browserAction
The browserAction and composeAction APIs first appeared in Thunderbird 64. They are very similar to Firefox’s browserAction API.
Many of our sample extensions use a browserAction.
Use a browserAction to put an icon in the mail window toolbar. In addition to its icon, a browserAction can also have a tooltip, a badge, and a popup. This namespace is called browserAction for compatibility with browser WebExtensions.
Manifest file properties
[browser_action]
(object)
[browser_style]
(boolean)
Enable browser styles. See the MDN documentation on browser styles for more information.
[default_area]
(string)
Defines the location the browserAction will appear. The default location is maintoolbar.
Supported values:
maintoolbar
tabstoolbar
– [Added in TB 92, backported to TB 91.0.2]
The icon for the messageDisplayAction.
[default_label]
(string)
– [Added in TB 84.0b3, backported to TB 78.6.1]
The label of the browserAction, defaults to its title. Can be set to an empty string to not display any label. If the containing toolbar is configured to display text only, the title will be used as fallback.
[default_popup]
(string)
The html document to be opened as a popup when the user clicks on the browserAction’s icon.
[default_title]
(string)
The title of the browserAction. This shows up in the tooltip and the label. Defaults to the add-on name.
Specifies dark and light icons to be used with themes. The light icon is used on dark backgrounds and vice versa. Note: The default theme uses the default_icon for light backgrounds (if specified).
Functions
setTitle(details)
Sets the title of the browserAction. This shows up in the tooltip and the label. Defaults to the add-on name.
Parameters
details
(object)
title
(string or null)
The string the browserAction should display as its label and when moused over.
getTitle(details)
Gets the title of the browserAction.
Parameters
Return type (Promise)
string
setLabel(details)
– [Added in TB 84.0b3, backported to TB 78.6.1]
Sets the label of the browserAction, defaults to its title. Can be set to an empty string to not display any label. If the containing toolbar is configured to display text only, the title will be used as fallback.
Parameters
details
(object)
label
(string or null)
The string the browserAction should use as label. Can be set to an empty string to not display any label. If the containing toolbar is configured to display text only, the title will be used as fallback.
getLabel(details)
– [Added in TB 84.0b3, backported to TB 78.6.1]
Gets the label of the browserAction.
Parameters
Return type (Promise)
string
setIcon(details)
Sets the icon for the browserAction. The icon can be specified either as the path to an image file or as the pixel data from a canvas element, or as dictionary of either one of those. Either the path or the imageData property must be specified.
Parameters
details
(object)
Either an ImageDataType object defining a single icon used for all sizes or an ImageDataDictionary object defining dedicated icons for different sizes.
Either a relative image path defining a single icon used for all sizes or an IconPathDictionary object defining dedicated icons for different sizes.
setPopup(details)
Sets the html document to be opened as a popup when the user clicks on the browserAction’s icon.
Parameters
details
(object)
popup
(string or null)
The html file to show in a popup. If set to the empty string (‘’), no popup is shown.
getPopup(details)
Gets the html document set as the popup for this browserAction.
Parameters
Return type (Promise)
string
setBadgeText(details)
Sets the badge text for the browserAction. The badge is displayed on top of the icon.
Parameters
details
(object)
text
(string or null)
Any number of characters can be passed, but only about four can fit in the space.
getBadgeText(details)
Gets the badge text of the browserAction. If no tab nor window is specified, the global badge text is returned.
Parameters
Return type (Promise)
string
setBadgeBackgroundColor(details)
Sets the background color for the badge.
Parameters
details
(object)
An array of four integers in the range [0,255] that make up the RGBA color of the badge. For example, opaque red is [255, 0, 0, 255]. Can also be a string with a CSS value, with opaque red being #FF0000 or #F00.
getBadgeBackgroundColor(details)
Gets the background color of the browserAction.
Parameters
Return type (Promise)
enable([tabId])
Enables the browserAction for a tab. By default, a browserAction is enabled.
Parameters
[tabId]
(integer)
The id of the tab for which you want to modify the browserAction.
disable([tabId])
Disables the browserAction for a tab.
Parameters
[tabId]
(integer)
The id of the tab for which you want to modify the browserAction.
isEnabled(details)
Checks whether the browserAction is enabled.
Parameters
Return type (Promise)
boolean
openPopup()
Opens the extension popup window in the active window.
Events
onClicked
Fired when a browserAction icon is clicked. This event will not fire if the browserAction has a popup. This is a user input event handler. For asynchronous listeners some restrictions apply.
Parameters for onClicked.addListener(listener)
listener(tab, info)
A function that will be called when this event occurs.
Parameters passed to the listener function
Types
ColorArray
An array of four integers in the range [0,255] that make up the RGBA color. For example, opaque red is [255, 0, 0, 255].
array of integer
Details
Specifies to which tab or window the value should be set, or from which one it should be retrieved. If no tab nor window is specified, the global value is set or retrieved.
object
[tabId]
(integer)
When setting a value, it will be specific to the specified tab, and will automatically reset when the tab navigates. When getting, specifies the tab to get the value from; if there is no tab-specific value, the window one will be inherited.
[windowId]
(integer)
When setting a value, it will be specific to the specified window. When getting, specifies the window to get the value from; if there is no window-specific value, the global one will be inherited.
ImageDataDictionary
A {size: ImageDataType} dictionary representing the icon to be set. The actual ImageDataType to be used is chosen depending on the screen’s pixel density. See the MDN documentation on browser styles for more information on this. At least one ImageDataType must be specified.
object
ImageDataType
Pixel data for an image. Must be an ImageData object (for example, from a canvas element).
OnClickData
– [Added in TB 74.0b2]
Information sent when a browser action is clicked.
object
modifiers
(array of string)
An array of keyboard modifiers that were held while the menu item was clicked.
Supported values:
Shift
Alt
Command
Only available on macOS.
Ctrl
Not available on macOS.
MacCtrl
Only available on macOS, but of limited use in a click event: Holding down the CTRL key while clicking with the mouse is referred to as a ‘CTRL click’ under macOS and is interpreted as a right mouse click. In a default profile the dom.event.treat_ctrl_click_as_right_click.disabled preference is not enabled and the MacCtrl modifier key is not forwarded to the API.
[button]
(integer)
An integer value of button by which menu item was clicked.
External Types
The following types are not defined by this API, but by the underlying Mozilla WebExtension code base. They are included here, because there is no other public documentation available.
IconPathDictionary
A {size: path} dictionary representing the icon to be set. The actual image to be used is chosen depending on the screen’s pixel density. See the MDN documentation about choosing icon sizes for more information on this. At least one icon must be specified. Example:
{
"48": "icon48.png",
"96": "icon96.png"
}
ThemeIcons
Define a set of icons for themes depending on whether Thunderbird detects that the theme uses dark or light text. All provided URLs must be relative to the manifest.json file.
object
dark
(string)
A URL pointing to an icon. This icon displays when a theme using dark text is active (such as the Light theme, and the Default theme if no default_icon is specified).
light
(string)
A URL pointing to an icon. This icon displays when a theme using light text is active (such as the Dark theme).
size
(integer)
The size of the two icons in pixels, for example 16 or 32.