'Can Node.js invoke Chrome?
Is it possible for Node.js running on a desktop to spawn a Chrome Browser window? I would like to start a Chrome Browser providing the window size and location when Node.js receives an event.
Is sys shell commands only methodology?
Solution 1:[1]
On MacOSX
var childProc = require('child_process');
childProc.exec('open -a "Google Chrome" http://your_url', callback);
//Or could be: childProc.exec('open -a firefox http://your_url', callback);
A bit more:
- Use "open -a" with the name of your app from /Applications and append your args
- callback function is called with the output after completion
- Link to API: https://nodejs.org/api/child_process.html#child_process_child_process_exec_command_options_callback
Solution 2:[2]
Checkout https://www.npmjs.com/package/chrome-launcher:
Launch chrome:
const chromeLauncher = require('chrome-launcher');
chromeLauncher.launch({
startingUrl: 'https://google.com'
}).then(chrome => {
console.log(`Chrome debugging port running on ${chrome.port}`);
});
Launching headless chrome:
const chromeLauncher = require('chrome-launcher');
chromeLauncher.launch({
startingUrl: 'https://google.com',
chromeFlags: ['--headless', '--disable-gpu']
}).then(chrome => {
console.log(`Chrome debugging port running on ${chrome.port}`);
});
chrome-launcher opens a remote debugging port so you can also control browser instance using the DevTools protocol.
Puppeteer is another way to launch Chrome and interact with it using high level APIs.
Solution 3:[3]
With opn:
const opn = require('opn');
opn('http://siteurl.com/', {app: ['google chrome']});
Solution 4:[4]
I open a new firefox tab on windows here: https://github.com/Sequoia/FTWin/blob/master/FTWin.n.js
The most salient portion:
var cp = require('child_process'),
url_to_open = 'http://duckduckgo.com/';
cp.spawn('c:\\Program Files (x86)\\Mozilla Firefox\\firefox.exe', ['-new-tab', url_to_open]);
Note:
- Passing the full path of firefox to child_process.spawn
- Escaping of slashes
- Passing switches/arguments to firefox.exe: passed as the second parameter of cp.spawn as an array (one entry per switch).
This call is the equivalent of typing "c:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" -new-tab http://duckduckgo.com at the windows command line.
For chrome you'd want something like D:\Users\sequoia\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe --new-tab http://duckduckgo.com/ I'll let you work out the child_process version on your own ;)
References:
Solution 5:[5]
Yeah, I would think you would need to escape out to shell and then open up chrome.
Solution 6:[6]
Node can only do that if you call a UNIX / Windows command, so sys shell command only.
Solution 7:[7]
This can be done using open npm package.
app.listen(PORT, (err) => {
if (err) console.log(err);
else open(`http://localhost:${PORT}`, { app: "google chrome" });
});
We can specify any browser in second parameter with open function.
Solution 8:[8]
This answer does not help if you need chrome stored info or chrome per se.
https://github.com/puppeteer/puppeteer https://www.npmjs.com/package/puppeteer
For any case that you don't explicitly need previous local stored info, I suggest using a puppeteer instance. It comprehends all browser resources such as storages, etc
Sources
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