enginekit / ChromeDevTools

.NET library to interact with the Chrome Debugger

ChromeDevTools

C# Library to interact with the Chrome Developer Tools.

    chromeSession.Subscribe<Protocol.Page.DomContentEventFiredEvent>(domContentEvent =>
    {
        Console.WriteLine("DomContentEvent: " + domContentEvent.Timestamp);
    });
    
    chromeSession.SendAsync(new NavigateCommand
    {
        Url = "http://www.google.com"
    }).Wait();

About

This library is C# API that enabled interaction with the Chrome Developer Tools. When the Chrome Developer Tools are started, the chrome process starts a server. The Chrome Developer Tools UI communicates with this server via Web Sockets. So can you. In fact, everything in the Chrome Developers Tools UI is available to you via JSON, by default. This library makes it available to you in C#.

Communication with this server is defined in a protocol.json file. This is subject to change at any time. Below are instructions what to do if this library becomes out of date with the protocol.

• Google's Version
• This Repo's Version

Contents

Contained in this repo are 3 projects.

• MasterDevs.ChromeDevTools
  • Typed commands, events, and responses
  • An implementation of a messenger (a chrome session)
  • Other supporting classes including class to manage the chrome process, startup args, etc.
• MasterDevs.ChromeDevTools.ProtocolParser
  • A really ugly (it used to be uglier, but @qmfrederik did some cleaning) console application which parses the protocol.json file and generates all of the classes in the Protocol
• MasterDevs.ChromeDevTools.Sample
  • While the sample on this page is great and all, you want something you can just fire off and dig right in. That's what the sample is for.

How it works

I've included a code example. Check it out and read no further. Wait, no. Keep reading!

Chrome Developer Tools

The Chrome Developer Tools have a pretty cool API. There are 2 basic types of objects that the Developer Tools understand:

• Events
  • These events will only be received by you
  • The are events triggered by page events, network events, the DOM, or something else.
  • You can tell Chrome to enable, or disable, domain events using ... commands (keep reading)
• Commands
  • A command is an object that you will send to the Developer Tools. This command will generate a response (or an error response).
  • Every Command has a CommandResponse

MasterDevs.ChromeDevTools

If you made it this far, it's best to read the sample - Program.cs.

Library out of date?

If you didn't read the entire README (I don't blame you, I wouldn't), I've included a project in this repository which allows anyone to rebuild the protocol. Following these steps:

1. Download the latest protocol.json file and replace this one
2. Build & run MasterDevs.ChromeDevTools.ProtocolParser
3. Copy the contents of the OutputProtocol directory and paste it into (overwrite everything!) the Protocol directory
4. Submit a pull request so others can benefit! (optional)

Resources

• NuGet
• Obligatory blog post
• Protocol Viewier
• Here's what the Chrome Team has to say about the Developer Tools protocol
  • https://developer.chrome.com/devtools/docs/debugger-protocol
• Some cool apps that other developers have built using the Chrome Debugging Protocol
  • https://developer.chrome.com/devtools/docs/debugging-clients