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Add-ons
  1. MDN
  2. Mozilla
  3. Add-ons
  4. Browser extensions
  5. JavaScript APIs
  6. tabs
  7. tabs.create()

tabs.create()

In This Article
  1. Syntax
    1. Parameters
    2. Return value
  2. Browser compatibility
  3. Examples
    1. Example extensions

Creates a new tab.

This is an asynchronous function that returns a Promise.

Syntax

var creating = browser.tabs.create(
  createProperties   // object
)

Parameters

createProperties
object. Properties to give the new tab. To learn more about these properties, see the tabs.Tab documentation.
activeOptional
boolean. Whether the tab should become the active tab in the window. Does not affect whether the window is focused (see windows.update). Defaults to true.
cookieStoreId Optional
string. Use this to create a tab whose cookie store ID is cookieStoreId. This option is only available if the extension has the "cookies" permission.
indexOptional
integer. The position the tab should take in the window. The provided value will be clamped to between zero and the number of tabs in the window.
openerTabIdOptional
integer. The ID of the tab that opened this tab. If specified, the opener tab must be in the same window as the newly created tab.
pinnedOptional
boolean. Whether the tab should be pinned. Defaults to false.
selectedOptional
boolean. Whether the tab should become the selected tab in the window. Defaults to true.
This property is deprecated, and is not supported in Firefox. Use active instead.
urlOptional
string. The URL to navigate the tab to initially. Defaults to the New Tab Page.
Fully-qualified URLs must include a scheme (i.e. 'http://www.google.com', not 'www.google.com').
For security reasons, in Firefox, this may not be a privileged URL. So passing any of the following URLs will fail:
  • chrome: URLs
  • javascript: URLs
  • data: URLs
  • file: URLs (i.e., files on the filesystem. However, to use a file packaged inside the extension, see below)
  • privileged about: URLs (for example, about:config, about:addons, about:debugging) . Non-privileged URLs (e.g., about:blank) are allowed.

To load a page that's packaged with your extension, specify an absolute URL starting at the extension's manifest.json file. For example: '/path/to/my-page.html'. If you omit the leading '/', the URL is treated as a relative URL, and different browsers may construct different absolute URLs.

windowIdOptional
integer. The window to create the new tab in. Defaults to the current window.

Return value

A Promise that will be fulfilled with a tabs.Tab object containing details about the created tab. If the tab could not be created (for example, because url used a privileged scheme) the promise will be rejected with an error message.

Browser compatibility

The compatibility table in this page is generated from structured data. If you'd like to contribute to the data, please check out https://github.com/mdn/browser-compat-data and send us a pull request.

ChromeEdgeFirefoxFirefox for AndroidOpera
Basic supportYesYes 14554Yes
pinnedYesNo45NoYes
cookieStoreIdNoNo52NoNo
selectedYesNoNoNoYes
openerTabId18NoNoNo15
1. If the `url` has the `ms-browser-extension://` protocol it is mistakenly considered a relative URL and the prefix is added redundantly, causing tab to fail loading.

Examples

Open "https://example.org" in a new tab:

function onCreated(tab) {
  console.log(`Created new tab: ${tab.id}`)
}
function onError(error) {
  console.log(`Error: ${error}`);
}
browser.browserAction.onClicked.addListener(function() {
  var creating = browser.tabs.create({
    url:"https://example.org"
  });
  creating.then(onCreated, onError);
});

Example extensions

  • contextual-identities
  • firefox-code-search
  • open-my-page-button
  • permissions
  • tabs-tabs-tabs

Acknowledgements

This API is based on Chromium's chrome.tabs API. This documentation is derived from tabs.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.

// Copyright 2015 The Chromium Authors. All rights reserved.
//
// Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
// modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are
// met:
//
//    * Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
// notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
//    * Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above
// copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer
// in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the
// distribution.
//    * Neither the name of Google Inc. nor the names of its
// contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived from
// this software without specific prior written permission.
//
// THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS
// "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT
// LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR
// A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT
// OWNER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL,
// SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT
// LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE,
// DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY
// THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT
// (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE
// OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

Document Tags and Contributors

Tags: 
  • Add-ons
  • API
  • Create
  • Extensions
  • Method
  • Non-standard
  • Reference
  • tabs
  • WebExtensions
 Contributors to this page: andrewtruongmoz, ericjung, wbamberg, Makyen, Jeremie, kmaglione
 Last updated by: andrewtruongmoz, Jul 14, 2017, 10:26:08 AM
See also
  1. Browser extensions
  2. Getting started
    1. What are extensions?
    2. Your first extension
    3. Your second extension
    4. Anatomy of an extension
    5. Example extensions
  3. How to
    1. Intercept HTTP requests
    2. Modify a web page
    3. Add a button to the toolbar
    4. Implement a settings page
  4. User interface
    1. Introduction
    2. Toolbar button
    3. Address bar button
    4. Sidebar
    5. Context menu items
    6. Options page
    7. Bundled web pages
    8. Notifications
    9. Address bar suggestions
    10. Developer tools panels
  5. Concepts
    1. Using the JavaScript APIs
    2. Content scripts
    3. Match patterns
    4. Internationalization
    5. Content Security Policy
    6. Native messaging
  6. Porting
    1. Porting a Google Chrome extension
    2. Porting a legacy Firefox extension
    3. Embedded WebExtensions
    4. Comparison with the Add-on SDK
    5. Comparison with XUL/XPCOM extensions
    6. Chrome incompatibilities
    7. Differences between desktop and Android
  7. Firefox workflow
    1. Temporary Installation in Firefox
    2. Debugging
    3. Developing for Firefox for Android
    4. Getting started with web-ext
    5. web-ext command reference
    6. Extensions and the Add-on ID
    7. Publishing your extension
  8. JavaScript APIs
    1. Browser support for JavaScript APIs
    2. alarms
    3. bookmarks
    4. browserAction
    5. browsingData
    6. commands
    7. contextMenus
    8. contextualIdentities
    9. cookies
    10. devtools.inspectedWindow
    11. devtools.network
    12. devtools.panels
    13. downloads
    14. events
    15. extension
    16. extensionTypes
    17. history
    18. i18n
    19. identity
    20. idle
    21. management
    22. notifications
    23. omnibox
    24. pageAction
    25. permissions
    26. privacy
    27. proxy
    28. runtime
    29. sessions
    30. sidebarAction
    31. storage
    32. tabs
      1. Methods
        1. captureVisibleTab()
        2. connect()
        3. create()
        4. detectLanguage()
        5. duplicate()
        6. executeScript()
        7. get()
        8. getAllInWindow()
        9. getCurrent()
        10. getSelected()
        11. getZoom()
        12. getZoomSettings()
        13. highlight()
        14. insertCSS()
        15. move()
        16. query()
        17. reload()
        18. remove()
        19. removeCSS()
        20. sendMessage()
        21. sendRequest()
        22. setZoom()
        23. setZoomSettings()
        24. update()
      2. Properties
        1. TAB_ID_NONE
      3. Types
        1. MutedInfo
        2. MutedInfoReason
        3. Tab
        4. TabStatus
        5. WindowType
        6. ZoomSettings
        7. ZoomSettingsMode
        8. ZoomSettingsScope
      4. Events
        1. onActivated
        2. onActiveChanged
        3. onAttached
        4. onCreated
        5. onDetached
        6. onHighlightChanged
        7. onHighlighted
        8. onMoved
        9. onRemoved
        10. onReplaced
        11. onSelectionChanged
        12. onUpdated
        13. onZoomChange
    33. topSites
    34. types
    35. webNavigation
    36. webRequest
    37. windows
  9. Manifest keys
    1. applications
    2. author
    3. background
    4. browser_action
    5. chrome_settings_overrides
    6. chrome_url_overrides
    7. commands
    8. content_scripts
    9. content_security_policy
    10. default_locale
    11. description
    12. developer
    13. devtools_page
    14. homepage_url
    15. icons
    16. incognito
    17. manifest_version
    18. name
    19. omnibox
    20. optional_permissions
    21. options_ui
    22. page_action
    23. permissions
    24. protocol_handlers
    25. short_name
    26. sidebar_action
    27. version
    28. web_accessible_resources
  10. Themes
  11. Publishing add-ons
  12. Guides
    1. Signing and distribution overview
    2. Submit an add-on
    3. Creating an appealing listing
    4. Review policies
    5. Developer agreement
    6. Featured add-ons
    7. Contact addons.mozilla.org
  13. Community and support
  14. Channels
    1. Add-ons blog
    2. Add-on forums
    3. Stack Overflow
    4. Development newsgroup
    5. IRC Channel
  15. Legacy add-ons
  16. Legacy technologies
    1. Add-on SDK
    2. Legacy Firefox for Android
    3. Bootstrapped extensions
    4. Overlay extensions