Mastering Chrome Tabs API: A Practical Guide for Extension Development

If you’re developing Chrome extensions—whether using Plasmo or native MV3 architecture—working with browser tabs is a fundamental requirement. Here’s a practical guide to the most useful tab manipulation techniques I’ve found in real-world development.

1. Chrome Tabs API Fundamentals

The built-in chrome.tabs API offers powerful functionality for tab management. Here are the most commonly used methods:

Get Current Active Tab

chrome.tabs.query({ active: true, currentWindow: true }, (tabs) => {
  const tab = tabs[0]
  console.log("Current tab:", tab)
})

Create New Tab

chrome.tabs.create({ url: "https://example.com" })

Update Tab URL

chrome.tabs.update(tabId, { url: "https://google.com" })

Inject Script into Tab

chrome.scripting.executeScript({
  target: { tabId: tab.id! },
  files: ["content.js"]
})

Send Message to Content Script

chrome.tabs.sendMessage(tab.id!, { type: "PING" }, (response) => {
  console.log(response)
})

2. Using Tabs in Plasmo Framework

Plasmo builds on top of Chrome’s MV3 API, so you can directly call chrome.tabs from either background.ts or popup.tsx.

Popup Example

// src/pages/popup.tsx
import React from "react"
 
function Popup() {
  const openTab = () => {
    chrome.tabs.create({ url: "https://example.com" })
  }
 
  return (
    <div className="p-4">
      <button
        onClick={openTab}
        className="bg-blue-500 text-white px-4 py-2 rounded"
      >
        Open New Tab
      </button>
    </div>
  )
}
 
export default Popup

3. Practical Use Cases

Open New Page on Button Click

Use chrome.tabs.create method:

chrome.tabs.create({ url: "https://example.com" })

Scheduled Page Refresh

chrome.tabs.update(tabId, { url: "https://example.com" })

Content Script DOM Manipulation

Content scripts can listen for messages and manipulate DOM:

// content.tsx
chrome.runtime.onMessage.addListener((msg, sender, sendResponse) => {
  if (msg.type === "GET_DOM") {
    const data = document.title
    sendResponse({ title: data })
  }
})

Batch Tab Operations

Use chrome.tabs.query to iterate through all tabs:

// Get all tabs
chrome.tabs.query({}, (tabs) => {
  tabs.forEach(tab => {
    // Process each tab
  })
})

4. Next.js + Plasmo Integration Best Practices

When using Next.js 15 for your extension’s UI (like a dashboard panel), keep these architecture principles in mind:

• Tab operations should be handled by background.ts or popup.tsx calling chrome.tabs
• Next.js pages should focus on presentation and avoid direct browser API calls
• Permission separation: Next.js runs in isolated extension pages without background privileges

Recommended Architecture

UI (Next.js) → Send Message → Background/Popup → Call chrome.tabs → Execute Tab Operation

Implementation Approach

1. Next.js Layer: Handles UI and user interactions, sends messages when tab operations needed
2. Background/Popup Layer: Receives messages and executes actual chrome.tabs operations
3. Content Scripts: Perform DOM manipulation and data extraction within tabs

Key Takeaways

The chrome.tabs API is incredibly useful for extension development, whether you’re working with Plasmo or native approaches. These interfaces enable you to:

• Create, navigate, and manage browser tabs efficiently
• Establish communication and data transfer between different pages
• Build sophisticated multi-tab interaction features
• Maintain extension security and best practices

Remember the core principle: separate concerns between presentation and operation. Let Next.js handle the UI while background scripts manage the actual browser interactions—this approach leads to secure, maintainable, and efficient Chrome extensions.