Shell for Chrome and Firefox – WebExtensions

WebExtension API to execute external commands through native messaging.

Dependencies

• Crystal
• jq

Installation

1. Host
2. Extension

Usage

// Environment variables
switch (true) {
  case (typeof browser !== 'undefined'):
    var PLATFORM = 'firefox'
    var SHELL_EXTENSION_ID = 'shell@alexherbo2.github.com'
    break
  case (typeof chrome !== 'undefined'):
    var PLATFORM = 'chrome'
    var SHELL_EXTENSION_ID = 'ohgecdnlcckpfnhjepfdcdgcfgebkdgl'
    break
}

// Initialization
const shell = {}
shell.port = chrome.runtime.connect(SHELL_EXTENSION_ID)
shell.send = (command, ...arguments) => {
  shell.port.postMessage({ command, arguments })
}

// Usage
shell.send('mpv', 'https://youtu.be/7ky_itVPTnk')

Ping-pong

const ping = () => {
  shell.port.postMessage({
    id: 'ping-pong',
    command: 'echo',
    arguments: ['Ping']
  })
}

shell.port.onMessage.addListener((response) => {
  switch (response.id) {
    case 'ping-pong':
      console.log(response.output, 'Pong')
      break
  }
})

// Ping-pong
ping()

You can find some examples in Krabby.

See the source for a complete reference.

API

Request

{
  id: String?,
  command: String,
  arguments: Array(String)?,
  environment: Hash(String, String)?,
  shell: { type: Bool, default: false },
  input: String?,
  directory: String?
}

Response

{
  id: String?,
  status: Int32,
  output: String,
  error: String
}