DevTools Extension Example

This is a small boilerplate project to be used as a starting point for developing a Chrome DevTools Extension.

Installation

• Open chrome://extensions
• Enable 'Developer Mode' checkbox
• Click 'Load unpacked extensions...'
• Select the devtools-extension folder

Usage

While on any page, launch the devtools, you should see a new tab called 'DemoPanel' which contains 3 buttons.

Execute script in inspected page

Uses chrome.tabs.executeScript to execute an inline script in the context of the page you're inspecting (via background.html).

Insert script into inspected page

Uses chrome.tabs.executeScript to append an external file (included in the extension folder) to the inspected page (via background.html).

Insert button to send a message

With the grace of a gorilla, replaces the entire DOM of the inspected page with a button which has an onclick attached. Clicking the button will send a message from the inspected page to the background.html. It is then relayed back to the DemoPanel where it changes the text on the button.

Background

While working on a feature for GhostStory, I found myself trying to figure out how Chrome DevTools Extensions worked. Seeing as it took the best part of a day to actually get the basics in place (even using the docs and samples), I figure it might help to have a working example.