electron/docs/api/extensions-api.md

Class: Extensions

Load and interact with extensions.

Process: Main
This class is not exported from the 'electron' module. It is only available as a return value of other methods in the Electron API.

Instances of the Extensions class are accessed by using extensions property of a Session.

Instance Events

The following events are available on instances of Extensions:

Event: 'extension-loaded'

Returns:

• event Event
• extension Extension

Emitted after an extension is loaded. This occurs whenever an extension is added to the "enabled" set of extensions. This includes:

• Extensions being loaded from Extensions.loadExtension.
• Extensions being reloaded:
  • from a crash.
  • if the extension requested it (chrome.runtime.reload()).

Event: 'extension-unloaded'

Returns:

• event Event
• extension Extension

Emitted after an extension is unloaded. This occurs when Session.removeExtension is called.

Event: 'extension-ready'

Returns:

• event Event
• extension Extension

Emitted after an extension is loaded and all necessary browser state is initialized to support the start of the extension's background page.

Instance Methods

The following methods are available on instances of Extensions:

extensions.loadExtension(path[, options])

• path string - Path to a directory containing an unpacked Chrome extension
• options Object (optional)
  • allowFileAccess boolean - Whether to allow the extension to read local files over file:// protocol and inject content scripts into file:// pages. This is required e.g. for loading devtools extensions on file:// URLs. Defaults to false.

Returns Promise<Extension> - resolves when the extension is loaded.

This method will raise an exception if the extension could not be loaded. If there are warnings when installing the extension (e.g. if the extension requests an API that Electron does not support) then they will be logged to the console.

Note that Electron does not support the full range of Chrome extensions APIs. See Supported Extensions APIs for more details on what is supported.

Note that in previous versions of Electron, extensions that were loaded would be remembered for future runs of the application. This is no longer the case: loadExtension must be called on every boot of your app if you want the extension to be loaded.

const { app, session } = require('electron')
const path = require('node:path')

app.whenReady().then(async () => {
  await session.defaultSession.extensions.loadExtension(
    path.join(__dirname, 'react-devtools'),
    // allowFileAccess is required to load the devtools extension on file:// URLs.
    { allowFileAccess: true }
  )
  // Note that in order to use the React DevTools extension, you'll need to
  // download and unzip a copy of the extension.
})

This API does not support loading packed (.crx) extensions.

Note: This API cannot be called before the ready event of the app module is emitted.

Note: Loading extensions into in-memory (non-persistent) sessions is not supported and will throw an error.

extensions.removeExtension(extensionId)

• extensionId string - ID of extension to remove

Unloads an extension.

Note: This API cannot be called before the ready event of the app module is emitted.

extensions.getExtension(extensionId)

• extensionId string - ID of extension to query

Returns Extension | null - The loaded extension with the given ID.

Note: This API cannot be called before the ready event of the app module is emitted.

extensions.getAllExtensions()

Returns Extension[] - A list of all loaded extensions.

Note: This API cannot be called before the ready event of the app module is emitted.