runtime

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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

• {{WebExtAPIRef("runtime.Port")}} 
  • : Represents one end of a connection between two specific contexts, which can be used to exchange messages.
• {{WebExtAPIRef("runtime.MessageSender")}} 
  • : Contains information about the sender of a message or connection request.
• {{WebExtAPIRef("runtime.PlatformOs")}} 
  • : Identifies the browser’s operating system.
• {{WebExtAPIRef("runtime.PlatformArch")}} 
  • : Identifies the browser’s processor architecture.
• {{WebExtAPIRef("runtime.PlatformInfo")}} 
  • : Contains information about the platform the browser is running on.
• {{WebExtAPIRef("runtime.RequestUpdateCheckStatus")}} 
  • : Result of a call to {{WebExtAPIRef("runtime.requestUpdateCheck()")}} .
• {{WebExtAPIRef("runtime.OnInstalledReason")}} 
  • : The reason that the {{WebExtAPIRef("runtime.onInstalled")}}  event is being dispatched.
• {{WebExtAPIRef("runtime.OnPerformanceWarningCategory")}} 
  • : The category of warning that dispatched the {{WebExtAPIRef("runtime.onPerformanceWarning")}}  event.
• {{WebExtAPIRef("runtime.OnPerformanceWarningSeverity")}} 
  • : The severity of warning that dispatched the {{WebExtAPIRef("runtime.onPerformanceWarning")}}  event.
• {{WebExtAPIRef("runtime.OnRestartRequiredReason")}} 
  • : The reason that the {{WebExtAPIRef("runtime.onRestartRequired")}}  event is being dispatched.

Properties

• {{WebExtAPIRef("runtime.lastError")}} 
  • : This value is set when an asynchronous function has an error condition that it needs to report to its caller.
• {{WebExtAPIRef("runtime.id")}} 
  • : The ID of the extension.

Functions

• {{WebExtAPIRef("runtime.getBackgroundPage()")}} 
  • : Retrieves the Window object for the background page running inside the current extension.
• {{WebExtAPIRef("runtime.openOptionsPage()")}} 
  • : Opens your extension’s options page.
• {{WebExtAPIRef("runtime.getContexts()")}} 
  • : Gets details about the contexts associated with the extension.
• {{WebExtAPIRef("runtime.getFrameId()")}} 
  • : Gets the frame ID of any window global or frame element.
• {{WebExtAPIRef("runtime.getManifest()")}} 
  • : Gets the complete manifest.json file, serialized as an object.
• {{WebExtAPIRef("runtime.getURL()")}} 
  • : Given a relative path from the manifest.json to a resource packaged with the extension, returns a fully-qualified URL.
• {{WebExtAPIRef("runtime.setUninstallURL()")}} 
  • : Sets a URL to be visited when the extension is uninstalled.
• {{WebExtAPIRef("runtime.reload()")}} 
  • : Reloads the extension.
• {{WebExtAPIRef("runtime.requestUpdateCheck()")}} 
  • : Checks for updates to this extension.
• {{WebExtAPIRef("runtime.connect()")}} 
  • : Establishes a connection from a content script to the main extension process, or from one extension to a different extension.
• {{WebExtAPIRef("runtime.connectNative()")}} 
  • : Connects the extension to a native application on the user’s computer.
• {{WebExtAPIRef("runtime.sendMessage()")}} 
  • : Sends a single message to event listeners within your extension or a different extension. Similar to {{WebExtAPIRef('runtime.connect')}}  but only sends a single message, with an optional response.
• {{WebExtAPIRef("runtime.sendNativeMessage()")}} 
  • : Sends a single message from an extension to a native application.
• {{WebExtAPIRef("runtime.getPlatformInfo()")}} 
  • : Returns information about the current platform.
• {{WebExtAPIRef("runtime.getBrowserInfo()")}} 
  • : Returns information about the browser in which this extension is installed.
• {{WebExtAPIRef("runtime.getPackageDirectoryEntry()")}} 
  • : Returns a DirectoryEntry for the package directory.

Events

• {{WebExtAPIRef("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.
• {{WebExtAPIRef("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.
• {{WebExtAPIRef("runtime.onSuspend")}} 
  • : Sent to the event page just before the extension is unloaded. This gives the extension an opportunity to do some cleanup.
• {{WebExtAPIRef("runtime.onSuspendCanceled")}} 
  • : Sent after {{WebExtAPIRef("runtime.onSuspend")}}  to indicate that the extension won’t be unloaded after all.
• {{WebExtAPIRef("runtime.onUpdateAvailable")}} 
  • : Fired when an update is available, but isn’t installed immediately because the extension is currently running.
• {{WebExtAPIRef("runtime.onBrowserUpdateAvailable")}}  {{deprecated_inline}} 
  • : Fired when an update for the browser is available, but isn’t installed immediately because a browser restart is required.
• {{WebExtAPIRef("runtime.onConnect")}} 
  • : Fired when a connection is made with either an extension process or a content script.
• {{WebExtAPIRef("runtime.onConnectExternal")}} 
  • : Fired when a connection is made with another extension.
• {{WebExtAPIRef("runtime.onMessage")}} 
  • : Fired when a message is sent from either an extension process or a content script.
• {{WebExtAPIRef("runtime.onMessageExternal")}} 
  • : Fired when a message is sent from another extension. Cannot be used in a content script.
• {{WebExtAPIRef("runtime.onPerformanceWarning")}} 
  • : Fired when a runtime performance issue is detected for the extension.
• {{WebExtAPIRef("runtime.onRestartRequired")}} 
  • : Fired when the device needs to be restarted.

Browser compatibility

{{Compat}} 

{{WebExtExamples("h2")}} 

[!NOTE] This API is based on Chromium’s chrome.runtime API. This documentation is derived from runtime.json in the Chromium code.