Web Extension (browser plugin) for Chrome, Firefox, Safari standard reference and tools (2021)

Question

As far as I remember correct name for browser plugins we are using today are actually called "Web Extension". Before every browser had its own APIs, then Chrome and Firefox agreed, and now Safari (v14 with macOS 11 in 2021) see

• https://developer.apple.com/documentation/safariservices/safari_web_extensions
• https://sixcolors.com/post/2021/01/safari-14-added-webextensions-support-so-where-are-the-extensions/

However I cannot find exact standard reference and examples that would work for sure in all 3 major browsers.

Maybe we can dig deeper into many related links

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_extension
• https://extensionworkshop.com/documentation/develop/porting-a-google-chrome-extension/
• https://developer.chrome.com/docs/extensions/reference/

But is there tool/library that would track compatibility and make sure that

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Please confirm what terms to use, point to specification and tools that would enforce compatibility.

Perverted

Every browser still has its own API, which will be changed further in ManifestV3. Firefox and Safari implemented their own API that mostly resembles Chrome's but there's no collaboration between vendors. See also github.com/w3c/webextensions – Interest

Yes, I. have looked already. Then should be some tools to take care of compatibility checks github.com/w3c/webextensions/issues/49 The spec is just starting github.com/w3c/webextensions/pull/48 – Perverted

The only tool I know is Mozilla's web-ext but it's for Firefox. You can try finding other tools yourself since as you know it's off-topic on StackOverflow. If there are no such tool maybe you can write one in collaboration with people from that repo. – Interest

Answer 1

As of July 30th 2021

Mozilla MDN has tiny note Browser API differences https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/Add-ons/WebExtensions/API#browser_api_differences
and compatibility summary Browser support for JavaScript APIs https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/Add-ons/WebExtensions/Browser_support_for_JavaScript_APIs,
manifest.json Browser compatibility https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/Add-ons/WebExtensions/manifest.json#browser_compatibility

Spec by W3C WebExtensions Community Group (WECG) is just 1st draft as Pull Request https://github.com/w3c/webextensions

Perverted