runtime

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

It also provides messaging APIs enabling you to:

• Communicate between different parts of your extension. For advice on choosing between the messaging options, see Choosing between one-off messages and connection-based messaging.
• Communicate with other extensions.
• Communicate with native applications.

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.

Browser compatibility