If the extension uses manifest v3 and a background script in the form of a service worker, then in Safari it is not possible to open the background script debugging window. If I expand the Developer menu in Safari, there is nothing under Web Extension Background Data (or disappear after click), which is an error. In other browsers (Edge, Chrome, Opera, Firefox) this works correctly. If I switch the background script back to non-persistent script mode, everything works fine and from the Developer menu and the Web Extension Background Data submenu I am able to open the background script debugging window for the extension. Am I doing something wrong?

To provide users the ability for a keyboard shortcut to open extensions, you can define this in manifest: "commands": { "_execute_browser_action": { "description": "Open extension popup" } }, This doesn't set a keyboard shortcut yet allows the user to assign one. However, in iOS safari, when two extensions offer this functionality, the browser warns about it. See screenshot:

I have an app which has at least two extensions: A Content Blocker extension with a request handler that returns an appropriate NSExtensionItem as part of beginRequest. A different file URL is returned depending upon if the content blocking is on or off by a user setting A Safari Web Extension that includes a toolbar button and popover that enables users to enable or disable the ad blocking of the content blocker extension All three targets (App, Content Blocker appex and Web Extension appex) use an App Group default to read and set the on or off status of the content blocking. When the user changes the content blocking status, the app group default is updated and SFContentBlockerManager.reloadContentBlocker(...) is called. The Content Blocker extension reads the default and then returns the appropriate file URL. The issue is, I have noticed that whenever SFContentBlockerManager.reloadContentBlocker(...) is called from the app, Safari always applies the correct rules from the returned file URL. However sometimes when SFContentBlockerManager.reloadContentBlocker(...) is called from the Safari Web Extension using native messaging, Safari does NOT apply the correct rules from the returned file URL. Using logging I have confirmed that the Content Blocker extension always returns the appropriate file URL irrespective if called as a result of the app or the web extension. Despite this, Safari does not seem to always apply the returned file URL rules when it is called from the Safari Web Extension appex. In these cases, quitting Safari and relaunching it seems to make it apply the rules correctly (obviously this is applying it due to its launch state, not due to the Web extension appex asking it to do so at that point). All targets have access to the App Group location where the active content blocking file URL belongs and the inactive content blocking file URL is within the Safari content blocker target as a resource. I don't think this is a memory status issue as I cannot see the Content Blocker extension being killed when it returns complex rules --- the fact it always works when called via the app also seems to rule this possibility out. This brings up a number of questions: Is calling SFContentBlockerManager.reloadContentBlocker(...) from a different appex, of the same app target and app group supported? (it seems to work sometimes and did work in previous versions of the app). Is there an issue that the Content Blocker extension sometimes returns a file URL that perhaps the calling Web Extension appex may not have access to (even though Safari should via the Content Blocker extension)? Any other ideas of why this may not be working correctly? Has anyone else experienced this? It seems to happen on both iOS and macOS Safari using the same codebase.

There does not appear to be any way to use or create iCloud passkeys with a Safari Web Extension, either using the navigator.credentials API in an extension origin webpage such as the popover, or using the AuthenticationServices framework in the SafariWebExtensionHandler. I've setup an associated domain for my plugin, and I know it works for the host application. But I get errors trying to do so in the web extension target. createCredentialRegistrationRequests results in the following error: Domain=com.apple.AuthenticationServices.AuthorizationError Code=1004 "Application with identifier <ID> is not associated with domain <RPID> The other problem, assuming the entitlement works correctly for the web extension, is that there is no NSWindow to use as the presentation target from the SafariWebExtensionHandler. Trying to use the navigator.credentials.create JS API (which is the preferred method, frankly, in a web extension) results in the following error: NotAllowedError: The request is not allowed by the user agent or the platform in the current context, possibly because the user denied permission. Chrome has a great solution for this that I believe should be adopted by Safari. If an extension has host permissions for a relying party it wants to claim, or if it has an associated domain entitlement for it, webauthn operations should be allowed.

I would like to script my Mac to close a specific iCloud Tab of my choice that is open on my iPhone. This is for Accessibility reasons. Ideally, I’d prefer to do this without using GUI scripting. AppleScript methods only seem to see tabs in Windows Extensions also do not seem to have visibility of the other types of tabs I've tried many options so far, but all seem to not work and are also far too brittle even if they did. I have a feeling I'm missing something! 1. Toolbar Dropdown In Desktop Safari you can enable a toolbar button “iCloud Tabs” which when clicked shows a list of the tabs currently open on your other devices. If you hover one, an X appears which can be clicked to close the tab. When you next use Safari on the remote device that tab will be closed. If it’s already open and awake then the removal happens around one second later. It’s quick. (But I did try GUI scripting and I can get to the row in the outline in the popup, but I can’t get the cross to appear to click it) 2. Start Page they’re also listed on favorites:// “start page” but there are issues viewing all and no way to search them. There used to be a search field until Safari ~15. 3. Omnibar They’re also shown in omni/address bar, but getting the correct item to appear at all or in a predictable position is fragile. 4. Sidebar Another alternative to the favorites/"start page" layout. Same issues. 5. Modifying Safari Database directly Changes are not mirrored to the cloud. It seems Safari does a cloudd request that I can't do.

Hello Apple Developer Community, I currently have a Safari Web Extension on iOS that blocks certain URLs for users. I would like to provide the same functionality for Chrome on iOS. I understand that Chrome on iOS uses WebKit under the hood, and Safari Web Extensions can run in Safari, but I am unsure whether there is any way to implement URL blocking in Chrome for iOS—either via an extension, API, or other supported mechanism. Specifically, I’m looking for guidance on: Whether any browser extension (Safari, Chrome, or otherwise) can intercept or block web requests in Chrome on iOS. If not, what Apple-supported alternatives exist for implementing URL-blocking functionality for users of Chrome on iOS. Any best practices for maintaining a cross-browser URL-blocking solution for iOS users. I want to make sure my approach is aligned with Apple’s policies and platform capabilities. Any guidance or official references would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Hi, after upgrading MacOS (MB Air M1 Version 26.2 (25C56)) & Safari (Version 26.2 (21623.1.14.11.9)) to latest versions, we are experiencing a new bug occurring with our web extension (Click & Read) on local storage writing and getting this error : Invalid call to browser.storage.local.set(). Disk I/O error. This doesn't happen on other browsers (chromium, Firefox). export const setLocalStorage = async (value: object) => { try { await browser.storage.local.set(value); } catch (error) { console.error("[Click & Read] Error setting local storage", error); } };

I’m a developer working on a Safari Web Extension that’s distributed via the App Store and also tested locally through Xcode. I’m running into an issue that’s affecting my ability to debug errors reported to my Sentry error logging instance from production. The Problem When an error is thrown in one of my extension scripts (e.g., background.js, popup.js, or content.js), the error is sent to Sentry but the captured JavaScript error stack trace replaces the file paths with the webkit-masked-url://hidden placeholder like this: ReferenceError: Cannot access uninitialized variable. at ? (webkit-masked-url://hidden/:14677:28) at ? (webkit-masked-url://hidden/:16307:3) This happens consistently across both App Store builds and local Xcode runs. It prevents me from seeing which script the error came from or resolving the actual source code lines using uploaded source maps in Sentry. My Setup Safari Version: 18.5 (Stable on macOS) Distribution: App Store and local Xcode development Extension Type: Safari Web Extension Error Reporting: Sentry (@sentry/browser SDK) Bundler: Webpack with inline-source-map What I’ve Confirmed I can see the actual source files in Safari’s Web Inspector under the Sources tab when the extension is running. My source maps are uploaded to Sentry correctly and are associated with the matching release. Errors from Safari are being captured by Sentry, but the file URLs are masked, so stack traces cannot be resolved against my original source. My Question Is this behavior (masking file URLs in stack traces with webkit-masked-url://hidden/) intentional for Safari Web Extensions? If so, is there any supported method or workaround to allow exception stack traces to reveal the original script path (e.g., popup.js, background.js) so tools like Sentry or even console logs can point to real locations? I fully understand the privacy/security rationale behind the masking, but as the extension developer, this is making it extremely difficult to debug runtime issues in production. I’d really appreciate any insight into: Whether this masking is expected and permanent behavior If there are any entitlements, debug settings, or Info.plist keys that can alter this behavior for development or for trusted/own extensions If Apple recommends a different way to log extension errors that includes script name or source references Thanks in advance for your help! I’m happy to share more technical details or try out suggestions.

I develop a tab manager extension: https://apps.apple.com/ua/app/tab-finder-for-safari/id6741719894 It's written purely in Swift. All Safari interactions are done solely inside a SFSafariExtensionHandler . But now i'm considering adding some features from Google Chrome's Extension API like window switching. Is it possible to add a background.js worker to my existing Safari App Extension to have access to the beginRequest method override inside SFSafariExtensionHandler? Without converting my extension from Safari App Extension to Safari Web Extenion?

I want to migrate from a Safari App Extension to a Safari Web Extension, but don't know how to get rid of the message, telling users that my extension can access their passwords. Here is a message which I see: I was thinking that this might be because all Safari Web Extension get this type of access, but I have a Safari Web Extension which does not require such level of access: Here is the manifest: { "manifest_version": 2, "default_locale": "en", "name": "__MSG_extension_name__", "description": "__MSG_extension_description__", "version": "1.1", "icons": { "48": "images/icon-48.png" }, "background": { "scripts": [ "background.js" ], "persistent": true }, "browser_action": { "default_popup": "popup.html", "default_icon": { "16": "images/toolbar-icon-16.png" } }, "permissions": [ "nativeMessaging", "tabs" ] } and here is the Info.plist file: Here is the entire code of the extension: https://github.com/kopyl/web-extension-simplified

It seems Safari 18's fetch() does not include credentials even credentials: include and safari extension has host_permissions for that domain. Is there anyone has this problem? I try to request in popup.js like this: const response = await fetch( url, { method: 'GET', mode: 'cors', credentials: 'include', referrerPolicy: 'no-referrer', } ); and it does not include the cookie from host_permissions. Those code worked in Safari 17 (macOS Sonoma).

I'm building a macOS extension that needs to track multi-step navigation chains (A → B → C) to adjust behavior based on where users came from. Current approach: Using webNavigation.onBeforeNavigate to detect intermediate steps, but experiencing issues in Safari that don't occur on Chrome/Firefox/Edge. Questions: Is webNavigation the right API for tracking redirect chains in Safari? Does ITP/Private Browsing affect event delivery? Any alternative approaches recommended? (Safari version 26.0.1) Any guidance appreciated!

I am trying to run JavaScript only after the page has loaded, and according to here - https://developer.apple.com/documentation/safariservices/safari_app_extensions/injecting_a_script_into_a_webpage, I should use DOMContentLoaded. However, it does not seem to work. This is my content.js file: function runOnStart() {     document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', function(e) {         document.body.style.background = "rgb(20, 20, 20)";         document.html.style.background = "rgb(20, 20, 20)";                var divElements = document.body.getElementsByTagName('div');         for(var i = 0; i < divElements.length; i++) {             let elem = divElements[i];             elem.style.background = "rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.05)";         }     }); } runOnStart(); If I take the code outside of the event listener, it runs fine, but a lot of the elements haven't loaded in yet so it doesn't work as it should. The function is definitely running, but the event listener simply doesn't work. I appreciate any help you can give!

I'm trying to sync authentication data from my iOS app to a Safari Web Extension using App Groups, but the extension isn't consistently receiving the data. Setup: App Group: group.com.airaai.AiraApp (configured in both app and extension) iOS app writes auth data using UserDefaults(suiteName: "group.com.airaai.AiraApp") Extension's Swift SafariWebExtensionHandler reads from App Groups in beginRequest() Extension's JavaScript reads from browser.storage.local Problem: Extension popup always shows "logged out" even when: User is logged into main iOS app Auth data exists in App Groups (verified via native module logs) Handler successfully writes test values to extension storage Current Behavior: Handler CAN read from App Groups ✅ Handler CAN write test values to extension storage ✅ But auth data doesn't appear in browser.storage.local when popup checks ❌ Popup reads empty keys even though handler logged writing them Code: // Handler reads from App Groups guard let sharedDefaults = UserDefaults(suiteName: "groupName") else { return } let authData = sharedDefaults.string(forKey: "auth_data") // Handler writes to extension storage (tried multiple suite names) let extensionDefaults = UserDefaults(suiteName: Bundle.main.bundleIdentifier ?? "") extensionDefaults?.set(authData, forKey: "oauth_token") extensionDefaults?.synchronize() // Popup reads from storage browser.storage.local.get(['oauth_token']).then(data => { console.log(data); // Always empty {} }); What I've tried: ✅ App Groups properly configured in both targets ✅ Extension has App Groups capability enabled ✅ Multiple UserDefaults suite names (bundle ID, bundle ID + suffix) ✅ Delayed sync attempts in handler ✅ Comprehensive logging Questions: What is the correct UserDefaults suite name for Safari extension storage on iOS? When does beginRequest() get called? Can it be triggered manually? Is App Groups the right approach, or should I use a different pattern? Alternatives I've considered: Deep link/redirect method (app opens Safari with token in URL) Content script intercepts URL and sends to background script Is this a supported approach for iOS Safari extensions? Any guidance or examples would be greatly appreciated!

I’m developing a Safari App Extension and I want to debug the background.js script. However, I can’t find any tool or option to do this. When I run the extension from Xcode using the ProjectName Extension (macOS) scheme, I expect to see a “ProjectName” item under the Develop → Web Extension Background Content menu. But there’s nothing there. Has anyone encountered the same issue? How did you fix it? Environment: Manifest Version: V3 Safari: 26.0.1 (21622.1.22.11.15) Xcode: 26.0.1 (17A400)

Could somebody provide hello world example of Safari Extension which is able to call on-device Foundation Model (Apple Intelligence)? I cannot find any examples yet

I’m observing an intermittent issue with a Safari Web Extension on macOS 15.7 (Safari 26.0.1). After installing the Safari extension from the App Store, it appears under Settings → Extensions, but the enable checkbox is often missing. Sometimes, after restarting Safari multiple times, the checkbox becomes visible. However, even when I manage to enable the extension, reopening Safari often hides the checkbox again. However, I don't see this issue in safari 26 with macOS 26 I’d like to know if this behavior is a known issue with Safari 26 or macOS 15.7? Any workaround available?

After updating to Safari 26.0 (on macOS Sequoia or Tahoe), the Declarative Net Request (DNR) API rule with "type": "redirect" no longer works as expected. When the rule is applied, the browser initially shows a banner at the top of the page: "This webpage was reloaded because a problem occurred." After the reload, the page fails to load and displays an error page with the message: "A problem repeatedly occurred with https://extensionworkshop.com/?test=true " This behavior is new in Safari 26.0. The same rule was working correctly in earlier Safari versions (17.x / 18.x).

our company created a web safari extension. before iOS 26 (beta) release we would archive our extension and install to our devices no problem. since iOS 26 (beta) (we also tried in beta 4 23A5297m) the extension would archive perfectly but when installing the extension would just not run. its found in settings under safari extension, but when enabled the extension and open safari it will show error message "Ext" is no longer available. to rule out all code issues, we built a new project from scratch with a new bundle id, tried to archive with no problem, but when installed in an iphone 16 with iOS 26 BETA (23A5297m) same error ocurs it installs but when opening safari it will give an error message saying extension is no longer available. attached in the google drive link is a zip file of the new project, a zip file with a succesfull build of the ipa file with enterprise distribute, a video of the entire proccess and the error that the iphone gives. also attached a log file from the iphone that includes the install and the crash of the app. within the logs there is a log saying Error occurred during transaction: The provided identifier "dev.sacal.ext" is invalid. before ios 26 the exact steps worked perfectly. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PYDOv8IRvRY_ouqiOc0sJdcfh0CHbL72/view?usp=sharing

I'm developing a web extension for Safari on iOS using MV3. The extension is working fine in Chrome, but in Safari I experience some seemingly random issues. I would like to debug it, but here is my problem. I have my iPhone connected via cable to Mac, and it works fine with XCode, so I assume this part is OK. I open Safari or Safari Tech Preview (doesn't matter) on my Mac, developers options are enabled, and in the Develop menu, under my iPhone section, there are things I can debug. There is an entry "[Ext name] - Extension Service Worker" but when I click it, it's empty. Web inspector pops up, but there are no network requests, no logs, nothing. I know the extension is working, because I can stream log to my HTTP server, but I don't see them here at all. I can use console to trigger commands like chrome.storage.local.get(null, console.log) and it shows my local store, so why I don't see any logs? Also, the background script is not visible in the Sources tab, just one weird request: navigator.serviceWorker.register('safari-web-extension://E3449EA7-EC25-4696-8E6C-[ID HERE]/background.js'); </script> Any ideas what went wrong? The entire team of 4 people has the same issue and we can't move forward because of that. Also, the Develop => Service workers or any other menu section doesn't show my service worker. Logs for websites running on my phone are visible and in general web inspector for them works fine.