composeAction API

Use a composeAction to put a button in the message composition toolbars. In addition to its icon, a composeAction button can also have a tooltip, a badge, and a popup.

Manifest file properties

compose_action

[compose_action]

(object, optional)

– [Added in TB 64]

browser_style

[browser_style]

(boolean, optional)

– [Added in TB 64]

Enable browser styles. See the MDN documentation on browser styles for more information.

default_area

[default_area]

(string, optional)

– [Added in TB 64]

Defines the location the composeAction button will appear. The default location is maintoolbar.

Supported values:

formattoolbar

formattoolbar

maintoolbar

maintoolbar

default_icon

[default_icon]

(IconPath, optional)

– [Added in TB 64]

The paths to one or more icons for the composeAction button.

default_label

[default_label]

(string, optional)

– [Added in TB 85]

The label of the composeAction button, 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

[default_popup]

(string, optional)

– [Added in TB 64]

The html document to be opened as a popup when the user clicks on the composeAction button. Ignored for action buttons with type menu.

default_title

[default_title]

(string, optional)

– [Added in TB 64]

The title of the composeAction button. This shows up in the tooltip and the label. Defaults to the add-on name.

theme_icons

[theme_icons]

(array of ThemeIcons, optional)

– [Added in TB 64]

Specifies dark and light icons to be used with themes. The light icon is used on dark backgrounds and vice versa. The default theme uses the default_icon for light backgrounds (if specified).

type

[type]

(string, optional)

– [Added in TB 90]

Specifies the type of the button. Default type is button.

Supported values:

button

button

menu

menu

Permissions

Note

A manifest entry named compose_action is required to use messenger.composeAction.*.

Functions

disable([tabId])

– [Added in TB 64]

Disables the composeAction button for a specific tab (if a tabId is provided), or for all tabs which do not have a custom enable state. Once the enable state of a tab has been updated individually, all further changes to its state have to be done individually as well.

Parameters

tabId

[tabId]

(integer, optional)

The id of the tab for which you want to modify the composeAction button.

enable([tabId])

– [Added in TB 64]

Enables the composeAction button for a specific tab (if a tabId is provided), or for all tabs which do not have a custom enable state. Once the enable state of a tab has been updated individually, all further changes to its state have to be done individually as well. By default, a composeAction button is enabled.

Parameters

tabId

[tabId]

(integer, optional)

The id of the tab for which you want to modify the composeAction button.

getBadgeBackgroundColor(details)

– [Added in TB 64]

Gets the badge background color of the composeAction button.

Parameters

details

details

(object)

tabId

[tabId]

(integer, optional)

– [Added in TB 108]

Specifies for which tab the badge background color should be retrieved. If no tab is specified, the global value is retrieved.

windowId

[windowId]

(integer, optional) Unsupported.

– [Added in TB 108]

Will throw an error if used.

Return type (Promise)

_returns

getBadgeText(details)

– [Added in TB 64]

Gets the badge text of the composeAction button.

Parameters

details

details

(object)

tabId

[tabId]

(integer, optional)

– [Added in TB 108]

Specifies for which tab the badge text should be retrieved. If no tab is specified, the global value is retrieved.

windowId

[windowId]

(integer, optional) Unsupported.

– [Added in TB 108]

Will throw an error if used.

Return type (Promise)

_returns

string

getBadgeTextColor(details)

– [Added in TB 128]

Gets the text color of the badge.

Parameters

details

details

(object)

tabId

[tabId]

(integer, optional)

Specifies for which tab the badge text color should be retrieved. If no tab is specified, the global value is retrieved.

windowId

[windowId]

(integer, optional) Unsupported.

Will throw an error if used.

Return type (Promise)

_returns

getLabel(details)

– [Added in TB 85]

Gets the label of the composeAction button. Returns null, if no label has been set and the title is used.

Parameters

details

details

(object)

tabId

[tabId]

(integer, optional)

– [Added in TB 108]

Specifies for which tab the label should be retrieved. If no tab is specified, the global value is retrieved.

windowId

[windowId]

(integer, optional) Unsupported.

– [Added in TB 108]

Will throw an error if used.

Return type (Promise)

_returns

string or null

getPopup(details)

– [Added in TB 64]

Gets the html document set as the popup for this composeAction button.

Parameters

details

details

(object)

tabId

[tabId]

(integer, optional)

– [Added in TB 108]

Specifies for which tab the popup document should be retrieved. If no tab is specified, the global value is retrieved.

windowId

[windowId]

(integer, optional) Unsupported.

– [Added in TB 108]

Will throw an error if used.

Return type (Promise)

_returns

string

getTitle(details)

– [Added in TB 64]

Gets the title of the composeAction button.

Parameters

details

details

(object)

tabId

[tabId]

(integer, optional)

– [Added in TB 108]

Specifies for which tab the title should be retrieved. If no tab is specified, the global value is retrieved.

windowId

[windowId]

(integer, optional) Unsupported.

– [Added in TB 108]

Will throw an error if used.

Return type (Promise)

_returns

string

isEnabled(details)

– [Added in TB 64]

Checks whether the composeAction button is enabled.

Parameters

details

details

(object)

tabId

[tabId]

(integer, optional)

– [Added in TB 108]

Specifies for which tab the state should be retrieved. If no tab is specified, the global value is retrieved.

windowId

[windowId]

(integer, optional) Unsupported.

– [Added in TB 108]

Will throw an error if used.

Return type (Promise)

_returns

boolean

– [Added in TB 96]

openPopup([options])

– [Added in TB 64]

Opens the action’s popup window in the specified window. Defaults to the current window. Returns false if the popup could not be opened because the action has no popup, is of type menu, is disabled or has been removed from the toolbar.

Parameters

options

[options]

(object, optional)

– [Added in TB 113]

An object with information about the popup to open.

windowId

[windowId]

(integer, optional)

– [Added in TB 113]

Defaults to the current window.

Return type (Promise)

_returns

boolean

– [Added in TB 113]

setBadgeBackgroundColor(details)

– [Added in TB 64]

Sets the background color for the badge.

Parameters

details

details

(object)

color

color

(string or ColorArray or null)

The color to use as background in the badge. Cleared by setting it to null.

tabId

[tabId]

(integer, optional)

Sets the background color for the badge only for the given tab.

windowId

[windowId]

(integer, optional) Unsupported.

Will throw an error if used.

setBadgeText(details)

– [Added in TB 64]

Sets the badge text for the composeAction button. The badge is displayed on top of the icon.

Parameters

details

details

(object)

text

text

(string or null)

Any number of characters can be passed, but only about four can fit in the space. Cleared by setting it to null or an empty string.

tabId

[tabId]

(integer, optional)

Sets the badge text only for the given tab.

windowId

[windowId]

(integer, optional) Unsupported.

Will throw an error if used.

setBadgeTextColor(details)

– [Added in TB 128]

Sets the text color for the badge.

Parameters

details

details

(object)

color

color

(string or ColorArray or null)

The color to use as text color in the badge. Cleared by setting it to null.

tabId

[tabId]

(integer, optional)

Sets the text color for the badge only for the given tab.

windowId

[windowId]

(integer, optional) Unsupported.

Will throw an error if used.

setIcon(details)

– [Added in TB 64]

Sets the icon for the composeAction button. Either the path or the imageData property must be specified.

Parameters

details

details

(object)

imageData

[imageData]

The image data for one or more icons for the composeAction button.

path

[path]

(IconPath, optional)

The paths to one or more icons for the composeAction button.

tabId

[tabId]

(integer, optional)

Sets the icon only for the given tab.

windowId

[windowId]

(integer, optional) Unsupported.

Will throw an error if used.

setLabel(details)

– [Added in TB 85]

Sets the label of the composeAction button. Can be used to set different values for the tooltip (defined by the title) and the label. Additionally, the label can be set to an empty string, not showing any label at all.

Parameters

details

details

(object)

label

label

(string or null)

A string the composeAction button should use as its label, overriding the defined title. Can be set to an empty string to not display any label at all. If the containing toolbar is configured to display text only, its title will be used. Cleared by setting it to null.

tabId

[tabId]

(integer, optional)

Sets the label only for the given tab.

windowId

[windowId]

(integer, optional) Unsupported.

Will throw an error if used.

setPopup(details)

– [Added in TB 64]

Sets the html document to be opened as a popup when the user clicks on the composeAction button.

Parameters

details

details

(object)

popup

popup

(string or null)

The html file to show in a popup. Can be set to an empty string to not open a popup. Cleared by setting it to null (action will use the popup value defined in the manifest).

tabId

[tabId]

(integer, optional)

Sets the popup only for the given tab.

windowId

[windowId]

(integer, optional) Unsupported.

Will throw an error if used.

setTitle(details)

– [Added in TB 64]

Sets the title of the composeAction button. Is used as tooltip and as the label.

Parameters

details

details

(object)

title

title

(string or null)

A string the composeAction button should display as its label and when moused over. Cleared by setting it to null or an empty string (title defined the manifest will be used).

tabId

[tabId]

(integer, optional)

Sets the title only for the given tab.

windowId

[windowId]

(integer, optional) Unsupported.

Will throw an error if used.

Events

onClicked

– [Added in TB 64]

Fired when a composeAction button is clicked. This event will not fire if the composeAction has a popup. This is a user input event handler. For asynchronous listeners some restrictions apply.

Parameters for onClicked.addListener(listener)

listener(tab, info)

listener(tab, info)

A function that will be called when this event occurs.

Parameters passed to the listener function

tab

tab

(Tab)

– [Added in TB 74]

info

[info]

(OnClickData, optional)

– [Added in TB 74]

Types

ColorArray

– [Added in TB 64]

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

ExtensionFileUrl

string

ExtensionURL

A path relative to the root of the extension.

string

IconPath

Either a string to specify a relative path of a single icon to be used for all sizes, or a dictionary object to specify paths for multiple icons in different sizes, so the icon does not have to be scaled for a device with a different pixel density. Each entry is a name-value pair with value being a relative path to an icon file, and name its size. Example:

{
  "16": "icon16.png",
  "32": "icon32.png"
}

See the MDN documentation about choosing icon sizes for more information on this topic.

object

or

ImageDataDictionary

– [Added in TB 90]

A dictionary object to specify multiple ImageData objects in different sizes, so the icon does not have to be scaled for a device with a different pixel density. Each entry is a name-value pair with value being an ImageData object, and name its size.

object

ImageDataType

– [Added in TB 64]

Pixel data for an image. Must be an ImageData object (for example, from a canvas element).

OnClickData

– [Added in TB 74]

Information sent when a composeAction button is clicked.

object

modifiers

modifiers

(array of string)

An array of keyboard modifiers that were held while the menu item was clicked.

Supported values:

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.

Shift

button

[button]

(integer, optional)

An integer value of button by which menu item was clicked.

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

dark

The dark icon to use for light themes

light

light

A light icon to use for dark themes

size

size

(integer)

The size of the icons