How to get the url of the BrowserWindow in Electron?

In Electron, retrieving the URL of the current browser window can be achieved through several methods, depending on your application architecture and requirements. Here, I will provide a common implementation approach, assuming you are using BrowserWindow to create the window and that the window loads a web page.

First, utilize the webContents module in the rendering process, which provides functionality for interacting with web content, including retrieving the current page's URL. Here is a specific implementation step:

Step 1: Create the Window in the Main Process

First, in Electron's main process, create a browser window and load a web page. This can be achieved using the BrowserWindow class.

javascript
// In the main process
const { app, BrowserWindow } = require('electron');

function createWindow() {
  // Create browser window
  let win = new BrowserWindow({
    width: 800,
    height: 600,
    webPreferences: {
      nodeIntegration: true,
      contextIsolation: false  // Note security settings; adjust as needed
    }
  });

  // Load the application's index.html
  win.loadFile('index.html');

  // Open developer tools
  win.webContents.openDevTools();
}

app.whenReady().then(createWindow);

Step 2: Retrieve the URL in the Rendering Process

Within the rendering process's JavaScript file, you can use the webContents method getURL() to retrieve the currently loaded URL.

javascript
// In the rendering process
const { remote } = require('electron');

document.getElementById('check-url').addEventListener('click', () => {
  const webContents = remote.getCurrentWindow().webContents;
  const url = webContents.getURL();
  console.log('Current window URL is:', url);
});

In this example, we add a button that, when clicked, triggers the event listener to fetch the current window's URL and log it to the console.

Notes

• In Electron 10 and above versions, the remote module is disabled by default due to potential performance and security concerns. If you are using Electron 10 or higher, you may need to enable the remote module or use alternative methods (such as IPC communication) to achieve the same functionality.
• Always prioritize security considerations, especially when enabling nodeIntegration and disabling contextIsolation, as this may expose your application to remote code execution risks.

This is a basic implementation process. By following this workflow, you can retrieve and utilize the current browser window's URL in your Electron application.