Building Web Extensions With Your Favourite Framework

A web extension is a small program developed using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript that integrates into a browser, adding new functionalities and customizing the browsing experience. It is similar to a single-page app but designed to work within the browser.

Web extensions are useful because they automate repetitive tasks, enhance browser functionalities, and provide users with additional tools and capabilities, such as translating content, formatting JSON, and auto-filling forms.

To build a web extension, you need to understand the Manifest V3 standard, know how to use your preferred JavaScript framework (like Vue), and be familiar with the structure of web extensions, including components like pop-up, sidebar, and content scripts.

Manifest V3 is the standard for creating web extensions in browsers such as Chrome and Firefox. It defines the essential details of the extension, including its name, version, description, required permissions, and the location of its components.

Content scripts are part of the web page context and can interact with the web pages being navigated. They inject functionality, modify content, and communicate with other parts of the extension to perform actions on the web page.

There are various tools and frameworks available, such as WebExtension Polyfill, webext package, and WXT. These tools simplify the development process by providing API wrappers, command-line tools, and templates for building web extensions.

To test a web extension locally, you can enable developer mode in your browser's extensions settings and load the unpacked extension. For deployment, you can publish it on the Chrome Web Store or Firefox Add-ons site for others to download and use.

The talk demonstrated practical uses such as configuring user preferences with web storage, rendering dynamic menus based on text selection, and utilizing built-in AI APIs for actions like translation and summarization.

Web extensions can extend browser DevTools by adding new tabs or panels that provide additional functionalities, such as Vue DevTools, which offers enhanced inspection tools for Vue.js applications.

Open-source packages in web extension development provide simplified APIs, reduce the need for manual configurations, and enhance development efficiency by offering pre-configured templates and tools for easier integration with browser APIs.