crx is a pure node.js command line app for packing Google Chrome extensions. No OpenSSL required!

If you'd like to integrate it into your grunt workflow, give grunt-crx a spin.

Massive hat tip to the node-rsa project!

$ npm install crx

Asynchronous functions returns an ES6 Promise.

This module exports the ChromeExtension constructor directly, which can take an optional attribute object, which is used to extend the instance.

Asynchronously prepares the temporary workspace for the Chrome Extension located at attr.rootDirectory.

crx.load().then(function(crx){
  // ...
});

You can optionally pass a path argument in lieu of the rootDirectory constructor option.

Packs the Chrome Extension and resolves the promise with a Buffer containing the .crx file.

crx.pack().then(function(crxBuffer){
  fs.writeFile('/tmp/foobar.crx', crxBuffer);
});

You can optionally pass an archiveBuffer argument if you want a finer grained control over the packing process:

crx.load()
  .then(function(){
    return crx.loadContents();
  })
  .then(function(archiveBuffer){
    fs.writeFile('path/to/extension.zip', archiveBuffer);

    return crx.pack(archiveBuffer);
  })
  .then(function(crxBuffer){
    fs.writeFile('path/to/extension.crx', crxBuffer);
  });

Returns a Buffer containing the update.xml file used for autoupdate, as specified for update_url in the manifest. In this case, the instance must have a property called codebase.

var crx = new ChromeExtension({ ..., codebase: 'https://autoupdateserver.com/myFirstExtension.crx' });

crx.pack().then(function(crxBuffer){
  // ...

  var xmlBuffer = crx.generateUpdateXML();
  fs.writeFile('/foo/bar/update.xml', xmlBuffer);
});

var fs = require("fs"),
var ChromeExtension = require("crx"),
var join = require("path").join,
var crx = new ChromeExtension(
  codebase: "http://localhost:8000/myFirstExtension.crx",
  privateKey: fs.readFileSync(join(__dirname, "key.pem"))
});

crx.load(join(__dirname, "myFirstExtension"))
  .then(function() {
    return crx.pack().then(function(crxBuffer){
      var updateXML = crx.generateUpdateXML()

      fs.writeFile(join(__dirname, "update.xml"), updateXML)
      fs.writeFile(join(__dirname, "myFirstExtension.crx"), crxBuffer)
    })
  });

Pack the specified directory into a .crx package, and output it to stdout. If no directory is specified, the current working directory is used.

Use the -o option to write the signed extension to a file instead of stdout.

Use the --zip-output option to write the unsigned extension to a file.

Use the -p option to specify an external private key. If this is not used, key.pem is used from within the directory. If this option is not used and no key.pem file exists, one will be generated automatically.

Use the -b option to specify the maximum buffer allowed to generate extension. By default, will rely on node internal setting (~200KB).

Generate a 1,024-bit RSA private key within the directory. This is called automatically if a key is not specified, and key.pem does not exist.

Use the --force option to overwrite an existing private key located in the same given folder.

Show information about using this utility, generated by commander.

Given the following directory structure:

└─┬ myFirstExtension
  ├── manifest.json
  └── icon.png

run this:

cd myFirstExtension
crx pack -f

to generate this:

├─┬ myFirstExtension
│ ├── manifest.json
│ ├── icon.png
│ └── key.pem
└── myFirstExtension.crx

You can also name the output file like this:

cd myFirstExtension
crx pack -f myFirstExtension.crx

to get the same results, or also pipe to the file manually like this.

cd myFirstExtension
crx pack > ../myFirstExtension.crx

As you can see a key is generated for you at key.pem if none exists. You can also specify an external key. So if you have this:

├─┬ myFirstExtension
│ ├── manifest.json
│ └── icon.png
└── myPrivateKey.pem

you can run this:

crx pack myFirstExtension -p myPrivateKey.pem -f

to sign your package without keeping the key in the directory.

Copyright (c) 2014 Jed Schmidt, Thomas Parisot

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining
a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the
"Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including
without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish,
distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to
permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to
the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be
included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,
EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF
MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND
NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE
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WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.