Installation

Install the extension and configure the native messaging host.

Step 1 — Load the Extension

1. Open Edge and navigate to edge://extensions/ (or chrome://extensions/ for Chrome)
2. Enable Developer mode
3. Click Load unpacked and select the notepad-launcher folder
4. Copy the Extension ID — you’ll need it in Step 2 (format: abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz123456)

Step 2 — Configure the Native Messaging Host

Open com.notepad.launcher.json and replace:

• YOUR_EXTENSION_ID_HERE → your actual Extension ID
• path → full path to your native_host.py (or native_host.bat on Windows)

Windows

1. Update install_host.reg — replace C:\\path\\to\\com.notepad.launcher.json with the full path to your manifest.
2. Double-click install_host.reg → click Yes.
3. Verify Python is installed: python --version

Registry paths:

• Edge: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Edge\NativeMessagingHosts\com.notepad.launcher
• Chrome: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Google\Chrome\NativeMessagingHosts\com.notepad.launcher

macOS

chmod +x /path/to/native_host.py

# Edge
mkdir -p ~/Library/Application\ Support/Microsoft\ Edge/NativeMessagingHosts/
cp com.notepad.launcher.json ~/Library/Application\ Support/Microsoft\ Edge/NativeMessagingHosts/

# Chrome
mkdir -p ~/Library/Application\ Support/Google/Chrome/NativeMessagingHosts/
cp com.notepad.launcher.json ~/Library/Application\ Support/Google/Chrome/NativeMessagingHosts/

Linux

chmod +x /path/to/native_host.py

# Edge
mkdir -p ~/.config/microsoft-edge/NativeMessagingHosts/
cp com.notepad.launcher.json ~/.config/microsoft-edge/NativeMessagingHosts/

# Chrome
mkdir -p ~/.config/google-chrome/NativeMessagingHosts/
cp com.notepad.launcher.json ~/.config/google-chrome/NativeMessagingHosts/

Step 3 — Test

1. Click the extension icon in Edge/Chrome
2. (Optional) Enter a file path in the text field
3. Click Launch Notepad
4. The configured application should open