Extension Release CLI

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A CLI tool to pack, upload, and publish Chrome extensions to the Chrome Web Store — all from your terminal.

# Run (global install)
exr release dist/

# Or run with npx (local install)
npx exr release dist/

Features

• pack — Zip your extension source directory into a versioned archive
• upload — Upload the zip to the Chrome Web Store via API
• publish — Publish the uploaded extension (supports staged rollout)
• release — Run pack → upload → publish in a single command
• status — Inspect the live status of your extension on the store
• cancel — Cancel the review of a pending extension submission in the marketplace.
• version - Synchronize and bump extension version in manifest.json and package.json
• Built-in env file support — powered by dotenvx (bundled, no separate install needed)

Requirements

• Node.js >= 18

Installation

# Install globally
npm install -g @yhotamos/extension-release-cli

# Or install locally (dev dependency)
npm install --save-dev @yhotamos/extension-release-cli

Setup

1. Google API Credentials

You need OAuth2 credentials to authenticate with the Chrome Web Store API.

1. Go to Google Cloud Console and create a project.
2. Enable the Chrome Web Store API.
3. Create OAuth 2.0 credentials (Desktop app type) and note your CLIENT_ID and CLIENT_SECRET.
4. Obtain a REFRESH_TOKEN using the OAuth2 playground or the Google auth flow.
   • Scopes required: https://www.googleapis.com/auth/chromewebstore

2. Chrome Web Store IDs

• PUBLISHER_ID — Your publisher ID, found in the Chrome Web Store Developer Dashboard URL.
• EXTENSION_ID — The ID of your extension, found on the extension's dashboard page.

3. Environment File

Create a .env file in your project root:

CLIENT_ID=your_client_id
CLIENT_SECRET=your_client_secret
REFRESH_TOKEN=your_refresh_token
PUBLISHER_ID=your_publisher_id
EXTENSION_ID=your_extension_id

You can also use .env.local (takes precedence over .env), or environment-specific files like .env.production passed via --env:

exr release dist/ --env .env.production

Tip

Since dotenvx is built in, you can encrypt your env files. This keeps plain-text secrets out of your repository and reduces the risk of AI coding agents (e.g., Claude Code or OpenAI Codex) accidentally reading your plain .env files.

npx dotenvx encrypt -f .env.production

This rewrites the file with encrypted values and generates a .env.keys file with the decryption key. The CLI reads .env.keys automatically. Add .env.keys to .gitignore and store the key in your CI secrets.

Typical Workflow

# 1. Create your .env file (first time only)
# See the Setup section above for required variables

# 2. Build your extension
npm run build

# 3. Release in one command (.env is loaded automatically)
exr release dist/

# 4. Check the store status afterwards
exr status

Or step by step:

exr pack dist/
exr upload releases/my-extension-1.0.0.zip
exr publish

Author

yhotta240 https://github.com/yhotta240