Master Chrome Extension APIs: History, Downloads, and Storage Management

Browser History

Basic Functions

Search history using chrome.history.search.

chrome.history.search({text:'', startTime: Date.now() - 7*24*60*60*1000}, (results) => {
    console.log(results);
});

Get visit details with chrome.history.getVisits.

chrome.history.getVisits({url:'https://example.com'}, (details) => {
    console.log(details);
});

Delete a single URL or clear all history.

chrome.history.deleteUrl({url:'https://example.com'}, () => {
    console.log('URL deleted');
});
chrome.history.deleteAll(() => {
    console.log('All history cleared');
});

Advanced Usage

Delete history within a time range.

chrome.history.deleteRange({
    startTime: Date.now() - 24*60*60*1000,
    endTime: Date.now()
}, () => {
    console.log('Recent day history deleted');
});

Monitor navigation via chrome.tabs.onUpdated (since chrome.history has no change events).

chrome.tabs.onUpdated.addListener((tabId, changeInfo, tab) => {
    if (changeInfo.url) {
        console.log(`User visited new page: ${changeInfo.url}`);
    }
});

Filter records with high visit count.

chrome.history.search({text:'', startTime: Date.now() - 30*24*60*60*1000}, (results) => {
    const frequent = results.filter(item => item.visitCount > 5);
    console.log(frequent);
});

Download Management

Basic Functions

Search downloads with chrome.downloads.search.

chrome.downloads.search({query:'', startTime: Date.now() - 7*24*60*60*1000}, (results) => {
    console.log(results);
});

Pause or cancel a download.

chrome.downloads.pause(downloadId, () => {
    console.log('Download paused');
});
chrome.downloads.cancel(downloadId, () => {
    console.log('Download cancelled');
});

Erase old download records.

chrome.downloads.erase({startTime: Date.now() - 30*24*60*60*1000}, () => {
    console.log('30‑day old download records cleared');
});

Practical Example

Automatically categorize downloads by file extension.

chrome.downloads.search({}, (downloads) => {
    const categorized = downloads.reduce((acc, item) => {
        const ext = item.filename.split('.').pop();
        acc[ext] = acc[ext] || [];
        acc[ext].push(item);
        return acc;
    }, {});
    console.log('Categorized downloads:', categorized);
});

Storage Management

Core Functions

Local persistent storage with chrome.storage.local.

chrome.storage.local.set({key:'value'}, () => {
    console.log('Data stored locally');
});

Cross‑device synchronization with chrome.storage.sync.

chrome.storage.sync.set({key:'value'}, () => {
    console.log('Data synced to cloud');
});

Listen for storage changes.

chrome.storage.onChanged.addListener((changes, areaName) => {
    console.log('Storage changed:', changes, areaName);
});

Custom Helper Scripts

Utility functions that combine the above APIs for automated cleanup and policy‑driven management.

// Delete a specific page from history
function deleteHistory(page){
    chrome.browsingData.removeHistory({url: page.url}, () => {
        console.log('Deleted page:', page.url);
    });
    chrome.history.deleteUrl({url: page.url}, () => {
        console.log('Deleted URL:', page.url);
    });
}

// Remove completed download records
function deleteDownloads(){
    chrome.downloads.search({}, (downloads) => {
        downloads.forEach(d => {
            if (d.state === 'complete') {
                chrome.downloads.erase({id: d.id}, () => {
                    console.log('Removed download:', d.id);
                });
            }
        });
    });
}

// Clear history older than 5 days
function clearHistoryRecord(){
    const cutoff = Date.now() - 5*24*60*60*1000;
    chrome.history.deleteRange({startTime: 0, endTime: cutoff}, () => {
        console.log('Deleted history older than 5 days');
    });
}

// Delete recent records based on domain rules (example placeholder logic)
function clearRecentRecord(){
    const end = Date.now() - 10*60*1000; // 10 minutes ago
    chrome.history.search({text:'', startTime:0, endTime:end, maxResults:1200}, (data) => {
        const domainMap = {}, countMap = {};
        data.forEach(page => {
            const url = new URL(page.url);
            const domain = url.hostname;
            const parts = domain.split('.');
            const countUrl = parts.length > 2 ? parts.slice(-2).join('.') : domain;
            // Insert custom deletion rules here, e.g., shouldDeletePage(domain)
        });
        console.info('Domain map:', domainMap);
    });
}