How to build a Chrome extension that makes API calls.
Tags: html, javascript, extensions, chrome
Published: 2020-04-26 22:32:51

![](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/0*XoNuKb0nTpObYNZ7)
Here's what we'll be building

Chrome extensions are small HTML, CSS and JavaScript apps that we can install in the chrome browser.

In this tutorial, We are going to build an extension that allows users get the most up to date data on the Coronavirus by simply typing the name of a country without having to navigate to a website.

Let's get started!

1.Create a new directory and navigate into that directory. I'm a sucker for the command line so you'll see me use a number of Linux/Mac CLI commands in this post. You should have no problems following along.

```
mkdir covid-extension && cd covid-extension
```
Let's set up our app to make use of npm packages too by running 

```
npm init -y
```

2.We need to create some files. I like to use webpack when developing apps so I can get that hot reload feature. Check out [my article on Webpack](https://medium.com/@adebola.niran/how-to-auto-reload-changes-in-javascript-code-using-webpack-bf53858e1f92) that explains how webpack works.

 To get set up quickly, run
```
npm i webpack && npm i webpack-cli
```

Next, create a ***dist*** folder. Inside the ***dist*** folder, create an `index.html` file and a `manifest.json` file. 

Then, create a **src** folder and an _index.js_ file within it.

you can use the command line command
```
mkdir src && touch index.js
```

Run this Webpack command from the CLI. 
```
webpack
```

This command automatically creates a `main.js` file inside the `dist` directory/folder.

3.Head into your manifest.json and add the following code. This is the file that contains information on how Chrome should handle our extension.
```
{ "manifest_version": 2, 
  "name": "C19-Search!", 
  "version": "0.1.0", 
  "permissions": ["<all_urls>"], 
  "browser_action": 
   { "default_popup": "index.html" } 
}
```
**manifest_version**, **name** and **version** are important and MUST be declared. Your extension must have a **manifest_version** of 2 to work with the latest chrome browsers(what google says), you can give it whatever name/version you wish. We're using semantic versioning here.

We set permissions to `all_urls` so that our extension can run on any page. `browser action` instructs chrome to show our _index.html_ file as a popup when the icon is clicked.

4.Next, let's load our chrome extension into chrome.

In your chrome browser's address bar, head to `chrome://extensions/`

Towards the top left corner, click the `Load unpacked` button. Navigate to the folder where you have your files to upload that folder. Now, upload the dist folder.

Our extension should now be uploaded. See below.
![](https://miro.medium.com/max/1400/0*vhUF0Di7rik9SVWC)

5.Head to your _index.html_. Hook up the `main.js` JavaScript file(automatically created by webpack when we ran `webpack`) to your HTML. 

Also, create and hook up a _styles.css_ file inside the ***dist*** folder and link it to your HTML. 

Your file structure should now look like below.You can ignore the gitignore, coventsion.gif and README files as you won't have them.

![](https://miro.medium.com/max/207/1*1vX-p2HMwlFGP7TmX-nbWg.png)

Next, we create a simple form. Your file should look like below now.

 We will create a very basic UI.
![](https://miro.medium.com/max/1400/0*_QvgrUIzUGlwTREQ)

Our UI would now look like below. Nothing pretty, but it works.
![](https://miro.medium.com/max/810/0*XsQplaQhIxzOZMvl)

6.Just before we start writing our script, we need to install axios. Axios let's us pull in data from outside our application. Run 
```npm i axios --save```  to install axios.

Let's head into our _index.js_ file and get cracking. We'd be using an open-source API to get our data.

![](https://miro.medium.com/max/1400/0*CLrSknu5TIqHgdOn)

We have an asynchronous function called `searchForCountry` and within that function, we can use _async-await_. _Async await_ allows us to stop executing code that is dependent on a response from a server, while we wait for the response from a server. By using the _await_ keyword in front of a piece of code we can get the rest of our code to stop executing while that piece of code executes.

In this example, we **await** a response from our GET request before setting that response to our cases, recovered and deaths variable. 

Once you're done with your _index.js_ file and have it saved, head back to the `chrome://extensions/` and hit the reload button on the extension you have uploaded.

Click the extension icon and watch it work!
![](https://miro.medium.com/max/1400/0*jbdi3hRcBilkd46m)

And that's it!

You have a chrome extension.

Here's a link to my [GitHub repo](https://github.com/onedebos/covtension) for the source code.