GitHub - dougwithseismic/react-tailwind-chrome-extension-template: Build your next Chrome Extension with React and Tailwind + Zero Setup!

3 min read Original article ↗

Updated 2026 — Fully modernized with React 19, Tailwind CSS v4, Vite 6, TypeScript 5.9, and pnpm.

A minimal, production-ready Chrome Extension (Manifest V3) template. Drop a folder, get a content script — zero config.

Stack

  • React 19 — latest with the react-jsx transform (no import React needed)
  • Tailwind CSS v4 — CSS-first config via @theme, Vite plugin
  • Vite 6 — fast builds, watch mode for dev
  • TypeScript 5.9 — strict mode, bundler resolution
  • pnpm — fast, disk-efficient package manager
  • Manifest V3 — auto-generated from src/manifest.ts

Setup

Edit package.json to set your extension's name, description, and version. These feed into the generated manifest.json. For more control, edit src/manifest.ts.

Development

Runs both Vite configs in watch mode — the main build (popup, options, onInstalled, service worker) and the content script build. Changes rebuild automatically.

Building

Outputs to dist/. Load it in Chrome: chrome://extensions → Developer mode → Load unpacked → select the dist folder.

Project Structure

src/
├── content-scripts/       # Auto-discovered content scripts
│   └── main/              # Each folder = one content script
│       ├── index.tsx       # Entry point (required)
│       ├── App.tsx         # Your components
│       └── config.json     # { "matches": ["<all_urls>"] }
├── scripts/
│   ├── onInstalled/       # Shown on first install
│   ├── options/           # Extension options page
│   ├── popup/             # Browser action popup
│   └── service-worker/    # Background service worker
├── styles/
│   └── index.css          # Tailwind v4 config + imports
├── utils/
│   └── browser.ts         # Chrome messaging helpers
├── assets/                # Extension icons
└── manifest.ts            # Auto-generates manifest.json

Quick Reload Shortcut

The template includes a Ctrl+Space command to reload the extension during development. Set it up at chrome://extensions/shortcuts.

To disable it for production, remove the commands block from src/manifest.ts and the chrome.commands listener from the service worker.

Debugging Content Scripts

Content scripts are bundled as IIFE builds. To debug your source .tsx files:

  1. Sourcemaps are enabled in dev by default (sourcemap: 'inline' in vite.config.content.ts).
  2. Run pnpm dev to build with inline sourcemaps.
  3. Open DevTools (F12) on any page where the content script runs.
  4. Sources → Page → find the source map tree for your content script. Your original .tsx files appear there with full breakpoint support.
  5. Or just add debugger statements directly in your code.

For the service worker, go to chrome://extensions → click "Inspect views: service worker".

Content Scripts (Auto-Discovery)

Content scripts are auto-discovered from src/content-scripts/. Each subfolder with an index.tsx becomes a content script — no config files to edit, no build scripts to update.

Add a new content script

mkdir src/content-scripts/github

Create src/content-scripts/github/index.tsx:

console.log('Running on GitHub!')

Optionally add src/content-scripts/github/config.json to control which sites it runs on:

{ "matches": ["https://github.com/*"] }

If no config.json is provided, defaults to <all_urls>.

That's it. Run pnpm build — it's automatically built to dist/js/content-github.js and registered in the manifest.

Customizing Tailwind

Tailwind v4 uses CSS-based configuration. Edit src/styles/index.css to add custom colors, fonts, and design tokens under @theme.

License

ISC