runtime.sendNativeMessage()

Sends a single message from an extension to a native application.

This takes two mandatory parameters: the name of the native application and a JSON object which is the message to send it. The browser will launch the native application and deliver the message.

This is an asynchronous function that returns a Promise. The first message sent by the native application is treated as a response to the sendNativeMessage() call, and the promise will be fulfilled with this message as a parameter. Note that you can't use runtime.onMessage to get responses from the application: you must use the callback function instead.

A new instance of the application is launched for call to runtime.sendNativeMessage(). The browser will terminate the native application after getting a reply. To terminate a native application, the browser will close the pipe, give the process a few seconds to exit gracefully, and then kill it if it has not exited.

For more information, see Native messaging.

let sending = browser.runtime.sendNativeMessage(
  application,             // string
  message                  // object
)

function onResponse(response) {
  console.log(`Received ${response}`);
}

function onError(error) {
  console.log(`Error: ${error}`);
}

/*
On a click on the browser action, send the app a message.
*/
browser.browserAction.onClicked.addListener(() => {
  console.log("Sending:  ping");
  let sending = browser.runtime.sendNativeMessage("ping_pong", "ping");
  sending.then(onResponse, onError);
});