Hacker adds scripting to Chrome

 

Gallery

By Matthew Sparkes

Posted on 10 Sep 2008 at 12:10

A Japanese hacker has found a way to run custom scripts from within Google's Chrome browser to add new functionality.

Google released its new browser earlier this month, but has so far offered no APIs to third-party developers to build new features.

However, a small function built into the browser called AutomationProxy, which allows the application to run self checks, has been hacked to create a tool called Greasemetal which allows JavaScript to be executed.

"It was at the moment I tried the new browser that I suddenly noticed I could no more live without userscripts (especially, AutoPagerize). So I started looking into the source code of Google Chrome, and found out a way to implement a userscript runtime. And that's Greasemetal," says Kazuho Oku, the Japanese software developer behind the tool.

A similar application has long been available for Mozilla's Firefox browser, called GreaseMonkey, for which developers have written hundreds of scripts. Most popular browsers also have similar tools, including GreaseKit for Apple's Safari.

However, Google has made no announcement on an API for Chrome extension development. Because of its open-source licence, developers have access to the application's source code so can make changes or extensions, although this would require the code to be recompiled and redistributed.