webpack-run-chrome-extension

Run your browser extension on Chrome with zero-config auto-reload support

Opens up a new Chrome instance with an extension loaded. Resources declared in manifest.json are auto-reloaded by default, including JavaScript and CSS declared in Manifest HTML pages. This plugin accepts all flags Chrome does (see browserFlags) and loads on a clean profile by default.

Highlights

Zero-config auto-reload for virtually everything including all HTML overrides, and every resource you plan to require via <script> and <link> in manifest declared HTML pages.
Fresh profile with developer mode enabled by default on every run. (customizable)
Opens the handy "chrome://extensions" by default for fast debugging.
Uses the system browser instead of fully downloading Chrome. (accepts Canary builds)
Closing the webpack process instantly kills all child processes. No extra steps to open/close Chrome.
Supports virtually all Chrome flags.

See it in action

git clone git@github.com:cezaraugusto/webpack-run-chrome-extension.git
cd webpack-run-chrome-extension && yarn install
yarn demo

Usage

yarn add webpack-run-chrome-extension --save-dev

If you want to watch for file changes in your extension, watch mode must be enabled.

// webpack config file
+ const RunChromeExtension = require('webpack-run-chrome-extension')

module.exports {
+  watch: true,
  plugins: [
+   new RunChromeExtension({
+     extensionPath: 'path/to/extension'
+   })
  ]
}

Lazy sample

const RunChromeExtension = require('webpack-run-chrome-extension')

new RunChromeExtension({
  extensionPath: 'path/to/extension/dir', // Only required field
  browserFlags: [
    '--enable-experimental-extension-apis',
    '--embedded-extension-options'
  ],
  userDataDir: 'path/to/user/data/dir',
  startingUrl: 'https://example.com',
  autoReload: true,
  port: 8081
})

API

new RunChromeExtension(options)

Options

extensionPath (required)

Type: string

Path to your extension. Must point to the same directory as the manifest file.

browserFlags (optional)

Type: Array<string>

Additional flags to pass to Chrome. Defaults to these flags.

For a full list of available flags, see https://peter.sh/experiments/chromium-command-line-switches/.

userDataDir (optional)

Type: string | boolean

What Chrome profile path to use. A boolean value of false sets the profile to the default user profile. Defaults to a fresh Chrome profile.

startingUrl (optional)

Type: string

What URL to start the browser with. Defaults to about:blank

autoReload (optional)

Type: boolean

Whether to enable auto-reload on save. Defaults to true

port (optional)

Type: number

What port should run the extension reloader. Defaults to 8081

License

MIT (c) Cezar Augusto.