The omnibox API allows you to register a keyword with Google Chrome's address bar, which is also known as the omnibox.
When the user enters your extension's keyword, the user starts interacting solely with your extension. Each keystroke is sent to your extension, and you can provide suggestions in response.
The suggestions can be richly formatted in a variety of ways. When the user accepts a suggestion, your extension is notified and can take action.
To use the omnibox API, your manifest must
declare the "experimental" permission and
specify an omnibox_keyword
field. You should also
specify a 16x16-pixel icon, which will be
displayed in the omnibox when suggesting users
enter keyword mode.
For example:
{ "name": "Aaron's omnibox extension", "version": "1.0", "permissions": ["experimental"], "omnibox_keyword": "aaron", "icons": { "16": "16-full-color.png" }, "background_page": "background.html" }
Note: Google Chrome automatically creates a greyscale version of your 16x16-pixel icon. You should provide a full-color version so that it can also be used in other situations that require color. For example, the context menus API also uses a 16x16-pixel icon, but it is displayed in color.
You can find samples of this API on the sample page.