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.getFrameId(): Gets the frame ID of any window global or frame element.
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 Deprecated: 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

	Desktop						Mobile
	Chrome	Edge	Firefox	Internet Explorer	Opera	Safari	WebView Android	Chrome Android	Firefox for Android	Opera Android	Safari on IOS	Samsung Internet
`MessageSender`	26	14	45 Before version 54, 'id' was the add-on's internal UUID, not the add-on ID.	?	15	14	?	?	48 Before version 54, 'id' was the add-on's internal UUID, not the add-on ID.	?	15	?
`OnInstalledReason`	Yes Uses 'chrome_update' instead of 'browser_update'.	14 Only supports 'install' and 'update'.	45	?	Yes Uses 'chrome_update' instead of 'browser_update'.	14 Only supports 'install' and 'update'.	?	?	48	?	15 Only supports 'install' and 'update'.	?
`OnRestartRequiredReason`	Yes	79	45	?	Yes	No	?	?	48	?	No	?
`PlatformArch`	Yes	79	45	?	Yes	14	?	?	48	?	15	?
`PlatformInfo`	Yes	79	45	?	Yes	14	?	?	48	?	15	?
`PlatformNaclArch`	Yes	79	45	?	Yes	No	?	?	48	?	No	?
`PlatformOs`	Yes	79	45	?	Yes	14	?	?	48	?	15	?
`Port`	26	15	45	?	15	14	?	?	48	?	15	?
`RequestUpdateCheckStatus`	Yes	79	No	?	Yes	No	?	?	No	?	No	?
`connect`	26	14	45	?	15	14	?	?	48	?	15	?
`connectNative`	29	15	50	?	16	14 See the documentation on developer.apple.com about native messaging in Safari.	?	?	68	?	15 See the documentation on developer.apple.com about native messaging in Safari.	?
`getBackgroundPage`	22	14	45 If this is called from a page that is part of a private browsing window, such as a sidebar in a private window or a popup opened from a private window, then it will always return `null`.	?	15	14	?	?	48 If this is called from a page that is part of a private browsing window, such as a sidebar in a private window or a popup opened from a private window, then it will always return `null`.	?	15	?
`getBrowserInfo`	No	No	51	?	No	No	?	?	51	?	No	?
`getFrameId`	No	No	96	?	No	16	?	?	96	?	16	?
`getManifest`	22	14	45	?	15	14	?	?	48	?	15	?
`getPackageDirectoryEntry`	29	79	No	?	16	No	?	?	No	?	No	?
`getPlatformInfo`	29	79	45	?	16	14	?	?	48	?	15	?
`getURL`	22	14	45	?	15	14	?	?	48	?	15	?
`id`	22	14	45	?	15	14	?	?	48	?	15	?
`lastError`	Yes lastError is not an Error object. Instead, it is a plain Object with the error text as the string value of the 'message' property.	14	47	?	Yes lastError is not an Error object. Instead, it is a plain Object with the error text as the string value of the 'message' property.	14 `lastError` is only set if a callback is used. `Promise` results that fail will be rejected with an `Error` object.	?	?	48	?	15 `lastError` is only set if a callback is used. `Promise` results that fail will be rejected with an `Error` object.	?
`onBrowserUpdateAvailable`	27	79	No	?	15	No	?	?	No	?	No	?
`onConnect`	26	14	45	?	15	14	?	?	48	?	15	?
`onConnectExternal`	26	79	54	?	15	No	?	?	54	?	No	?
`onInstalled`	22	14	52 Before version 55, this event is not triggered for temporarily installed add-ons.	?	15	14	?	?	52 Before version 55, this event is not triggered for temporarily installed add-ons.	?	15	?
`onMessage`	26	14	45	?	15	14	?	?	48	?	15	?
`onMessageExternal`	26	79	54	?	15	15.4 Since Safari 15.4, this event is also fired in response to a message from webpages allowed in `externally_connectable`. 14 This event is only fired in response to a message from an extension's containing app, not webpages nor other extensions.	?	?	54	?	15.4 Since Safari 15.4, this event is also fired in response to a message from webpages allowed in `externally_connectable`. 15 This event is only fired in response to a message from an extension's containing app, not webpages nor other extensions.	?
`onRestartRequired`	29	79	No	?	16	No	?	?	No	?	No	?
`onStartup`	23	79	52	?	15	14	?	?	52	?	15	?
`onSuspend`	22	79	100 This event does not fire until Firefox 106, when event pages are available.	?	15	No	?	?	100 This event does not fire until Firefox 106, when event pages are available.	?	No	?
`onSuspendCanceled`	22	79	100 This event does not fire until Firefox 106, when event pages are available.	?	15	No	?	?	100 This event does not fire until Firefox 106, when event pages are available.	?	No	?
`onUpdateAvailable`	25	79	51	?	15	No	?	?	51	?	No	?
`openOptionsPage`	42	79	48	?	29	14	?	?	57	?	15	?
`reload`	25	15	51	?	15	14	?	?	51	?	15	?
`requestUpdateCheck`	25	79	No	?	15	No	?	?	No	?	No	?
`sendMessage`	26	14 `runtime.onMessage` listeners in extension views receive the messages they sent.	45	?	15	14	?	?	48	?	15	?
`sendNativeMessage`	29	15	50	?	16	14 See the documentation on developer.apple.com about native messaging in Safari.	?	?	68	?	15 See the documentation on developer.apple.com about native messaging in Safari.	?
`setUninstallURL`	41	15	47	?	28	14 API exists, but has no effect.	?	?	48	?	15 API exists, but has no effect.	?

Example extensions

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

© 2005–2023 MDN contributors.
Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License v2.5 or later.
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/Add-ons/WebExtensions/API/runtime

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