ServiceWorkerContainer: message event

Baseline Widely available

This feature is well established and works across many devices and browser versions. It’s been available across browsers since April 2018.

Secure context: This feature is available only in secure contexts (HTTPS), in some or all supporting browsers.

Note: This feature is available in Web Workers.

The message event is used in a page controlled by a service worker to receive messages from the service worker.

This event is not cancelable and does not bubble.

Syntax

Use the event name in methods like addEventListener(), or set an event handler property.

js
addEventListener("message", (event) => { })

onmessage = (event) => { }

Event type

A MessageEvent. Inherits from Event.

Event MessageEvent

Event properties

This interface also inherits properties from its parent, Event.

MessageEvent.data Read only

The data sent by the message emitter.

MessageEvent.origin Read only

A string representing the origin of the message emitter.

MessageEvent.lastEventId Read only

A string representing a unique ID for the event.

MessageEvent.source Read only

A MessageEventSource (which can be a WindowProxy, MessagePort, or ServiceWorker object) representing the message emitter.

MessageEvent.ports Read only

An array of MessagePort objects representing the ports associated with the channel the message is being sent through (where appropriate, e.g., in channel messaging or when sending a message to a shared worker).

Examples

In this example the service worker get the client's ID from a fetch event and then sends it a message using Client.postMessage:

js
// service-worker.js
async function messageClient(clientId) {
  const client = await clients.get(clientId);
  client.postMessage("Hi client!");
}

addEventListener("fetch", (event) => {
  messageClient(event.clientId);
  event.respondWith(() => {
    // …
  });
});

The client can receive the message by listening to the message event:

js
// main.js
navigator.serviceWorker.addEventListener("message", (message) => {
  console.log(message);
});

Alternatively, the client can receive the message with the onmessage event handler:

js
// main.js
navigator.serviceWorker.onmessage = (message) => {
  console.log(message);
};

Specifications

Specification
Service Workers Nightly
# dom-serviceworkercontainer-onmessage

Browser compatibility

desktop mobile
Chrome
Edge
Firefox
Opera
Safari
Chrome Android
Firefox for Android
Opera Android
Safari on iOS
Samsung Internet
WebView Android
WebView on iOS
message event
Chrome – Full support
Chrome 40 (Release date: 2015-01-21)
footnote Full support
Edge – Full support
Edge 17 (Release date: 2018-04-30)
footnote Full support
Firefox – Full support
Firefox 44 (Release date: 2016-01-26)
footnote Full support
Opera – Full support
Opera 27 (Release date: 2015-01-27)
footnote Full support
Safari – Full support
Safari 11.1 (Release date: 2018-04-12)
footnote Full support
Chrome Android – Full support
Chrome Android 40 (Release date: 2015-01-21)
footnote Full support
Firefox for Android – Full support
Firefox for Android 44 (Release date: 2016-01-26)
footnote Full support
Opera Android – Full support
Opera Android 27 (Release date: 2015-01-29)
footnote Full support
Safari on iOS – Full support
Safari on iOS 11.3 (Release date: 2018-03-29)
footnote Full support
Samsung Internet – Full support
Samsung Internet 4 (Release date: 2016-03-11)
footnote Full support
WebView Android – Full support
WebView Android 40 (Release date: 2015-01-21)
footnote Full support
WebView on iOS – No support
WebView on iOS
footnote No support

Legend

Tip: you can click/tap on a cell for more information.

Full support
Full support
No support
No support

See also