Extension Builder

A command line tool to help package browser extensions for different browsers and manifest versions.

Features

• Set project-specific configurations
• Sync files between source and target directories
• Package (zip) targets for distribution
• Create temporary target directories
• Prevent version overwrite
• Clean manifest.json

Installation

To use extbuild in the terminal, install with the -g option

npm install -g extbuild

Usage

Navigate the current working directory to where build_config.json is an immediate child, then run

extbuild

Configuration

{
  "project_name_short": "extbuild",
  "enforce_version_control": true,
  "clean_manifest": true,
  "default_actions": ["copy"],
  "release_directory": "../releases",
  "source": {
    "directory": "../src/chrome",
    "platform": "chrome"
  },
  "targets": [
    {
      "directory": "../src/firefox",
      "platform": "firefox",
      "manifest_version": 2,
      "patch": [],
      "temp": true
    }
  ],
  "git_messages": {
    "directory_sync": "automated directory sync",
    "packages": "automated package build"
  },
  "debug": false
}

project_name_short

The extension's short/abbreviated name.

Example

dad, pur, or extbuild.

enforce_version_control

If set to true, the program will check if a package already exists for the extension's current version. You can temporarily override this by using the --force option.

clean-manifest

If true, the program will remove any empty fields in the manifest, including empty objects, arrays, and strings.

default_actions

An array of actions that will run on every invocation.

Options

copy

This will sync the target (excluding temp enabled) directories with the source directory, adjusting any patch files and manifest fields.

package

This will create packages for the source and target (including temp enabled) directories.

git

This will push to GitHub after every action with automated messages configured in build_config.json.

release_directory

The relative path of the release directory, where packages will be created. If the directory does not exist, it will be created.

source

An object containing information on the source directory.

directory

The relative path of the source directory. This path must exist and contain a manifest.json file.

platform

The platform of the source directory. Supports chrome and firefox.

targets

An array of objects containing information on the build targets.

directory

The relative path of the source directory. If temp is true, this will be the relative path of the temporary directory. If the directory does not exist, one will be created.

platform

The platform of the target. Supports chrome, firefox, opera, and edge.

manifest_version

The manifest version of the target.

patch

Array of files to patch. Patches version and platform-specific methods, including changing chrome to browser for Firefox and browserAction to action for sync between manifest V2 and V3.

manifest.json files will be synced by default, it does not need to be included in patch.

temp

If true, the target directory will only be created if the package action is invoked, in which the directory will be removed after the process has finished.

git_messages

Commit messages used when the git action is invoked.

debug

Extra console output

scripts_directory

If invoking the script via npm, this field is required to point the program to the .sh scripts.