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https://github.com/GoogleChrome/chrome-launcher

Launch Google Chrome with ease from node.
https://github.com/GoogleChrome/chrome-launcher

Last synced: 4 months ago
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Launch Google Chrome with ease from node.

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# Chrome Launcher [![GitHub Actions Status Badge](https://github.com/GoogleChrome/chrome-launcher/workflows/🛠/badge.svg)](https://github.com/GoogleChrome/chrome-launcher/actions) [![NPM chrome-launcher package](https://img.shields.io/npm/v/chrome-launcher.svg)](https://npmjs.org/package/chrome-launcher)






Launch Google Chrome with ease from node.



* [Disables many Chrome services](https://github.com/GoogleChrome/chrome-launcher/blob/main/src/flags.ts) that add noise to automated scenarios

* Opens up the browser's `remote-debugging-port` on an available port

* Automagically locates a Chrome binary to launch

* Uses a fresh Chrome profile for each launch, and cleans itself up on `kill()`

* Binds `Ctrl-C` (by default) to terminate the Chrome process

* Exposes a small set of [options](#api) for configurability over these details



Once launched, interacting with the browser must be done over the [devtools protocol](https://chromedevtools.github.io/devtools-protocol/), typically via [chrome-remote-interface](https://github.com/cyrus-and/chrome-remote-interface/). For many cases [Puppeteer](https://github.com/GoogleChrome/puppeteer) is recommended, though it has its own chrome launching mechanism.



### Installing



```sh

yarn add chrome-launcher



# or with npm:

npm install chrome-launcher

```



## API



### `.launch([opts])`



#### Launch options



```js

{

  // (optional) remote debugging port number to use. If provided port is already busy, launch() will reject

  // Default: an available port is autoselected

  port: number;



  // (optional) When `port` is specified *and* no Chrome is found at that port,

  // * if `false` (default), chrome-launcher will launch a new Chrome with that port.

  // * if `true`, throw an error

  // This option is useful when you wish to explicitly connect to a running Chrome, such as on a mobile device via adb

  // Default: false

  portStrictMode: boolean;



  // (optional) Additional flags to pass to Chrome, for example: ['--headless', '--disable-gpu']

  // See: https://github.com/GoogleChrome/chrome-launcher/blob/main/docs/chrome-flags-for-tools.md

  // Do note, many flags are set by default: https://github.com/GoogleChrome/chrome-launcher/blob/main/src/flags.ts

  chromeFlags: Array;



  // (optional) Additional preferences to be set in Chrome, for example: {'download.default_directory': __dirname}

  // See: https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromium/src/+/main/chrome/common/pref_names.cc

  // Do note, if you set preferences when using your default profile it will overwrite these

  prefs: {[key: string]: Object};



  // (optional) Close the Chrome process on `Ctrl-C`

  // Default: true

  handleSIGINT: boolean;



  // (optional) Explicit path of intended Chrome binary

  // * If this `chromePath` option is defined, it will be used.

  // * Otherwise, the `CHROME_PATH` env variable will be used if set. (`LIGHTHOUSE_CHROMIUM_PATH` is deprecated)

  // * Otherwise, a detected Chrome Canary will be used if found

  // * Otherwise, a detected Chrome (stable) will be used

  chromePath: string;



  // (optional) Chrome profile path to use, if set to `false` then the default profile will be used.

  // By default, a fresh Chrome profile will be created

  userDataDir: string | boolean;



  // (optional) Starting URL to open the browser with

  // Default: `about:blank`

  startingUrl: string;



  // (optional) Logging level

  // Default: 'silent'

  logLevel: 'verbose'|'info'|'error'|'silent';



  // (optional) Flags specific in [flags.ts](src/flags.ts) will not be included.

  // Typically used with the defaultFlags() method and chromeFlags option.

  // Default: false

  ignoreDefaultFlags: boolean;



  // (optional) Interval in ms, which defines how often launcher checks browser port to be ready.

  // Default: 500

  connectionPollInterval: number;



  // (optional) A number of retries, before browser launch considered unsuccessful.

  // Default: 50

  maxConnectionRetries: number;



  // (optional) A dict of environmental key value pairs to pass to the spawned chrome process.

  envVars: {[key: string]: string};

};

```



#### Launched chrome interface



#### `.launch().then(chrome => ...`



```js

// The remote debugging port exposed by the launched chrome

chrome.port: number;



// Method to kill Chrome (and cleanup the profile folder)

chrome.kill: () => Promise;



// The process id

chrome.pid: number;



// The childProcess object for the launched Chrome

chrome.process: childProcess

```



### `ChromeLauncher.Launcher.defaultFlags()`



Returns an `Array` of the default [flags](docs/chrome-flags-for-tools.md) Chrome is launched with. Typically used along with the `ignoreDefaultFlags` and `chromeFlags` options.



Note: This array will exclude the following flags: `--remote-debugging-port` `--disable-setuid-sandbox` `--user-data-dir`.



### `ChromeLauncher.Launcher.getInstallations()`



Returns an `Array` of paths to available Chrome installations. When `chromePath` is not provided to `.launch()`, the first installation returned from this method is used instead.



Note: This method performs synchronous I/O operations.



### `.killAll()`



Attempts to kill all Chrome instances created with [`.launch([opts])`](#launchopts). Returns a Promise that resolves to an array of errors that occurred while killing instances. If all instances were killed successfully, the array will be empty.



```js

import * as ChromeLauncher from 'chrome-launcher';



async function cleanup() {

  await ChromeLauncher.killAll();

}

```



## Examples



#### Launching chrome:



```js

import * as ChromeLauncher from 'chrome-launcher';



ChromeLauncher.launch({

  startingUrl: 'https://google.com'

}).then(chrome => {

  console.log(`Chrome debugging port running on ${chrome.port}`);

});

```



#### Launching headless chrome:



```js

import * as ChromeLauncher from 'chrome-launcher';



ChromeLauncher.launch({

  startingUrl: 'https://google.com',

  chromeFlags: ['--headless', '--disable-gpu']

}).then(chrome => {

  console.log(`Chrome debugging port running on ${chrome.port}`);

});

```



#### Launching with support for extensions and audio:



```js

import * as ChromeLauncher from 'chrome-launcher';



const newFlags = ChromeLauncher.Launcher.defaultFlags().filter(flag => flag !== '--disable-extensions' && flag !== '--mute-audio');



ChromeLauncher.launch({

  ignoreDefaultFlags: true,

  chromeFlags: newFlags,

}).then(chrome => { ... });

```



### Continuous Integration



In a CI environment like Travis, Chrome may not be installed. If you want to use `chrome-launcher`, Travis can [install Chrome at run time with an addon](https://docs.travis-ci.com/user/chrome).  Alternatively, you can also install Chrome using the [`download-chrome.sh`](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/GoogleChrome/chrome-launcher/v0.8.0/scripts/download-chrome.sh) script.



Then in `.travis.yml`, use it like so:



```yaml

language: node_js

install:

  - yarn install

before_script:

  - export DISPLAY=:99.0

  - export CHROME_PATH="$(pwd)/chrome-linux/chrome"

  - sh -e /etc/init.d/xvfb start

  - sleep 3 # wait for xvfb to boot



addons:

  chrome: stable

```