desktopCapture

This permission is essential for extensions that provide screen recording or screen sharing capabilities.

Examples:

• A screen recording tool for creating tutorials.
• A "share to video conference" extension.
• A remote support tool that allows a user to share their screen.

{
  "name": "My Screen Recorder",
  "version": "1.0",
  "manifest_version": 3,
  "permissions": [
    "desktopCapture"
  ],
  "background": {
    "service_worker": "background.js"
  }
}

Why is it risky?

This permission allows an extension to record or share your screen. Anything visible on your screen—private documents, passwords, messages, bank account details—could be captured.

The main safety feature is that the extension cannot start capturing without your permission. Each time, it must show you a popup asking you to choose exactly what to share (your entire screen, one window, or one tab). However, the risk is that you might accidentally share more than you intend to. Always be very careful about what you are sharing and with whom.

This example shows how to request a desktop capture stream when the user clicks the extension's action icon.

// background.js

chrome.action.onClicked.addListener(async (tab) => {
  chrome.desktopCapture.chooseDesktopMedia(
    ['screen', 'window', 'tab'],
    tab,
    (streamId, options) => {
      if (chrome.runtime.lastError) {
        console.error(chrome.runtime.lastError.message);
        return;
      }
      if (streamId) {
        console.log('Successfully received stream ID:', streamId);
        console.log('Options:', options);
        // The streamId must be passed to a context that has
        // navigator.mediaDevices (an offscreen document, popup, or
        // content script) and consumed there via getUserMedia:
        //   navigator.mediaDevices.getUserMedia({
        //     video: { mandatory: { chromeMediaSource: 'desktop',
        //                           chromeMediaSourceId: streamId } }
        //   });
        // Service workers cannot call getUserMedia directly.
      } else {
        console.log('User cancelled the capture request.');
      }
    }
  );
});