chrome.history

Description:	Use the `chrome.history` API to interact with the browser's record of visited pages. You can add, remove, and query for URLs in the browser's history. To override the history page with your own version, see Override Pages.
Availability:	Since Chrome 35.
Permissions:	"history"

Manifest

You must declare the "history" permission in the extension manifest to use the history API. For example:

      {
        "name": "My extension",
        ...
        "permissions": [
          "history"
        ],
        ...
      }

Transition types

The history API uses a transition type to describe how the browser navigated to a particular URL on a particular visit. For example, if a user visits a page by clicking a link on another page, the transition type is "link".

The following table describes each transition type.

Transition type	Description
"link"	The user got to this page by clicking a link on another page.
"typed"	The user got this page by typing the URL in the address bar. Also used for other explicit navigation actions. See also generated, which is used for cases where the user selected a choice that didn't look at all like a URL.
"auto_bookmark"	The user got to this page through a suggestion in the UI — for example, through a menu item.
"auto_subframe"	Subframe navigation. This is any content that is automatically loaded in a non-top-level frame. For example, if a page consists of several frames containing ads, those ad URLs have this transition type. The user may not even realize the content in these pages is a separate frame, and so may not care about the URL (see also manual_subframe).
"manual_subframe"	For subframe navigations that are explicitly requested by the user and generate new navigation entries in the back/forward list. An explicitly requested frame is probably more important than an automatically loaded frame because the user probably cares about the fact that the requested frame was loaded.
"generated"	The user got to this page by typing in the address bar and selecting an entry that did not look like a URL. For example, a match might have the URL of a Google search result page, but it might appear to the user as "Search Google for ...". These are not quite the same as typed navigations because the user didn't type or see the destination URL. See also keyword.
"auto_toplevel"	The page was specified in the command line or is the start page.
"form_submit"	The user filled out values in a form and submitted it. Note that in some situations — such as when a form uses script to submit contents — submitting a form does not result in this transition type.
"reload"	The user reloaded the page, either by clicking the reload button or by pressing Enter in the address bar. Session restore and Reopen closed tab use this transition type, too.
"keyword"	The URL was generated from a replaceable keyword other than the default search provider. See also keyword_generated.
"keyword_generated"	Corresponds to a visit generated for a keyword. See also keyword.

Examples

For examples of using this API, see the history sample directory and the history API test directory. For other examples and for help in viewing the source code, see Samples.

Summary

Types
TransitionType
HistoryItem
VisitItem
Methods
search − `chrome.history.search(object query, function callback)`
getVisits − `chrome.history.getVisits(object details, function callback)`
addUrl − `chrome.history.addUrl(object details, function callback)`
deleteUrl − `chrome.history.deleteUrl(object details, function callback)`
deleteRange − `chrome.history.deleteRange(object range, function callback)`
deleteAll − `chrome.history.deleteAll(function callback)`
Events
onVisited
onVisitRemoved

Types

TransitionType

The transition type for this visit from its referrer.

Enum
`"link"`, `"typed"`, `"auto_bookmark"`, `"auto_subframe"`, `"manual_subframe"`, `"generated"`, `"auto_toplevel"`, `"form_submit"`, `"reload"`, `"keyword"`, or `"keyword_generated"`

HistoryItem

An object encapsulating one result of a history query.

properties
string	id	The unique identifier for the item.
string	(optional) url	The URL navigated to by a user.
string	(optional) title	The title of the page when it was last loaded.
double	(optional) lastVisitTime	When this page was last loaded, represented in milliseconds since the epoch.
integer	(optional) visitCount	The number of times the user has navigated to this page.
integer	(optional) typedCount	The number of times the user has navigated to this page by typing in the address.

VisitItem

An object encapsulating one visit to a URL.

properties
string	id	The unique identifier for the item.
string	visitId	The unique identifier for this visit.
double	(optional) visitTime	When this visit occurred, represented in milliseconds since the epoch.
string	referringVisitId	The visit ID of the referrer.
TransitionType	transition	The transition type for this visit from its referrer.

Methods

search


              chrome.history.search(object query, function callback)

Searches the history for the last visit time of each page matching the query.

Parameters

object

query

string	text	A free-text query to the history service. Leave empty to retrieve all pages.
double	(optional) startTime	Limit results to those visited after this date, represented in milliseconds since the epoch. If not specified, this defaults to 24 hours in the past.
double	(optional) endTime	Limit results to those visited before this date, represented in milliseconds since the epoch.
integer	(optional) maxResults	The maximum number of results to retrieve. Defaults to 100.

function

callback

The callback parameter should be a function that looks like this:

function(array of HistoryItem results) {...};

array of HistoryItem

results

getVisits


              chrome.history.getVisits(object details, function callback)

Retrieves information about visits to a URL.

Parameters

object

details

string

url

The URL for which to retrieve visit information. It must be in the format as returned from a call to history.search.

function

callback

The callback parameter should be a function that looks like this:

function(array of VisitItem results) {...};

array of VisitItem

results

addUrl


              chrome.history.addUrl(object details, function callback)

Adds a URL to the history at the current time with a transition type of "link".

Parameters

object

details

string

url

The URL to add.

function

(optional) callback

If you specify the callback parameter, it should be a function that looks like this:

function() {...};

deleteUrl


              chrome.history.deleteUrl(object details, function callback)

Removes all occurrences of the given URL from the history.

Parameters

object

details

string

url

The URL to remove.

function

(optional) callback

If you specify the callback parameter, it should be a function that looks like this:

function() {...};

deleteRange


              chrome.history.deleteRange(object range, function callback)

Removes all items within the specified date range from the history. Pages will not be removed from the history unless all visits fall within the range.

Parameters

object

range

double	startTime	Items added to history after this date, represented in milliseconds since the epoch.
double	endTime	Items added to history before this date, represented in milliseconds since the epoch.

function

callback

The callback parameter should be a function that looks like this:

function() {...};

deleteAll


              chrome.history.deleteAll(function callback)

Deletes all items from the history.

Parameters
function	callback	The callback parameter should be a function that looks like this: `function() {...};`

Events

onVisited

Fired when a URL is visited, providing the HistoryItem data for that URL. This event fires before the page has loaded.

addListener


                    chrome.history.onVisited.addListener(function callback)

Parameters

function

callback

The callback parameter should be a function that looks like this:

function( HistoryItem result) {...};

HistoryItem

result

onVisitRemoved

Fired when one or more URLs are removed from the history service. When all visits have been removed the URL is purged from history.

addListener


                    chrome.history.onVisitRemoved.addListener(function callback)

Parameters

function

callback

The callback parameter should be a function that looks like this:

function(object removed) {...};

object

removed

boolean	allHistory	True if all history was removed. If true, then urls will be empty.
array of string	(optional) urls