Editor for Chrome and Firefox – WebExtensions

Open an external editor to edit text inputs.

Dependencies

• jq

Extensions

• Shell

Installation

Chrome

make chrome

Open the Extensions page by navigating to chrome://extensions, enable Developer mode then Load unpacked to select the extension directory: target/chrome.

Firefox

make firefox

• Open about:config, change xpinstall.signatures.required to false.
• Open about:addons ❯ Extensions, click Install add-on from file and select the package file: target/firefox/package.zip.

Configuration

Chrome

Open chrome://extensions/configureCommands to configure the keyboard shortcuts.

Firefox

Open about:addons ❯ Extensions and click Manage extension shortcuts in the menu.

Usage

Press Control + i to edit the last used text input with your favorite editor.

Commands

edit

Edit the last used text input with your favorite editor. Default: Control + i.

Options

editor

Sets the editor to be used.

Parameters:

• file
• anchor_line
• anchor_column
• cursor_line
• cursor_column

Default: xterm -e "$EDITOR" "${file}".

Example – Open Kakoune in Alacritty:

alacritty --class 'popup' --command \
  kak "${file}" -e "
    select ${anchor_line}.${anchor_column},${cursor_line}.${cursor_column}
  "

Cross-extension messaging

// Environment variables
switch (true) {
  case (typeof browser !== 'undefined'):
    var PLATFORM = 'firefox'
    var EDITOR_EXTENSION_ID = 'editor@alexherbo2.github.com'
    break
  case (typeof chrome !== 'undefined'):
    var PLATFORM = 'chrome'
    var EDITOR_EXTENSION_ID = 'oaagifcpibmdpajhjfcdjliekffjcnnk'
    break
}

// Initialization
const editor = {}
editor.port = chrome.runtime.connect(EDITOR_EXTENSION_ID)
editor.send = (command, ...arguments) => {
  editor.port.postMessage({ command, arguments })
}

// Usage
editor.send('edit')

You can find some examples in Krabby.

See the source for a complete reference.