runtime.connectNative()

Connects the extension to a native application on the user's computer. This takes the name of a native application as a parameter. It starts the native application and returns a runtime.Port object to the caller. The caller can then use the Port to exchange messages with the native application using Port.postMessage() and port.onMessage. The native application will run until it exits itself, or the caller calls Port.disconnect(), or the page that created the Port is destroyed. Once the Port is disconnected the browser will give the process a few seconds to exit gracefully, and then kill it if it has not exited.

For more information, see Native messaging.

Syntax

let port = browser.runtime.connectNative(
  application // string
)

Parameters

application

string. The name of the native application to connect to. This must match the "name" property in the native application's manifest file.

Return value

A runtime.Port object. The port which the caller can use to exchange messages with the native application.

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
connectNative 29 15 50 ? 16
14See the documentation on developer.apple.com about native messaging in Safari.
 ? ? 68 ?
15See the documentation on developer.apple.com about native messaging in Safari.
 ?

Examples

This example connects to the native application "ping_pong" and starts listening for messages from it. It also sends the native application a message when the user clicks a browser action icon:

/*
On startup, connect to the "ping_pong" app.
*/
let port = browser.runtime.connectNative("ping_pong");

/*
Listen for messages from the app.
*/
port.onMessage.addListener((response) => {
  console.log(`Received: ${response}`);
});

/*
On a click on the browser action, send the app a message.
*/
browser.browserAction.onClicked.addListener(() => {
  console.log("Sending:  ping");
  port.postMessage("ping");
});

Example extensions

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

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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/connectNative