed.
runtime.getPackageDirectoryEntry()
Returns a DirectoryEntry for the package directory.

Events

runtime.onStartup
Fired when a profile that has this extension installed first starts up. This event is not fired when an incognito profile is started.
runtime.onInstalled
Fired when the extension is first installed, when the extension is updated to a new version, and when the browser is updated to a new version.
runtime.onSuspend
Sent to the event page just before the extension is unloaded. This gives the extension an opportunity to do some cleanup.
runtime.onSuspendCanceled
Sent after runtime.onSuspend to indicate that the extension won't be unloaded after all.
runtime.onUpdateAvailable
Fired when an update is available, but isn't installed immediately because the extension is currently running.
runtime.onBrowserUpdateAvailable
Fired when an update for the browser is available, but isn't installed immediately because a browser restart is required.
runtime.onConnect
Fired when a connection is made with either an extension process or a content script.
runtime.onConnectExternal
Fired when a connection is made with another extension.
runtime.onMessage
Fired when a message is sent from either an extension process or a content script.
runtime.onMessageExternal
Fired when a message is sent from another extension. Cannot be used in a content script.
runtime.onRestartRequired
Fired when the device needs to be restarted.
Report problems with this compatibility data on GitHub
webextensions-desktopwebextensions-mobile
ChromeEdgeFirefoxOperaSafariFirefox for Android
MessageSender
MessageSender.frameId
MessageSender.tlsChannelId
MessageSender.url
OnInstalledReason
OnRestartRequiredReason
PlatformArch
PlatformInfo
PlatformInfo.nacl_arch
PlatformNaclArch
PlatformOs
Port
Port.error
RequestUpdateCheckStatus
connect
connectNative
getBackgroundPage
getBrowserInfo
getManifest
getPackageDirectoryEntry
getPlatformInfo
getURL
id
lastError
onBrowserUpdateAvailable
DeprecatedNon-standard
onConnect
onConnectExternal
onInstalled
onMessage
Respond with Promise
onMessageExternal
Respond with Promise
onRestartRequired
onStartup
onSuspend
onSuspendCanceled
onUpdateAvailable
openOptionsPage
reload
requestUpdateCheck
sendMessage
sendNativeMessage
setUninstallURL

Legend

Full support
Full support
Partial support
Partial support
No support
No support
Non-standard. Check cross-browser support before using.
Deprecated. Not for use in new websites.
See implementation notes.

Acknowledgements

This API is based on Chromium's chrome.runtime API. This documentation is derived from runtime.json in the Chromium code.

Microsoft Edge compatibility data is supplied by Microsoft Corporation and is included here under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License.