{"slug": "how-to-view-source-of-a-chrome-extension", "title": "How to view-source of a Chrome extension", "summary": "The article explains two methods to view the source code of a Chrome extension. The first method involves using a command-line tool to download and unzip the extension's CRX file directly from Google's update server. The second method describes locating the extension's installed files in the user's local Chrome profile directory under the `Extensions/` subfolder.", "body_md": "extension_id=jifpbeccnghkjeaalbbjmodiffmgedin # change this ID\ncurl -L -o \"$extension_id.zip\" \"https://clients2.google.com/service/update2/crx?response=redirect&os=mac&arch=x86-64&nacl_arch=x86-64&prod=chromecrx&prodchannel=stable&prodversion=44.0.2403.130&x=id%3D$extension_id%26uc\"\nunzip -d \"$extension_id-source\" \"$extension_id.zip\"\nThx to crxviewer for the magic download URL.\nThe Chrome extension source viewer is open source (github repo) and makes this super easy.\n- Find your Chrome local profile directory. Open\nchrome://version/\nand find the \"Profile Path:` field. Open that folder up. - Open the\nExtensions/\nsubfolder - All your extensions are here, with typically readable source.\n- On\nabout:extensions\n, turn on Developer Mode and you'll see IDs under each entry - Inside the\nExtensions/\nfolders, the manifest.json has a readablename\nfield", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/how-to-view-source-of-a-chrome-extension", "canonical_source": "https://gist.github.com/paulirish/78d6c1406c901be02c2d", "published_at": "2015-08-26 17:53:12+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-05-23 02:02:55.188290+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["developer-tools"], "entities": ["Chrome", "crxviewer", "github"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/how-to-view-source-of-a-chrome-extension", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/how-to-view-source-of-a-chrome-extension.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/how-to-view-source-of-a-chrome-extension.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/how-to-view-source-of-a-chrome-extension.jsonld"}}