Entrypoints

WXT uses the files inside the entrypoints/ directory as inputs when bundling your extension. They can be HTML, JS, CSS, or any variant of those file types supported by Vite (Pug, TS, JSX, SCSS, etc).

Here's an example set of entrypoints:

html

📂 entrypoints/
   📂 popup/
      📄 index.html
      📄 main.ts
      📄 style.css
   📄 background.ts
   📄 content.ts

Listed vs Unlisted

For web extensions, there are two types of entrypoints:

Listed: Referenced in the manifest.json
Unlisted: Not referenced in the manifest.json

Throughout the rest of WXT's documentation, listed entrypoints are referred to by name. For example:

Popup
Options
Background
Content Scripts
Etc.

Some examples of "unlisted" entrypoints:

A welcome page shown when the extension is installed
JS files injected by content scripts into the page's main world

TIP

Regardless of whether an entrypoint is listed or unlisted, it will still be bundled into your extension and be available at runtime.

Adding Entrypoints

An entrypoint can be defined as a single file or directory with an index file inside it.

Single FileDirectory

html

📂 entrypoints/
   📄 background.ts

html

📂 entrypoints/
   📂 background/
      📄 index.ts

The entrypoint's name dictates the type of entrypoint, listed vs unlisted. In this example, "background" is the name of the "Background" entrypoint.

Refer to the Entrypoint Types section for the full list of listed entrypoints and their filename patterns.

Defining Manifest Options

Most listed entrypoints have options that need to be added to the manifest.json. However with WXT, instead of defining the options in a separate file, you define these options inside the entrypoint file itself.

For example, here's how to define matches for content scripts:

entrypoints/content.ts

export default defineContentScript({
  matches: ['*://*.wxt.dev/*'],
  main() {
    // ...
  },
});

For HTML entrypoints, options are configured as <meta> tags. For example, to use a page_action for your MV2 popup:

html

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
  <head>
    <meta name="manifest.type" content="page_action" />
  </head>
</html>

Refer to the Entrypoint Types sections for a list of options configurable inside each entrypoint, and how to define them.

When building your extension, WXT will look at the options defined in your entrypoints, and generate the manifest accordingly.

Entrypoint Types

Background

Chrome Docs • Firefox Docs

For MV2, the background is added as a script to the background page. For MV3, the background becomes a service worker.

Filename		Output Path
`entrypoints/background.[jt]s`		`/background.js`
`entrypoints/background/index.[jt]s`		`/background.js`

MinimalWith Manifest Options

export default defineBackground(() => {
  // Executed when background is loaded
});

export default defineBackground({
  // Set manifest options
  persistent: undefined | true | false,
  type: undefined | 'module',

  // Set include/exclude if the background should be removed from some builds
  include: undefined | string[],
  exclude: undefined | string[],

  main() {
    // Executed when background is loaded, CANNOT BE ASYNC
  },
});

Bookmarks

Chrome Docs • Firefox Docs

Filename		Output Path
`entrypoints/bookmarks.html`		`/bookmarks.html`
`entrypoints/bookmarks/index.html`		`/bookmarks.html`

html

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
  <head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8" />
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" />
    <title>Title</title>
    <!-- Set include/exclude if the page should be removed from some builds -->
    <meta name="manifest.include" content="['chrome', ...]" />
    <meta name="manifest.exclude" content="['chrome', ...]" />
  </head>
  <body>
    <!-- ... -->
  </body>
</html>

Content Scripts

Chrome Docs • Firefox Docs

See Content Script UI for more info on creating UIs and including CSS in content scripts.

Filename		Output Path
`entrypoints/content.[jt]sx?`		`/content-scripts/content.js`
`entrypoints/content/index.[jt]sx?`		`/content-scripts/content.js`
`entrypoints/<name>.content.[jt]sx?`		`/content-scripts/<name>.js`
`entrypoints/<name>.content/index.[jt]sx?`		`/content-scripts/<name>.js`

export default defineContentScript({
  // Set manifest options
  matches: string[],
  excludeMatches: undefined | [],
  includeGlobs: undefined | [],
  excludeGlobs: undefined | [],
  allFrames: undefined | true | false,
  runAt: undefined | 'document_start' | 'document_end' | 'document_idle',
  matchAboutBlank: undefined | true | false,
  matchOriginAsFallback: undefined | true | false,
  world: undefined | 'ISOLATED' | 'MAIN',

  // Set include/exclude if the background should be removed from some builds
  include: undefined | string[],
  exclude: undefined | string[],

  // Configure how CSS is injected onto the page
  cssInjectionMode: undefined | "manifest" | "manual" | "ui",

  // Configure how/when content script will be registered
  registration: undefined | "manifest" | "runtime",

  main(ctx: ContentScriptContext) {
    // Executed when content script is loaded, can be async
  },
});

Devtools

Chrome Docs • Firefox Docs

Follow the Devtools Example to add different panels and panes.

Filename		Output Path
`entrypoints/devtools.html`		`/devtools.html`
`entrypoints/devtools/index.html`		`/devtools.html`

html

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
  <head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8" />
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" />
    <!-- Set include/exclude if the page should be removed from some builds -->
    <meta name="manifest.include" content="['chrome', ...]" />
    <meta name="manifest.exclude" content="['chrome', ...]" />
  </head>
  <body>
    <!-- ... -->
  </body>
</html>

History

Chrome Docs • Firefox Docs

Filename		Output Path
`entrypoints/history.html`		`/history.html`
`entrypoints/history/index.html`		`/history.html`

html

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
  <head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8" />
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" />
    <title>Title</title>
    <!-- Set include/exclude if the page should be removed from some builds -->
    <meta name="manifest.include" content="['chrome', ...]" />
    <meta name="manifest.exclude" content="['chrome', ...]" />
  </head>
  <body>
    <!-- ... -->
  </body>
</html>

Newtab

Chrome Docs • Firefox Docs

Filename		Output Path
`entrypoints/newtab.html`		`/newtab.html`
`entrypoints/newtab/index.html`		`/newtab.html`

html

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
  <head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8" />
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" />
    <title>Title</title>
    <!-- Set include/exclude if the page should be removed from some builds -->
    <meta name="manifest.include" content="['chrome', ...]" />
    <meta name="manifest.exclude" content="['chrome', ...]" />
  </head>
  <body>
    <!-- ... -->
  </body>
</html>

Options

Chrome Docs • Firefox Docs

Filename		Output Path
`entrypoints/options.html`		`/options.html`
`entrypoints/options/index.html`		`/options.html`

html

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
  <head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8" />
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" />
    <title>Options Title</title>

    <!-- Customize the manifest options -->
    <meta name="manifest.open_in_tab" content="true|false" />
    <meta name="manifest.chrome_style" content="true|false" />
    <meta name="manifest.browser_style" content="true|false" />

    <!-- Set include/exclude if the page should be removed from some builds -->
    <meta name="manifest.include" content="['chrome', ...]" />
    <meta name="manifest.exclude" content="['chrome', ...]" />
  </head>
  <body>
    <!-- ... -->
  </body>
</html>

Chrome Docs • Firefox Docs

Filename		Output Path
`entrypoints/popup.html`		`/popup.html`
`entrypoints/popup/index.html`		`/popup.html`

html

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
  <head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8" />
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" />

    <!-- Set the `action.default_title` in the manifest -->
    <title>Default Popup Title</title>

    <!-- Customize the manifest options -->
    <meta
      name="manifest.default_icon"
      content="{
        16: '/icon-16.png',
        24: '/icon-24.png',
        ...
      }"
    />
    <meta name="manifest.type" content="page_action|browser_action" />
    <meta name="manifest.browser_style" content="true|false" />

    <!-- Set include/exclude if the page should be removed from some builds -->
    <meta name="manifest.include" content="['chrome', ...]" />
    <meta name="manifest.exclude" content="['chrome', ...]" />
  </head>
  <body>
    <!-- ... -->
  </body>
</html>

Sandbox

Chrome Docs

Chromium Only

Firefox does not support sandboxed pages.

Filename		Output Path
`entrypoints/sandbox.html`		`/sandbox.html`
`entrypoints/sandbox/index.html`		`/sandbox.html`
`entrypoints/<name>.sandbox.html`		`/<name>.html`
`entrypoints/<name>.sandbox/index.html`		`/<name>.html`

html

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
  <head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8" />
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" />
    <title>Title</title>

    <!-- Set include/exclude if the page should be removed from some builds -->
    <meta name="manifest.include" content="['chrome', ...]" />
    <meta name="manifest.exclude" content="['chrome', ...]" />
  </head>
  <body>
    <!-- ... -->
  </body>
</html>

Side Panel

Chrome Docs • Firefox Docs

In Chrome, side panels use the side_panel API, while Firefox uses the sidebar_action API.

Filename		Output Path
`entrypoints/sidepanel.html`		`/sidepanel.html`
`entrypoints/sidepanel/index.html`		`/sidepanel.html`
`entrypoints/<name>.sidepanel.html`		/<name>.html`
`entrypoints/<name>.sidepanel/index.html`		/<name>.html`

html

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
  <head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8" />
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" />
    <title>Default Side Panel Title</title>

    <!-- Customize the manifest options -->
    <meta
      name="manifest.default_icon"
      content="{
        16: '/icon-16.png',
        24: '/icon-24.png',
        ...
      }"
    />
    <meta name="manifest.open_at_install" content="true|false" />
    <meta name="manifest.browser_style" content="true|false" />

    <!-- Set include/exclude if the page should be removed from some builds -->
    <meta name="manifest.include" content="['chrome', ...]" />
    <meta name="manifest.exclude" content="['chrome', ...]" />
  </head>
  <body>
    <!-- ... -->
  </body>
</html>

Unlisted CSS

Follow Vite's guide to setup your preprocessor of choice: https://vitejs.dev/guide/features.html#css-pre-processors

CSS entrypoints are always unlisted. To add CSS to a content script, see the Content Script docs.

Filename		Output Path
`entrypoints/<name>.(css\|scss\|sass\|less\|styl\|stylus)`		`/<name>.css`
`entrypoints/<name>/index.(css\|scss\|sass\|less\|styl\|stylus)`		`/<name>.css`
`entrypoints/content.(css\|scss\|sass\|less\|styl\|stylus)`		`/content-scripts/content.css`
`entrypoints/content/index.(css\|scss\|sass\|less\|styl\|stylus)`		`/content-scripts/content.css`
`entrypoints/<name>.content.(css\|scss\|sass\|less\|styl\|stylus)`		`/content-scripts/<name>.css`
`entrypoints/<name>.content/index.(css\|scss\|sass\|less\|styl\|stylus)`		`/content-scripts/<name>.css`

css

body {
  /* ... */
}

Unlisted Pages

Filename		Output Path
`entrypoints/<name>.html`		`/<name>.html`
`entrypoints/<name>/index.html`		`/<name>.html`

html

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
  <head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8" />
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" />
    <title>Title</title>

    <!-- Set include/exclude if the page should be removed from some builds -->
    <meta name="manifest.include" content="['chrome', ...]" />
    <meta name="manifest.exclude" content="['chrome', ...]" />
  </head>
  <body>
    <!-- ... -->
  </body>
</html>

Pages are accessible at /<name>.html:

const url = browser.runtime.getURL('/<name>.html');

console.log(url); // "chrome-extension://<id>/<name>.html"

Unlisted Scripts

Filename		Output Path
`entrypoints/<name>.[jt]sx?`		`/<name>.js`
`entrypoints/<name>/index.[jt]sx?`		`/<name>.js`

MinimalWith Options

export default defineUnlistedScript(() => {
  // Executed when script is loaded
});

export default defineUnlistedScript({
  // Set include/exclude if the script should be removed from some builds
  include: undefined | string[],
  exclude: undefined | string[],

  main() {
    // Executed when script is loaded
  },
});

Scripts are accessible from /<name>.js:

const url = browser.runtime.getURL('/<name>.js');

console.log(url); // "chrome-extension://<id>/<name>.js"

You are responsible for loading/running these scripts where needed. If necessary, don't forget to add the script and/or any related assets to web_accessible_resources.

Entrypoints ​

Listed vs Unlisted ​

Adding Entrypoints ​

Defining Manifest Options ​

Entrypoint Types ​

Background ​

Bookmarks ​

Content Scripts ​

Devtools ​

History ​

Newtab ​

Options ​

Popup ​

Sandbox ​

Side Panel ​

Unlisted CSS ​

Unlisted Pages ​

Unlisted Scripts ​

Entrypoints

Listed vs Unlisted

Adding Entrypoints

Defining Manifest Options

Entrypoint Types

Background

Bookmarks

Content Scripts

Devtools

History

Newtab

Options

Popup

Sandbox

Side Panel

Unlisted CSS

Unlisted Pages

Unlisted Scripts