x-default-browser
Version:
Detect default web browser of the current user, cross-platform (Win/Lin/Mac)
87 lines (63 loc) • 3.18 kB
Markdown
# x-default-browser
[](http://travis-ci.org/jakub-g/x-default-browser)
[](https://www.npmjs.org/package/x-default-browser)
This _cross-platform_ module finds out the default browser for the current user.
Recent versions (~0.5.x) were tested locally on Windows 10 64-bit, Mac OS 12.6.
Older versions (~0.4.x) were tested locally on Windows 10 64-bit, Mac OS 10, Windows 7 64-bit, Windows XP 32-bit, Ubuntu 14.04 64-bit (en-US locale),
It requires nodejs and npm. If you don't have node, grab it at [nodejs.org](https://nodejs.org).
Node installer bundles npm (node package manager)
## How it works
- Windows:
- checks registry value `HKCU\Software\Clients\StartMenuInternet`
- Linuxes:
- reads the output of `xdg-mime query default x-scheme-handler/http`
- OS X:
- delegated to [default-browser-id from Sindre Sorhus](https://github.com/sindresorhus/default-browser-id)
## Usage as a nodejs module
```sh
$ npm install x-default-browser
```
```js
var defaultBrowser = require("x-default-browser");
defaultBrowser(function (err, res) {
// in case of error, `err` will be a string with error message; otherwise it's `null`.
console.dir(res);
// => {
// isIE: false,
// isFirefox: true,
// isChrome: false,
// isChromium: false,
// isOpera: false,
// isWebkit: false,
// identity: 'firefox.exe',
// commonName: 'firefox'
// }
});
```
- `commonName` is portable, it will be `ie`, `safari`, `firefox`, `chrome`, `chromium`, `opera` or `unknown`
- `isBlink` is true for Chrome, Chromium, Opera
- `isWebkit` is true for Chrome, Chromium, Opera, Safari
- `identity` key is platform-specific.
- On Windows, it's the prefix you can use for querying `HKLM\Software\Clients\StartMenuInternet\<prefix>`
keys to find out details of the browser. It'll be one of `iexplore.exe`, `firefox.exe`, `google chrome`,
`chromium.<somerandomkeyhere>`, `operastable`.
- On Ubuntu, it will be `firefox.desktop`, `google-chrome.desktop`, `chromium-browser.desktop` or `opera.desktop`
- On Mac OS X, it will be the bundle ID: `com.apple.Safari`, `com.google.chrome`, `com.operasoftware.Opera`, `org.mozilla.firefox` etc
## Usage from command line
```sh
$ npm install -g x-default-browser
$ x-default-browser
firefox
```
Command line version outputs the `commonName` key, i.e. `ie`, `safari`, `firefox`, `chrome`, `chromium`, `opera` or `unknown`.
## Linux support
This module was only tested on Ubuntu. Compatibility reports and fixes for other distros are more than welcome!
Use GitHub issues or email: (jakub.g.opensource) (gmail)
## License
MIT © [jakub-g](http://jakub-g.github.io)
## Related projects
- [default-browser-id](https://github.com/sindresorhus/default-browser-id) (OS X)
- [win-detect-browsers](https://github.com/vweevers/win-detect-browsers) (Windows)
- [browser-launcher2](https://github.com/benderjs/browser-launcher2) (cross-platform)
- [opener](https://github.com/domenic/opener) (cross-platform)
- [node-open](https://github.com/pwnall/node-open) (cross-platform)