Top Sites

topSites

Medium RiskCategory: Privacy & NavigationView Official Docs↗

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Install Warning

"Read a list of your most frequently visited websites."

Technical Context

Provides read-only access to the chrome.topSites API, which returns a list of the user's most frequently visited websites. This data is derived from browsing history but limited to aggregated visit frequency.

What This Means For You

The extension can see a list of websites you visit most often, similar to what Chrome shows on a new tab page. It cannot see your full history, only your top visited sites.

Related APIs

This permission enables access to these Chrome APIs:

chrome.topSites

Common Use Cases

✓New tab replacements
✓Productivity dashboards

How to Declare in manifest.json

Add the "topSites" permission to your extension manifest:

{
  "manifest_version": 3,
  "name": "My Extension",
  "permissions": [
    "topSites"
  ]
}

What Users Will See

When users install your extension, Chrome will display this warning:

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This extension can:

"Read a list of your most frequently visited websites."

Related Permissions

Bookmarks

bookmarks

The extension can see all your saved bookmarks and folders, including their names and URLs. It can add new bookmarks, move them around, or delete them entirely.

medium

Sessions

sessions

The extension can see tabs and windows you recently closed and restore them for you. If you use Chrome on multiple devices, it can also see tabs open on your other computers or phones.

medium

Browsing Data

browsingData

The extension can delete your browsing history, cookies, cached files, and other data stored by Chrome. This is useful for privacy cleaners but means it can erase your saved information.

medium

Active Tab

activeTab

This is a "privacy-first" permission that only lets the tool see the website you are currently looking at when you specifically ask for help. It ensures the extension remains dormant and unable to read your data on any other open tabs or websites.

low

Tabs

tabs

The extension can see what websites you have open in all your tabs, even if you are not actively using them. This is necessary for tab managers but means the extension knows your browsing patterns.

high