webRequest.handlerBehaviorChanged()

This function can be used to ensure that event listeners are applied correctly when pages are in the browser's in-memory cache. If the browser has loaded a page, and the page is reloaded, the browser may reload the page from its in-memory cache, and in this case, events will not be triggered for the request.

Suppose an extension's job is to block web requests against a pattern, and the following scenario happens:

• The user loads a page that includes a particular request, and the pattern permits the request.
• The resource is loaded and cached in memory.
• The extension's patterns are updated, in such a way that the resource would no longer be permitted.
• The user reloads the page.

Because the page will be reloaded from the memory cache, the listener may not be called again, and the request will be loaded despite the extension's new policy.

The handlerBehaviorChanged() function is designed to address this problem. It flushes the in-memory cache, so that page reloads will trigger event listeners.

Because handlerBehaviorChanged() flushes the cache, it can be expensive and bad for performance. The webRequest module defines a read-only property MAX_HANDLER_BEHAVIOR_CHANGED_CALLS_PER_10_MINUTES: making more calls than this number in 10 minutes will have no effect.

The implementation of caching, hence the need for this function, varies from one browser to another, so in some browsers this function does nothing.

This is an asynchronous function that returns a Promise.

let flushingCache = browser.webRequest.handlerBehaviorChanged()

function onFlushed() {
  console.log(`In-memory cache flushed`);
}

function onError(error) {
  console.log(`Error: ${error}`);
}

let flushingCache = browser.webRequest.handlerBehaviorChanged();
flushingCache.then(onFlushed, onError);