webNavigation

Add event listeners for the various stages of a navigation. A navigation consists of a frame in the browser transitioning from one URL to another, usually (but not always) in response to a user action like clicking a link or entering a URL in the location bar.

Compared with the webRequest API: navigations usually result in the browser making web requests, but the webRequest API is concerned with the lower-level view from the HTTP layer, while the webNavigation API is more concerned with the view from the browser UI itself.

Each event corresponds to a particular stage in the navigation. The sequence of events is like this:

Each navigation is a URL transition in a particular browser frame. The browser frame is identified by a tab ID and a frame ID. The frame may be the top-level browsing context in the tab, or may be a nested browsing context implemented as an iframe.

Each event's addListener() call accepts an optional filter parameter. The filter will specify one or more URL patterns, and the event will then only be fired for navigations in which the target URL matches one of the patterns.

The onCommitted event listener is passed two additional properties: a TransitionType indicating the cause of the navigation (for example, because the user clicked a link, or because the user selected a bookmark), and a TransitionQualifier providing further information about the navigation.

To use this API you need to have the "webNavigation" permission.

Types

webNavigation.TransitionType
Cause of the navigation: for example, the user clicked a link, or typed an address, or clicked a bookmark.
webNavigation.TransitionQualifier
Extra information about a transition.

Functions

webNavigation.getFrame()
Retrieves information about a particular frame. A frame may be the top-level frame in a tab or a nested iframe, and is uniquely identified by a tab ID and a frame ID.
webNavigation.getAllFrames()

Given a tab ID, retrieves information about all the frames it contains.

Events

webNavigation.onBeforeNavigate

Fired when the browser is about to start a navigation event.

webNavigation.onCommitted
Fired when a navigation is committed. At least part of the new document has been received from the server and the browser has decided to switch to the new document.
webNavigation.onDOMContentLoaded
Fired when the DOMContentLoaded event is fired in the page.
webNavigation.onCompleted
Fired when a document, including the resources it refers to, is completely loaded and initialized. This is equivalent to the DOM load event.
webNavigation.onErrorOccurred
Fired when an error occurs and the navigation is aborted. This can happen if either a network error occurred, or the user aborted the navigation.
webNavigation.onCreatedNavigationTarget
Fired when a new window, or a new tab in an existing window, is created to host a navigation: for example, if the user opens a link in a new tab.
webNavigation.onReferenceFragmentUpdated
Fired if the fragment identifier for a page is changed.
webNavigation.onTabReplaced

Fired when the contents of the tab is replaced by a different (usually previously pre-rendered) tab.

webNavigation.onHistoryStateUpdated
Fired when the page used the history API to update the URL displayed in the browser's location bar.

Browser compatibility

Desktop Mobile
Chrome Edge Firefox Internet Explorer Opera Safari WebView Android Chrome Android Firefox for Android Opera Android Safari on IOS Samsung Internet
TransitionQualifier
Yes
79
48
'server_redirect' is limited to top-level frames and 'client_redirect' is not supplied when redirections are created by JavaScript.
?
17
No
?
?
48
'server_redirect' is limited to top-level frames and 'client_redirect' is not supplied when redirections are created by JavaScript.
?
?
?
TransitionType
Yes
79
48
?
17
No
?
?
48
?
?
?
getAllFrames
Yes
14
47
The returned objects do not include the errorOccurred property. See bug 1248418.
?
17
14
?
?
48
The returned objects do not include the errorOccurred property. See bug 1248418.
?
?
?
getFrame
Yes
14
47
?
17
14
?
?
48
?
?
?
onBeforeNavigate
Yes
If the filter parameter is empty, Chrome matches all URLs.
14
Filtering is not supported.
45
["Filtering is supported from version 50.", "If the filter parameter is empty, Firefox raises an exception."]
?
17
If the filter parameter is empty, Opera matches all URLs.
14
If the filter parameter is empty, Safari matches all URLs.
?
?
48
["Filtering is supported from version 50.", "If the filter parameter is empty, Firefox raises an exception."]
?
?
?
onCommitted
Yes
If the filter parameter is empty, Chrome matches all URLs.
14
Filtering is not supported.
45
["Filtering is supported from version 50.", "If the filter parameter is empty, Firefox raises an exception."]
?
17
If the filter parameter is empty, Opera matches all URLs.
14
If the filter parameter is empty, Safari matches all URLs.
?
?
48
["Filtering is supported from version 50.", "If the filter parameter is empty, Firefox raises an exception."]
?
?
?
onCompleted
Yes
If the filter parameter is empty, Chrome matches all URLs.
14
Filtering is not supported.
45
["Filtering is supported from version 50.", "If the filter parameter is empty, Firefox raises an exception."]
?
17
If the filter parameter is empty, Opera matches all URLs.
14
If the filter parameter is empty, Safari matches all URLs.
?
?
48
["Filtering is supported from version 50.", "If the filter parameter is empty, Firefox raises an exception."]
?
?
?
onCreatedNavigationTarget
Yes
If a blocked popup is unblocked by the user, the event is still not sent.
14
54
["If the filter parameter is empty, Firefox raises an exception.", "If a blocked popup is unblocked by the user, the event is then sent."]
?
17
If a blocked popup is unblocked by the user, the event is still not sent.
No
?
?
54
["If the filter parameter is empty, Firefox raises an exception.", "If a blocked popup is unblocked by the user, the event is then sent.", "This event is only sent in the 'window.open()' case."]
?
?
?
onDOMContentLoaded
Yes
If the filter parameter is empty, Chrome matches all URLs.
14
Filtering is not supported.
45
["Filtering is supported from version 50.", "If the filter parameter is empty, Firefox raises an exception."]
?
17
If the filter parameter is empty, Opera matches all URLs.
14
If the filter parameter is empty, Safari matches all URLs.
?
?
48
["Filtering is supported from version 50.", "If the filter parameter is empty, Firefox raises an exception."]
?
?
?
onErrorOccurred
Yes
If the filter parameter is empty, Chrome matches all URLs.
14
Filtering is not supported
45
["Filtering is supported from version 50.", "If the filter parameter is empty, Firefox raises an exception."]
?
17
If the filter parameter is empty, Opera matches all URLs.
14
If the filter parameter is empty, Safari matches all URLs.
?
?
48
["Filtering is supported from version 50.", "If the filter parameter is empty, Firefox raises an exception."]
?
?
?
onHistoryStateUpdated
Yes
14
Filtering is not supported.
47
?
17
No
?
?
48
?
?
?
onReferenceFragmentUpdated
Yes
If the filter parameter is empty, Chrome matches all URLs.
14
Filtering is not supported.
45
["Filtering is supported from version 50.", "If the filter parameter is empty, Firefox raises an exception."]
?
17
If the filter parameter is empty, Opera matches all URLs.
No
?
?
48
["Filtering is supported from version 50.", "If the filter parameter is empty, Firefox raises an exception."]
?
?
?
onTabReplaced
Yes
14
45
Although you can add listeners for this event, it will never fire because the underlying functionality is not supported.
?
17
No
?
?
48
Although you can add listeners for this event, it will never fire because the underlying functionality is not supported.
?
?
?

Example extensions

Note: This API is based on Chromium's chrome.webNavigation API. This documentation is derived from web_navigation.json in the Chromium code.

Microsoft Edge compatibility data is supplied by Microsoft Corporation and is included here under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License.

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Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License v2.5 or later.
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/Add-ons/WebExtensions/API/webNavigation