default-browser

What is default-browser?

The 'default-browser' npm package is a utility that allows developers to detect the default web browser set on a user's system. This can be particularly useful for applications that need to interact with the user's preferred browser or perform actions based on the browser type.

What are default-browser's main functionalities?

Detect Default Browser

This feature allows you to asynchronously detect the default browser on the user's system. The function `getDefaultBrowser` uses the `default-browser` package to fetch and log the name of the default browser.

const defaultBrowser = require('default-browser');

async function getDefaultBrowser() {
  try {
    const browser = await defaultBrowser();
    console.log(`The default browser is: ${browser.name}`);
  } catch (error) {
    console.error('Error fetching the default browser:', error);
  }
}

getDefaultBrowser();

Other packages similar to default-browser

open

The 'open' package is used to open files, URLs, or executables in their default programs, including web browsers. It is similar to 'default-browser' in that it interacts with default applications, but it extends beyond just fetching browser information to actually opening URLs or files.

browser-launcher

The 'browser-launcher' package detects installed browsers and can launch them. It offers functionality similar to 'default-browser' by detecting browsers, but it also provides the capability to launch these browsers, which is not a feature of 'default-browser'.

README

default-browser

Get the default browser (OS X)

Install

npm install --save default-browser

Example

var defaultBrowser = require('default-browser');

defaultBrowser();
//=> { name: 'Safari', id: 'com.apple.Safari' }

CLI

You can also use it as a CLI app by installing it globally:

npm install --global default-browser

Usage

default-browser

Which will for example output Safari.

License

MIT © Sindre Sorhus