NAME

AnyEvent::Chromi - Remotely control Google Chrome from Perl

SYNOPSIS

# Start in client mode (need "chromix-server" or examples/server.pl)
my $chromi AnyEvent::Chromi->new(mode => 'client', on_connect => sub {
    my ($chromi) = @_;
    ...
    $chromi->call(...);
});

# Start in server mode
my $chromi AnyEvent::Chromi->new(mode => 'server');

DESCRIPTION

AnyEvent::Chromi allows you to remotely control Google Chrome from a Perl script. It requires the Chromi extension https://github.com/smblott-github/chromi, which exposes all of the Chrome Extensions API via a websocket connection.

METHODS

$chromi = AnyEvent::Chromi->new(mode => ..., on_connect => ...);

mode => 'client|server'

If 'server' (default), it will start a websocket server on port 7441 and wait for the connection from Chrome (initiated by the Chromi extension). This is the most practical way to use AnyEvent::Chromi if you write a long-running script, because it doesn't require a separate daemon.

If 'client', it will connect to port 7441 itself, expecting a websocket server, like the one provided by chromix-server, or by the examples/server.pl script.

port => N

Use port N instead of 7441.

on_connect => sub { my ($chromi) = @_; ... }

Will be executed as soon as Chrome connects (in server mode), or as the connection to the websocket server is done.

$chromi->call($method, $args, $cb)

Call the Chrome extension method $method, e.g. chrome.windows.getAll.

$args is expected to be a ARRAYREF with the arguments for the method. It will be converted to JSON by AnyEvent::Chromi.

$cb is a callback for when the reply is received. The first argument to the callback is the status (either "done" or "error"), and the second is a ARRAYREF with the data.

Note: you need to make sure that the JSON::XS serialization is generating the proper data types. This is particularly important for booleans, where Types::Serialiser::true and Types::Serialiser::false can be used.

$chromi->is_connected

In server mode: returns true if Chrome is connected and awaits commands.

In client mode: returns true if connected to chromix-server.

EXAMPLES

• List all tabs

  $chromi->call(
      'chrome.windows.getAll', [{ populate => Types::Serialiser::true }],
      sub {
          my ($status, $reply) = @_;
          $status eq 'done' or return;
          defined $reply and ref $reply eq 'ARRAY' or return;
          map { say "$_->{url}" } @{$reply->[0]{tabs}};
          $cv->send();
      }

• Focus a tab

  $chromi->call(
      'chrome.tabs.update', [$tab_id, { active => Types::Serialiser::true }],
  );

See also the "examples" directory:

examples/client.pl

Lists the URLs of all tabs. Requires chromix-server

examples/server.pl

chromix-server replacement written in Perl. Additionally to chromix-server, it also properly supports multiple clients with one or more chrome instances.

AUTHOR

David Schweikert <david@schweikert.ch>, heavily influenced by Chromi/Chromix by Stephen Blott.

SEE ALSO

GitHub project

https://github.com/open-ch/AnyEvent-Chromi

Chromi (Chrome extension)

https://github.com/smblott-github/chromi

Chromix (command-line tool)

https://http://chromix.smblott.org/