Supported manifest keys
Note
This documentation is for extensions for the legacy version of Microsoft Edge. For information on the new Microsoft Edge, see Microsoft Edge (Chromium) Extensions.
Important
The new Microsoft Edge program is now open to accept chromium-based extensions for the new Microsoft Edge (v77 or later). If you want to submit a new extension, visit Publish to Microsoft Edge (Chromium) Add-ons Store to learn about the submission process.
With this announcement, Microsoft is no longer accepting new extensions for the legacy version of Microsoft Edge. If you own an Extension for the legacy version, you should begin the process of porting your Extension to the new Microsoft Edge. The new Microsoft Edge is based on Chromium, so Extensions designed for the legacy version of Microsoft Edge do not work with the new version.
Every extension has a JSON-formatted manifest file, named manifest.json. This file provides important information for the extension ranging from its name to its permissions. Unless specified in a note below, the Microsoft Edge manifest properties follow the same implementation as Chrome.
Here is an example of a Microsoft Edge JSON manifest file.
Required keys
The following keys are required:
| Key | Known issues | Chrome incompatibilities |
|---|---|---|
| author | ||
| name | ||
| version |
Recommended keys
The following keys are recommended:
| Key | Known issues | Chrome incompatibilities |
|---|---|---|
| browser_specific_settings | Indicates the extension's preferred state in the browser. The browser may or may not choose to respect it in a future release, depending on factors such as the reputation of the extension, or the total number of buttons already in the user's address bar. This can be used to indicate the default position of the browserAction icon. "browser_specific_settings": {"edge": {"browser_action_next_to_addressbar": true}} Not supported in Chrome. |
|
| default_locale | ||
| description | ||
| icons | ||
| manifest_version | Currently ignored in Microsoft Edge. |
browser_action or page_action keys
You can only include one of the following keys (or none):
| Key | Known issues | Chrome incompatibilities |
|---|---|---|
| browser_action | Microsoft Edge does not support the following syntax: browser_action : {"default_icon" : "icon.png" } Size for icons must be specified. Preferred sizes: 20px, 25px, 30px, 40px. Other supported sizes: 19px, 35px, 38px. |
|
| page_action | Microsoft Edge does not support the following syntax: page_action : {"default_icon" : "icon.png" } Size for icons must be specified. Preferred sizes: 20px, 25px, 30px, 40px. Other supported sizes: 19px, 35px, 38px. |
Optional keys
The following keys are optional:
| Key | Known issues | Chrome incompatibilities |
|---|---|---|
| background | Persistent is a required field for Microsoft Edge. | |
| content_scripts | ||
| content_security_policy | The content security policy of a page blocks websockets in content scripts, generating an undefined exception. | Microsoft Edge extensions currently only support Default Policy Restrictions: script-src 'self'; object-src 'self' |
| incognito | ||
| key | ||
| options_page | ||
| permissions | ||
| short_name | ||
| web_accessible_resources |
Supported permissions
The following permissions are supported:
| Permission | Description |
|---|---|
| <all_urls> | Allows background and content scripts to interact with all webpages with extra privileges. |
| contextMenus | Gives access to contextMenus API. This enables adding items to Microsoft Edge's context menu. |
| cookies | Gives access to the cookies API. This enable querying and modifying cookies as well as being notified when they change. |
| geolocation | Allow the extension to use the HTML5 geolocation API without prompting the user for permission. |
| idle | Gives access to the idle API. This enables detection of when the machine's idle state changes. |
| storage | Gives access to the storage API. This enables storing, retrieving, and tracking changes to user data. |
| tabs | Gives access to the tabs API to interact with the browser's tab system. This enables creating, modifying, and rearranging tabs in the browser, including the URLs associated with each tab. |
| unlimitedStorage | Allows storage.local to have unlimited storage (depending on system resources) instead of 5MB. The max storage per key value pair is also increased from 5MB to unlimited (depending on system resources). |
| webNavigation | Gives access to the webNavigation API. This enables receiving notifications about the status of navigation requests. |
| webRequest | Gives access to the webRequest API. This enables observing and analyzing traffic, as well as intercepting, blocking or modifying request in-flight. |
| webRequestBlocking | Required if an extension uses the webRequest API in a blocking fashion. |
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