Minimum Chrome version, how to determine it "easily"

[Robbi]

Is there a tool that takes an extension as "parameter" (extension folder, .crx package or even just the id if the extension had already been published) and returns the minimum Chrome version needed to make the latter work fine?

[hrg...@gmail.com]

Go to https://robwu.nl/crxviewer then enter the extension URL or CRX file and then look inside its manifest.json file for the "minimum_chrome_version" property.

[Robbi]

Hello @hreg and thanks for the reply.

Maybe I did not say it clear enough.

The tool you suggested me permits to inspect every files of an extension.

I was wondering if there is a tool that, when "minimum_chrome_version"  property is NOT present in the manifest file, automatically determines it by analyzing the files and APIs used (both of extensions and of the web in general).

For example let's say that among many js files the "most recent" method I use is inputElement.showPicker().

At this point this tool should give me an hint like: "To make the extension work without encountering errors or any problems whatsoever you must use a version of Chrome higher than or equal to 99" (the one in which showPicker was introduced)

[Jackie Han]

Unfortunately this thread didn't have much following, but maybe it's because there is no solution. (from another thread)

It would be great to have this tool. However, it's not an easy thing to solve. It's complicated, you need to parse a lot of things, and you need to maintain the relevant data yourself for a long time in the future. It's time-consuming and laborious, and it doesn't pay off, so no one wants to do it.

On Fri, Nov 25, 2022 at 6:16 PM Robbi <rob...@gmail.com> wrote:

Is there a tool that takes an extension as "parameter" (extension folder, .crx package or even just the id if the extension had already been published) and returns the minimum Chrome version needed to make the latter work fine?

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[Robbi]

I largely agree.
I had never used this entry in the manifest, and all in all, given the audience of my users, I can also afford some complaints if something doesn't work due to a more or less obsolete browser. Facing this decision it can still set minimun_chrome_version to a very high value (ie the current version of Chrome or the previous one).
Those who need to use an obsolete version of the browser can always think of a portable version on pendrive.
It would fantastic if Google would take care of this "hard work" whenever the developer is uploading a new version. The store could return me a detailed report with a version number next to each file or at most a single number that maximizes the entire extension.
I realize that at the present time, with all the unsolved problems, these hypotheses are practically sci-fi

[Jackie Han]

And there are polyfills, feature detect, workarounds, proxy in source code, so it is difficult to determine the minimum version by static analysis.